TOGETHER WITH

It's Tuesday and X’s AI chatbot is treating subscribers to some unusual (and wholly inaccurate) news headlines. Among Grok’s most eyebrow-raising hallucinations: OJ’s rise from the dead and the disappearance of the sun.

CHANGING COURSE

Watcher is walking back its decision to leave YouTube after a flood of criticism from fans

The initial announcement: Last week’s big reveal didn’t go over well with Watcher’s online fanbase. Within 24 hours of announcing its decision to abandon future YouTube uploads in favor of a paywalled platform, the content studio’s channel lost 50,000 subscribers. By end-of-day Sunday, that number had risen to nearly 100,000.

• In particular, many fans took issues with co-founder Steven Lim’s assertion that “anybody and everybody” could afford the service’s $6/month (or $60/year) price point.

The update: Watcher—which was founded in 2019 by Lim and fellow Buzzfeed vets Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej—responded to that backlash by (partially) reversing course in an apologetic video posted Monday. Here’s the gist of that update:

1. A $6/month platform is still coming—but it won’t feature 100% exclusive content. Instead of fully transitioning from free YouTube uploads to paywalled videos, Watcher plans to give subscribers first dibs. Going forward, new videos will premiere on the studio’s subscription service a month before hitting YouTube.
   
   

2. Patreon subscribers won’t have to pay. Watcher plans to give each of its 13,000+ Patreon patrons a free subscription to its new service.
   
   

3. Watcher is struggling to survive. As Madej noted, the studio decided to launch a subscription service in order to “continue” without having to “compromise our content to ensure they met advertising requirements.” The creator went on to explain that staying “solely on YouTube” would have forced Watcher to lay off long-term employees or close permanently.

The context: YouTube’s evolving advertising market has unlocked new opportunities for Shorts creators and streamers—but it’s also proven difficult for some long-form channels to navigate. As Bergara explained, Watcher is “finding it…harder to stay relevant to advertisers in the constantly changing YouTube landscape.”

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Spotter is building a full suite of AI software for creators. First up: Title Exploder.

Content creation is a demanding process. From generating ideas to titling videos, every step requires deliberate planning and creative dedication in order for content to be successful.

Spotter gets it. As a leading creator-platform company, they’ve invested more than $800 million to make sure YouTubers have every possible resource at their fingertips. Now, their team is partnering with top creators and experts to develop a full suite of AI software personalized for creators. 

These products are focused on ideation, packaging, and creative storytelling, all to help creators accelerate their careers. First up: Title Exploder.

Title Exploder helps you come up with captivating video titles based on insights from your most successful content and YouTube’s top videos.

Spotter has teamed up with YouTube duo Colin & Samir to offer qualified creators early access to Title Exploder. Register today to see if you qualify—and be the first to receive updates on Spotter's newest products as soon as they're released.

Register for Title Exploder →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• The stars of Dropout’s Dimension 20 will bring a night of live TTRPG adventure to Madison Square Garden as part of their Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Unsleeping City. (Tubefilter)
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• A memo from TikTok public policy head Michael Beckerman reportedly assured staff that the platform will “move to the courts for a legal challenge” if a TikTok ban is signed into law. (Ars Technica)

• After fascinating kids with STEM-themed subscription boxes, Mark Rober’s Crunchlabs brand is introducing teens and adults to the wild world of robots with the launch of Hack Pack. (VentureBeat)
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• A recent survey from Adobe Analytics found that 53% of U.S.-based respondents have taken generative AI for a spin. (VentureBeat)

COLUMNS • GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top 3 Branded Videos: Fast fashion vs. eco-friendly creator marketing

From rural Nepal to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, YouTube creators brought viewers to all corners of the globe this week—but only one branded collab sparked concerns about the earth itself.

Here’s how Gospel Stats’ latest Weekly Brand Report shook out:

🥇 Clara Dao x Shein: What I’d wear to my EX’S WEDDING
The month of Earth Day might not have been the best timing for Clara Dao’s latest fast fashion partnership. While other branded chart-toppers explored sustainable energy, the beauty creator raised 11 million views (and plenty of eyebrows) by partnering with Shein for a wedding-themed video.

🥈 Beast Philanthropy x Kellogg’s: We Powered A Mountain
MrBeast’s charity-focused channel teamed up with Kellogg’s to bring viewers a very different kind of video. While the Beast Philanthropy crew set up eco-friendly solar panels for a Nepalese hospital, the breakfast-focused sponsor reminded 9.8 million fans about its partnership with Minecraft.

🥉 Mustard x Nebula: What Happened To The Nautilus?
Nebula has a knack for sponsoring viral educational videos, and Mustard’s latest historical deep-dive is no exception. It’s easy to see why the YouTuber’s Nautilus-focused video—which explored the story of one of the first ships to explore the North Pole—would appeal to the same crowd as Nebula’s creator-led streaming service.

FYI: This report is just a sneak peek at all the YouTube data Gospel Stats has to offer. Check out the full site here for in-depth info on branded partnerships, chart-climbing channels, and more.

UP FOR A CHALLENGE

MrBeast’s latest mobile game collab brings players into a 14-day Battle Challenge

The partnership: MrBeast is jumping back into the world of mobile gaming. Nine months after designing levels and characters for Scopely’s Stumble Guys, the YouTuber is teaming up with Zynga‘s Socialpoint studio.

• That partnership revolves around the introduction of MrBeast-themed challenges to Socialpoint’s six-month-old mobile strategy game, Top Troops. (For context, Socialpoint was acquired by Take-Two five years before the latter business became Zynga’s parent company in a $12.7 billion deal.)
  
  

• Thanks to the studio’s collab with MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson), Top Troops players can now take part in a 14-day gauntlet stocked with the same kind of obstacles featured in the YouTuber’s signature competition videos. Those who complete The MrBeast Battle Challenge will also earn in-game currency that can be spent on MrBeast-branded items.

Why it matters: In a statement, Socialpoint Head Akshay Bharadwaj noted that the studio is “excited to push the boundaries by partnering with top creators like MrBeast who truly connect and resonate with our players to deliver unforgettable mobile gaming experiences.”

• Socialpoint isn’t the only gaming studio taking that creator-led approach to marketing. Over the past year, publishers and developers have increasingly sought to tap into influencers’ extensive online fanbases by integrating creator brands into their titles.
  

• Case in point: World of Warships recently released flagships themed around streamers like Sapnap and Moist Cr1TiKaL, while Call of Duty introduced custom TimTheTatman and Nickmercs avatars. Unsurprisingly, Stumble Guys studio Scopely also saw a significant “MrBeast bump” after partnering with the creator last year.
  
  

• Zynga itself will likely reveal more details about upcoming creator marketing plans at this month’s NewFronts.

WATCH THIS 📺

Your chance to live as a hobbit has arrived

The game: Let’s face it: at one point or another, we’ve all dreamed of putting the hustle on hold and retiring to a hobbit hole in the Shire. (It’s definitely not just us, right?)

• Now, game publisher Private Division and developer Weta Workshop are teaming up to make that dream a reality with the upcoming release of Tales of the Shire.
  
  

• A trailer for the game dropped yesterday, and Lord of the Rings fans are already enamored. After all, who doesn’t want to spend their time foraging for mushrooms, decorating grass-covered hovels, and chowing down on second breakfast?

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.