It's the end of one of YouTube's most consistent runs ever. PewDiePie has officially announced that he'll be taking a break from creating new content for YouTube with the start of 2020. The announcement comes as a major surprise given PewDiePie's incredibly consistent rate of publishing YouTube videos. PewDiePie hasn't announced exactly when his YouTube break will start or how long it will last.
PewDiePie first made the announcement as part of his most recent YouTube video, titled "YouTube's New Update Has A BIG FLAW!" 10 minutes into the video, PewDiePie revealed that "I think now is a great time as any to announce I have special announcement to make. I am taking break from YouTube." PewDiePie would go on to say that he wanted to announce it in advance and that he'd made up his mind. His given reason for taking the break is something everyone can understand, "I am tired."
The plan is to take a break from content creation in early 2020 "for a little while." PewDiePie doesn't intend to disappear without providing further information to his fans, and promises that he'll provide more information about what's going on later. Hopefully, he's able to make the most of it and relax, or have a bit of fun that doesn't involve dealing with YouTube comments.
PewDiePie's exhaustion likely won't be surprising to many. He's been publishing a new video every day for months, which might be why he's YouTube's most-watched channel this year. That doesn't necessarily mean PewDiePie is working every day, as he's likely able to create multiple videos in a day, but the stress of constant content output has to be significant. It's also worth noting that PewDiePie recently had his home broken into, which could add to the stress.
As for the rest of PewDiePie's video, it's a reaction to YouTube's recent policy changes. YouTube expanded its policies to increase its ability to respond to different kinds of harassment on its platform. PewDiePie, unsurprisingly, isn't supportive of the change. He argues that past videos which may include harassment based on the updated guidelines should be grandfathered from the changes. PewDiePie thinks YouTube's "anarchy system" of content creators criticizing and mocking other people is how things are kept in check.
Expect an update regarding when PewDiePie will be taking his break in early 2020 in the weeks to come.