On Jan. 9, many people were distraught over the fact that famous YouTube star, Matthew Patrick, announced he will no longer be making content for his channel. MatPat was influential among many childhoods, so the announcement created a sense of loss among many young adults. Even the oldest amongst the student population can remember watching Game Theory, MatPat’s most well-known YouTube channel, during their upbringing.
“I remember watching him on and off in my childhood. I primarily watched his many videos analyzing the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s,” said senior Christopher Ornelas.
Matpat’s coverage of FNAF (Five Nights at Freddy’s) is quite famous among younger people, with the game having worldwide fame and attracting the attention of its fans to his channel. The game series is still ongoing, and Matpat has been garnering views by covering it since the game’s first release. With a 10 year lifespan, even the older generation of alumni have memories of watching MatPat’s Game Theory.
“Game Theory changed my perspective on what video games were really about… you can actually look into a game and see how complex and structured they can really be,” said MHHS alumnus Dorian Sharpless.
MatPat’s influence extends beyond one video game series, and inspired his viewers of all ages to be curious. So despite that some viewers only came for the FNAF theories while some watch every Game Theory video, both casual and interested fans can appreciate MatPat’s knowledge and entertainment value in his theory videos. Ornelas was able to obtain a better understanding and appreciation for the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, for example.
“At least he was in the FNAF movie before he quit; I loved his FNAF theories and how dumb some of them were,” said former Mission Hills student Bobby Gilholm.
MatPat’s retirement from YouTube marks a pivotal moment in the landscape of YouTube entertainment, as Game theory had been around since 2011. He had been creating content for 13 years, entertaining a generation of kids and theorizing about plenty of games for fans of all genres. Ornelas, Sharpless, and Gilholm will all mourn the loss of his content creation but wish MatPat luck on his journey in parenting. Game Theory’s content will be remembered and appreciated even after retirement, as will the endearing internet personality that MatPat was himself. But as always, that’s just a theory, a Silvertip theory.
