Ryan Wyatt (35) is the head of YouTube Gaming and has been leading an offensive for several years to poach large streamers from Twitch and entice them with millions to YouTube. But his time at YouTube is over, he is moving to a crypto company. He writes that he is fascinated by blockchain and its possibilities.
Why was Wyatt so important?
- At the age of 27, Wyatt made his breakthrough at YouTube in 2014. He was tasked with representing “gamers” on YouTube, as he writes, and took over the leadership of the “YouTube Gaming” initiative nearly 8 years ago. He was primarily known for his idea to establish live streaming on YouTube: to this day, YouTube is mainly used as a “video-on-demand” platform, while competitor Twitch celebrates great successes in gaming with live streaming and emphasizes direct interaction between streamers and viewers.
- In his role, Wyatt was the frontman of an offensive by YouTube to poach hopeful streamers from Twitch to YouTube. He brought about the banned dellor from Twitch to YouTube or was happy that streamer Valkyrae became the largest female streamer in the world after he lured her away from Twitch.
- Wyatt’s name repeatedly appeared in reports about the multi-million dollar “offers you can’t refuse” that streamers were receiving in recent months. After all, YouTube managed to successfully poach heavyweight streamers like Ludwig or TimTheTatman from Twitch.
YouTube’s Gaming Chief Moves to Crypto Company
Why is he leaving now? Wyatt writes on Twitter that February 2022 will be his last month at YouTube. He says he is “fascinated” by blockchain and the “web3 space.” He is moving as CEO to Polygon Studios and will work on the future of the internet, the “web3,” helping the company build an ecosystem in gaming, entertainment, fashion, news, and sports.
He is excited to see what awaits him there.
How does YouTube react? Quite relaxed. In a statement from YouTube, it is stated that they have a “deep bench of talented leaders to push the business forward.” They thank Ryan for his “incredible contribution” to YouTube over the years and look forward to seeing what he does next.
YouTube suggests in the statement that many people are leaving their companies in 2022 to take on new challenges.
In the US, this trend is called “The Great Resignation.” It is believed that many people had the opportunity to rethink their careers during the Covid pandemic and chose a new direction.
Wyatt seems to see his future in the NFT space, which is being heavily and critically discussed among gamers:
NFT is the new trend in gaming in 2021, companies are worth billions $ – But why?
