There are thousands upon thousands of gaming channels on YouTube. The genre dominates the platform, with dozens upon dozens of videos for all types of games popping up every hour. But as popular as gaming vids may be, not all gaming vids are popular. Many hopeful content creators never see substantial growth. A small few may find success as a creator for one game but won’t find an audience outside of that game.
But stories of failure imply there are stories of success. Take Mark Fischbach, the 33-year-old behind the YouTube channel Markiplier. His channel, which primarily focuses on horror and survival-based games, has nearly 35 million subscribers, and in 2017, Forbes placed Fischbach at the top of a list for most influential gamers. The YouTuber’s engaging and friendly demeanor as well as his frequent uploads only help to boost his popularity.
He joined YouTube in 2012, back when its massive gaming community had yet to start budding. A decade later, and Fischbach lists over 5,000 videos on his channel.
But with such a wide array of content, you can expect that not all of it will be appropriate for your child.
Markiplier offers a more authentic look than a lot of YouTubers might give their viewers. This may come somewhat naturally because of the nature of the horror games he plays (it’s hard to fake being scared), but the YouTuber also seems to really care about his audience, interacting with them at venues and online. Speaking toward that genuineness, he’s shared some emotional things with his audience, such as the pain he felt when his father passed away.
Markiplier has participated in and hosted many events to raise money for various charities.
However, parents won’t find much of the channel’s content to be appropriate for younger audiences. Because Markiplier is primarily focused on the horror genre, viewers are subjected to many jump scares, violent scenes and more. People are shot and stabbed, and supernatural happenings are also common in the games.
Additionally, some of the videos also contain sexual material. For instance, in one game, Fischbach and his friends control male genitalia and fight one another. In another, Fischbach plays as a man attempting to return from hell in order to destroy his collection of pornographic images.
We’ll also hear frequent swearing. Though Fischbach censors his own use of the f-word on his YouTube channel, the games he plays do not.
Markiplier’s Fischbach seems like a friendly guy who’d be a treat to run into on the street. However, there’s quite a bit of mature content on his channel, including scary images, violence, swearing and some sexual material. So despite the engaging personality, parents likely won’t find the content on Markiplier appropriate for their child.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
