The crew around PietSmiet celebrates their greatest success since February on Twitch with their first big event. They invited some of their Twitch and YouTube colleagues to their E-Kart tournament. The participants delivered wild and exciting races on the track in Neu-Ulm.
PietSmiet are among the pioneers of YouTube with their gaming videos and have been active on Twitch for 8 years.
The crew has reached highlights on Twitch since 2016, every other year with the charity event “Friendly Fire”.
They take turns broadcasting with the well-known YouTuber and streamer Gronkh, as Friendly Fire is a joint event. On average, they were able to captivate 100,000 viewers in front of their screens in December 2020.
What success did PietSmiet celebrate in February? In February, they last averaged around 30,000 viewers with their special Twitch stream for the 10th anniversary (via sullygnome). They played classic games from their YouTube channel, such as Wolfteam, CS:GO, or Minecraft Adventure Map.
They peaked at 37,000 viewers with Trouble in Terrorist Town, a mode from the game Garry’s Mod.
How did the E-Kart event go? The E-Kart event “PietKart” averaged 27,300 viewers with ongoing peaks of 37,100 viewers. During this event, 12 different streamers and YouTubers competed fiercely for time and first place.
What kind of event was it? All 12 racers had a qualifying round and a total of 3 races on a real E-Kart track in tournament format. They were able to earn valuable points and times which benefited both the individual drivers and the assembled teams.
The participants met on the racetrack in Ecodrom in Neu-Ulm. The karting track spanned 400 meters and two levels. The karts could reach a speed of about 50 km/h.
Who was there? In addition to Sebastian, Jonathan, and Dennis from PietSmiet, these 9 other well-known streamers and YouTubers participated:
- Simon Krätschmer from Rocket Beans
- Felix “Dner” von der Laden, professional racer and YouTuber
- Dennis “Dennsen86”, well-known guest at Rocket Beans, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber
- Sonja “Milschbaum” Zahn, Twitch streamer
- Leslie “Farbenfuchs” Foertsch, cosplayer and Twitch streamer
- Fabian Döhla, PR manager and social media
- Paul “Powlster” Stehr, member of DoktorFroid and well-known guest at PietSmiet
- Artur “fishC0p” Niemczuk, present since the inception of Friendly Fire and Twitch streamer
- Alexander “Izzi” Hazy, YouTuber
Christian and Peter commented on the races while Twitch streamer and host Theres “Sissor” Modl interviewed the drivers in between.
Despite some glitches, a huge success for PietSmiet
Initially, the 6 slowest drivers from the qualifying round were to compete against each other, followed by the 6 remaining participants. Finally, a massive chaotic race with all 12 influencers took place. The track was just wide enough for about two karts to fit side by side.
Crashes, collisions with the walls, and daring overtaking maneuvers were guaranteed.
The action was accompanied by Peter and Christian, who eagerly cheered with the racers, thus conveying the excitement vividly to the viewers.
What went wrong? Unfortunately, there were interruptions in the stream – the internet apparently went down. While one interruption was less problematic as it occurred during a break, the stream cut out precisely in the last lap of the final race. Since the excitement was at its peak, the fail was quite untimely.
Furthermore, the initial graphics were too large, not continuous, and placed disruptively on screen. However, the production team quickly worked on it and fixed the issue during the races.
Following the races, a larger, opaque scoreboard was displayed, which was simply placed in the middle of the two commentators. However, both the viewers and Christian and Peter took it with humor and dubbed it “the two-armed scoreboard” (via Twitch, Warning: Spoiler on the created teams).
Despite the individual glitches in between, the viewers celebrated the event and want more.
Viewers are thrilled by PietKart
After the spectacle, PietSmiet member Jonathan Apelt gathered feedback from the community (via Twitter). They responded promptly and already wrote around 150 replies:
- WurmZu is thrilled: “Absolutely amazing! Very entertaining, really cool and professionally executed, without losing the charm and silliness of a PS event. Great moderation, especially after the last race, really well done!”
- Larimia praised the organizer Jules from the 2nd row of PietSmiet and said: “It was mega cool, I had a lot of fun watching. Big thanks to everyone involved and especially to Jules for organizing.”
- Sherluke75 sees the mistakes calmly and realistically: “Mega cool event! It was really fun to watch. For the few internet outages you can’t blame, so I don’t want to criticize that. Would love to see it again, everyone did really great.”
- SimurLP even sees it before the massive event Friendly Fire: “No offense to Friendly Fire, but this event was even more fun. Not a second was boring. It was simply genius.”
Of course, there was also constructive criticism, demanding better lighting conditions and a general overview. A mini-map or various tops with outstanding colors were suggested. During the races, even the commentators could not distinguish the drivers because many were similarly dressed.
The fans would also prefer Dner to be the commentator next time he is present. As a professional driver, he would take away the excitement from the races.
Additionally, some viewers found it disturbing that “!switch” was being spammed in the chat to participate in a Nintendo giveaway. However, Peter has already stated that they definitely want to address this point differently next time.
Overall, however, the viewers were extremely satisfied with the E-Kart tournament and even wish for it to take place seasonally. How exactly PietSmiet plans to proceed is still unknown. However, given the success, it would be surprising if they did not repeat PietKart.
My conclusion about the PietKart event
Since I only play Mario Kart and am otherwise not involved in the topic of “motorsport”, I had no great expectations for the kart tournament. However, I really wanted to follow how the guys’ first own event went.
When the stream started, the nervousness was evident, but at the same time the excitement and joy for the upcoming spectacle. The hype and excited comments during the races from Chris and Peter were totally contagious.
Even during the “unimportant” qualifiers, the commentary made me sit spellbound in front of my monitor and watch the racers turn their laps. The different camera angles and the constant graphics of placements and times were superbly done. That added significantly to the excitement.
It really took off during the real races. Of course, you always have your favorites, and I cheered for mine, hoping they could overtake the others with cool maneuvers.
The crowning conclusion was the absolutely hilarious 12-person race, in which particularly one racer followed a well-thought-out and “deadly” strategy. So during the event, I oscillated between laughing heartily and “oh, almost forgot to breathe – it’s so exciting right now”.
I can only agree with the mentioned criticism. Especially regarding clarity. I often didn’t know where each driver was and who was overtaking whom, but I’m sure the guys will work on that.
A very successful tournament with even more potential for improvement!
Lena
Freelance author at Mein-MMO
What’s behind the group of PietSmiet
Who are PietSmiet? A funny gaming crew consisting of 5 people who have made themselves comfortable on YouTube for 10 years. All links lead to the respective person’s Twitter accounts:
- Peter “Piet” Smits (32)
- Dennis “Brammen” Brammen (33)
- Christian “Chris” Stachelhaus (37)
- Sebastian “Sep” Lenßen (32)
- Jonathan “Jay” Apelt (32)
Together, the guys form the group around PietSmiet. The name is derived from the birth name of Peter Smits.
The Piets started with typical Let’s Plays: sometimes alone, sometimes in multiplayer. Over the years, however, they changed their concept and brought more joint game shows, cooking videos, or challenges.
Gradually, the 5 expanded their YouTube channel and founded their own company: PietSmiet UG (limited liability) & Co. KG, which is managed by Peter Smits and Dennis Brammen. They even employ some staff, affectionately called the 2nd row, who actively help with editing and video ideas.
Since 2013, PietSmiet has been running their Twitch channel, where they regularly stream gaming, game shows, and likely more events.
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