Twitter users who like to stay up to date with gaming might have heard of the account “Nibellion.” Interesting news from the gaming industry was regularly shared there. However, that is supposed to end now: Nibel is quitting.
What was this account about? Nibel made a name for himself with his Twitter account @Nibellion in the area of gaming news. Hardly anyone else brought news to users’ feeds as quickly. This made Nibel a fast and reliable source for half a million subscribers.
These subscribers will have to find their information elsewhere in the future, as Nibel is discontinuing his services. The reasons cited are the lack of support on Patreon and Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.
The latest trailers often landed on Nibel’s Twitter account shortly after their release.
Nibel was often the fastest source for gaming on Twitter
What was special about Nibel? Nibel seemed to possess an almost supernatural ability to see game announcements and trailers before anyone else and share directly from the original source.
In order to share the latest developments first, Nibel likely followed news feeds and other Twitter accounts almost tirelessly – that’s a lot of work that Nibel provided free of charge on Twitter.
The idea of funding Twitter through Patreon hardly worked
What caused the account to fail? To earn at least some money from this work, Nibel started a Patreon account in September. It only had 2 tiers, $1 and $3. However, the expected support did not materialize. Currently, the account has 986 patrons (as of 01.11.2022 – 13:25, via patreon).
Conservatively estimated, Nibel’s earnings might have been around €1,000 – for an effort that likely resembled a full-time job. And the trend was apparently not increasing.
In a statement accessible only to Nibel’s patrons, it was mentioned that the numbers had stagnated already during the first weekend since the account’s opening. Additionally, many users reportedly canceled their subscriptions during the first week.
Nibel saw the lack of support on Patreon as confirmation that the account was not interesting and sustainable enough. Thus, Nibel decided to shut down the popular Twitter account.
I overestimated the value of my Twitter activity and realize that for the vast majority of people, it is not worth supporting. It’s not me who is popular, it’s just this work that is useful. It’s not valuable in itself, but a convenient time-saver, that I’ve now understood.
Nibel via Patreon
And now? The Twitter account has been suspended. It is not to be deleted, so that others cannot misuse the established username. In the last statements that appeared on the account, Nibel announced that he wanted to focus on other projects in the future:
After some reflection, I have decided to redirect my time and energy elsewhere and say goodbye to Twitter. This marks the end of my reporting on video games and my active participation on this platform.
Nibel via Twitter
Nibel: “I don’t trust Musk”
Is Elon Musk to blame for everything? Nibel’s decision to leave Twitter aligns with the acquisition of the platform Twitter by Tesla founder Elon Musk. The purchase had already been controversially discussed beforehand.
For some, it seemed reasonable to conclude that Nibel’s departure could be seen as a form of protest. When asked about it, Nibel replied that the topic likely hung unspoken in the air. Apparently, the takeover was not the catalyst for his decision but did contribute to it:
I don’t trust the platform. I don’t trust Musk and his seemingly endless immaturity. I don’t believe that Twitter will collapse immediately, but rather that it could die a slow death. Why waste more time?
Nibel via Twitter
Musk’s immaturity can be seen, for example, in a remark he made to Fortnite players – of course via Twitter.
Whether Nibel will return with an account on another platform remains uncertain.
Did you follow Nibel on Twitter or was your feed often full of retweets from the account? Do you think this work represents a worthy achievement to support, or is sharing announcements and trailers just a convenient but unnecessary time-saver? Feel free to leave us a comment with your opinion.
Information actually arrived even faster than Nibel’s from the publishers themselves, for example, at the Hamburg community fair Polaris:
