Yogscast
Yogscast Limited, also known as The Yogscast, is a British entertainment company based in Bristol that primarily produces video gaming-related videos on YouTube and Twitch, and also operates the Yogscast multi-channel network for affiliated content creators. Initially a group of online content creators, the Yogscast began activity in 2008 and formally incorporated as a company in 2011.
The group had their roots in videos about the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft, but rose to popularity with their playthrough of the sandbox game Minecraft and their self-produced role-playing series Shadow of Israphel set in the same game. More recently, the group is known for playing the sandbox game Garry's Mod as well as producing a variety of live action videos.
In 2017, the group established Yogscast Games, a video game publishing label which has since published games such as Caveblazers, PlateUp!, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers, Brunch Club, and Trolley Problem, Inc.
They are also known for their annual Christmas live streaming charity drive named the Jingle Jam, which has cumulatively raised more than £27.3 million for various charities as of 2024.
History
Founding and establishment (2008–2011)
The group was founded in July 2008 by friends Lewis Brindley and Simon Lane, with the creation of their YouTube channel named "BlueXephos" on 8 July 2008, and the publishing of their first YouTube video on 19 July 2008. Brindley and Lane first began by recording iTunes podcasts and YouTube video guides on World of Warcraft from their own homes and joined by friends from their guild, desiring to share Lane's quirky style of humour with other people around the world. The name of their fledgling channel, "Yogscast", was derived from the name of their World of Warcraft guild Ye Olde Goone Squade, which itself originated from the forum community of Something Awful, the users of which commonly refer to themselves as "goons". In August 2010, they joined the multi-channel network TheGameStation, a sub-network of Maker Studios.In December 2010, they recorded a Minecraft video series subsequently named Shadow of Israphel which amassed a large number of views and subscribers, and catapulted them to popularity. On 3 May 2011, Brindley and Lane officially incorporated The Yogscast as a registered company in Reading, Berkshire. They also moved into a house which they also shared with their friend Hannah Rutherford in Reading. They also started a secondary channel for showcasing dubbed-over trailers that they called "yogscast2". In October 2011, The Yogscast's main YouTube channel "YOGSCAST Lewis & Simon" hit one million subscribers, making them the biggest YouTube channel in the United Kingdom at that time.
Other members of Ye Olde Goone Squade subsequently joined Brindley and Lane in creating their own content under the Yogscast brand. Rutherford initially ran The Yogscast's secondary channel which later became her own channel to create her own content, while other early associates such as Duncan Jones, Paul Sykes, and Chris Lovasz created their own channels to record their own videos, marking the start of the Yogscast family.
Early difficulties (2011–2012)
The Yogscast team held their own panel at MineCon 2011, where they showcased some of the work of the Minecraft community. Following the event, the group came under fire from Minecraft creator Markus Persson, who stated that he would no longer work with the group, citing use of profanity and unprofessional behaviour. These claims were questioned by some MineCon attendees as well as game commentator TotalBiscuit. The Yogscast responded on Reddit and via a YouTube video, denying the accusations and expressing their disappointment and frustration with the organisation of MineCon, as well as their respect for Persson and the Minecraft community at large. Persson later apologised for the misunderstanding and retracted his accusations, attributing the statements to stress and miscommunication. To date, however, The Yogscast have not published further coverage of subsequent MineCons, nor have they ever worked professionally with Persson.In 2012, indie games developer Winterkewl Games ran a Kickstarter campaign to develop a video game called Yogventures! based upon the intellectual property of The Yogscast featuring Brindley's and Lane's Shadow of Israphel avatars. The goal of $250,000 was quickly reached, with a full total of $567,000 eventually being raised by 13,647 donators. However, the project stalled after Winterkewl Games ran out of funds, and was eventually cancelled in July 2014. Brindley later clarified that the $150,000 the Yogscast had received from the Kickstarter "was spent directly fulfilling physical rewards for Kickstarter backers, packing and shipping the rewards, covering marketing expenses... and supporting the project over close to three years", and that The Yogscast spent "considerably more than any money received on rewards" for backers. Backers were compensated with a copy of the game TUG developed by Nerd Kingdom, who also took hold of all developmental Yogventures! artwork and source code. Later in September of that year, backers were also given a copy of the game Landmark by Sony Online Entertainment.
Growth in popularity (2012–2016)
Despite the setbacks, The Yogscast continued to grow rapidly in scale and popularity. In January 2012, their main channel was the fourth most popular YouTube channel in the United Kingdom with 632 million views, ahead that of BBC Worldwide's YouTube channel, but by June 2012, The Yogscast's main channel became the first channel in the United Kingdom to reach one billion views, and by June 2013, they had acquired five million subscribers.In 2012, Brindley and Lane moved their operations out of their bedrooms in Reading and set up their first office at New Bond House in Bond Street, Bristol, dubbing it "YogTowers". Bristol was chosen for its infrastructure and transport links to London and within South West England for ease of access by the other members of their team. Their team continued to expand as other members of The Yogscast also moved in to the office to consolidate their operations in the shared space, and by July 2012 The Yogscast had more than a dozen members and staff in their office. A variety of new friends and content creators such as Martyn Littlewood and Hat Films also joined, marking the expansion of the Yogscast line-up beyond the original World of Warcraft group. As part of a collaboration with Sega and Humble Bundle, a playable character based on Lane was released as downloadable content for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on 6 December 2013, with all proceeds going to charity.
The channel began to release a series of music videos during this period, including a 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?" parody named "HONEYDEWYEAYEA", "MoonQuest: An Epic Journey", "Screw the Nether", and "Diggy Diggy Hole", the latter of which received 54 million views and was later covered by power metal band Wind Rose.
The Yogscast also began to hold regular public appearances in exhibitions and events throughout the United Kingdom where they would perform live shows and organise signings at events like the Insomnia Gaming Festival and the London Comic Con. In 2014, Brindley was named by The Sunday Times as one of Britain's 500 most influential people.
Diversification and independence (2016–present)
Citing professional difficulties, The Yogscast left Maker Studios in 2016 and set up their own multi-channel network. The Yogscast also partnered with Microsoft to produce and manage the Xbox On channel on YouTube on behalf of Xbox UK. In addition, numerous content creators such as Matthew Meredith, BasicallyBea, GeestarGames, Overwatch Central, and Vidiots also joined as part of the larger Yogscast network.In May 2017, The Yogscast announced their first published game, Caveblazers, developed by indie games developer Deadpan Games, as part of their foray into the game publishing business, marking the start of another new revenue stream for the company. Their second published game, Brunch Club was released in August 2019. In August 2022, they published PlateUp!, their most successful game to date which sold over 500,000 units as of October 2022.
In July 2017, The Yogscast left their old headquarters at Bond Street and shifted to larger offices elsewhere in Bristol at the King William House in Queen Square, furnishing it with new amenities and upgraded equipment. Their new dedicated recording suites were also made available for rental by content producers to record and stream content. These new headquarters were named The Yogscast Studios, abbreviated as "YogStudios". Old studio equipment that was previously used by The Yogscast in the old offices was also given to the National Science and Media Museum to be used as part of a new museum development.
In November 2017, The Yogscast spun off Fourth Floor Creative, a creative agency specialising in influencer marketing within the video game industry headed by The Yogscast's chief revenue officer Rich Keith. They were formed as a separate entity with the stated intention of drawing upon their experience gathered from being in The Yogscast to work with companies and influencers outside of The Yogscast. They began with a team of two, but within their first year they had grown to encompass eighteen staff and conduct 140 marketing campaigns, most of them for non-Yogscast influencers.
From July to August 2019, members Matthew "Caff" Meredith and Paul "Sjin" Sykes as well as CEO Mark Turpin were removed from The Yogscast or resigned following various allegations of inappropriate conduct. Turpin was accused of causing a woman "several breakdowns", "making suggestive comments", "discussing what he liked about body even when showed a clear disinterest in it", and mentioning "sending nudes". He was suspended, and later resigned from Yogscast.
In August 2019, The Yogscast hosted their own convention named YogCon. The event was hosted in Motion in Bristol, and 800 tickets were made available for purchase. The event featured three stages, two of which were live-streamed on Twitch. These stages featured events including; live book reading, a live version of the Triforce! podcast, a live music session and a pub quiz which both attendees of YogCon and people following the livestream could take part in.
In 2021, The Yogscast made a six-figure investment in Chance & Counters, a board game café based in Bristol, to help fund further expansion plans.
Also in 2021, Yogscast launched a podcast division, Pickaxe. They promote a successful slate of shows, including Simon's Peculiar Portions, Hat Films' The Hat Chat Podcast, Chance & Counters, Zero Degrees and The Review of Death: A Doctor Who Podcast.
, the main Yogscast YouTube channel has ~7,090,000 subscribers, 4,510,322,362 video views, and featured 30 other YouTube channels, while the Yogscast Twitch channel has ~945,000 followers and a total of 137,820,000 video views.