Hi guys, I hope everyone is doing well!
Some of you may have noticed that I am extremely behind on my Ps Plus series. I have made the difficult and sad decision to stop. I know that no-one really followed it intently and most people will just think ‘ok cool’ or ‘do what you need to’ and move on, but I just wanted to explain the decision as it is super disappointing to me – even if it is the right thing to do – and what that means for the channel going forward!
There have been a few things that have lead me to the conclusion that stopping the series is best for me and my channel.
Firstly, I have been struggling to keep up with the number of games that we are getting. One extra game may not sound like a lot, but I struggle to get them all done in one session. I like to make sure I play each game for long enough that I get to see what it is about, for some this requires a couple of hours. That could mean 6 hours a month just recording the games. I don’t want to cut corners so I wait till I have time, which sometimes never comes and makes me behind (with the added stress of a broken capture card and some mental health problems I ended up months behind).
The same applies for my Monthly Round Ups. I love doing these, they feel like a marker to remember what happened each month. However, when I first started, I intended for them to be more heavily edited, interesting, fun videos. As I’ve gotten more into gaming and especially streaming (as well as doing video editing as a day job for a while), I lost the passion for the editing and it became a chore. I also started having more thoughts on the games and the industry as a whole, which I don’t think is a bad thing, but when you add that to 3/4 games per month, it makes the edit longer and longer. I feel like the quality declined in what I wanted to do and that tells me it is time to take a break.
By the time I have recorded all games and the Round Up, edited, scheduled, created thumbnails and made a social media write up, it adds up to a lot of hours and instead of catching up or doing something else, my YT Channel has just come to a stand still. I used to keep clips of all the funny things that have happened to make highlights, make a yearly video, rank the games etc. And as time has gone on, I have done less and less of that. I hate that I have done that because I still think it is a sound idea, but I feel that if I am not mentally all in then I should probably dip out.
My third reason requires a bit of background. I had a few reasons for starting this series. It was back when I was a total noob (can you imagine me being even more of a noob than I am now? Jeez) and I didn’t own very many games. I had already been doing my Ps Plus coverage but in writing, so moving onto video seemed like a natural progression. It was an opportunity for me to get to experience all different types of games, and share that with others, bringing in a new perspective. Since then though, I have experienced MANY games. Back then I knew what I definitely liked, and knew what I definitely disliked, but not a lot in between. In the mean time, I have developed as a person and a gamer.. in no small part to this series might I add. This is a great thing, but on the other hand, there are now many games that crop up that it almost feels pointless doing a video for. Fighting game? Sport Game? Racing Game? More than likely I am not going to be into it. Horror game? I’ll quit after 10 minutes. FPS? Ill enjoy what I play but not feel compelled to go back. Third person open world adventure/shooter? I have either played it, am planning to play it or have watched someone else play it. Indie Game? Puzzle Game? Adventure Game? I probably want to stream it blind it so I don’t really want to make a video. Sequel? How do I even make a video for that? There are lots of patterns in the games given with Ps Plus and all of the above have happened many times. Occasionally there will be a game that I will add to my to play list which is great, but when my to play list is now already 100+ games long, it makes trying out all of these other games feel like it is probably not the best use of my time.
It is not all negative. I have 100% gotten what I wanted out of the series. I have tried some games that I was sure I was going to love that I decided not to play, like Control and The Witness. Equally, I have found some games that I never would have thought of picking up that I really want to play, like Days Gone and Hollow Knight. That was a huge part of what I wanted to achieve, and I am so glad that I know I have helped others achieve this along the way too.
I’m going to be so sad to see this series end. I love all of the random little moments that it has caused, I love the joy I hear from people when I try out a game they love, or a game that is most certainly not a ‘Noob game’. Maybe in the future I will be able to pick it back up, and of course if there was a demand for it I would love to keep doing it, but as it stand I think this is the best call for now. I do have a new super exciting project coming up with a really great friend of mine so please keep your eyes open because it will be starting in the next couple of months, and I am really looking forward to continuing my Indie Showcase series, as well as starting some Let’s Plays that have been on the cards for a looooong time.
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