The Yogscast

Yogscast Ltd.
Private Limited Company
Industry
Founded Bristol, England, United Kingdom (2008 (2008))
Founders Lewis Brindley & Simon Lane
Headquarters Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Key people
Products
Revenue
  • Decrease £827,272(2014)
  • £1,477,030 (2013)
  • £528,399 (2012)[1]
Total assets
  • Decrease £1,356,110(2014)
  • £2,110,655 (2013)
  • £754,334 (2012)[1]
Total equity
  • Increase £2,619,305(2014)
  • £1,627,567 (2013)
  • £494,243 (2012)[1]
Number of employees
 36 (as of 2015)
Website yogscast.com

The Yogscast are a network of YouTube broadcasters who produce gaming-related video content focused around their main YouTube channel, "YOGSCAST Lewis & Simon" (previously known as "BlueXephos"). The channel initially gained popularity with its videos about the MMO World of Warcraft,[2] but have more recently come to be associated with sandbox game Minecraft, which the group helped bring to widespread attention.[3][4] They are well known for their role playing series 'Shadow of Israphel' which was extremely popular in the early days of Minecraft.

History

The group was founded in July 2008 by Lewis Brindley. The name "The Yogscast" was derived from the title letters of his previous World of Warcraft guild, "Ye Olde Goone Squade".[5] Videos posted on behalf of the guild were thus referred to as "Yogscasts", though the term eventually came to refer specifically to those posted by Brindley and co-host Simon Lane on the "BlueXephos" channel.[6]

With these videos gaining popularity, other "Yogs" guild mates and associates requested that Brindley and Lane help them create YouTube channels of their own. Hannah Rutherford (colloquially Lomadia), Duncan Jones (Lalna) or (LividCoffee) Paul Sykes (Sjin) and Chris Lovasz (Sips) thus made channels alongside "BlueXephos" to form something of a Yogscast network. Since this point, many more content creators have joined the group, forming "The Yogscast Family".

The Yogscast was officially incorporated into a registered company on the 3 May 2011 by company director Brindley.[7] He, Lane and Rutherford then moved operations from their shared home office in Reading, to their new headquarters in Bristol, colloquially dubbed "YogTowers".[3]

The Yogscast team held their own panel at MineCon 2011,[4][8] 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.[9] These claims were questioned by some MineCon attendees as well as game commentator John Bain.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

In June 2012, The Yogscast's primary channel, YOGSCAST Lewis & Simon, became the first channel in the United Kingdom to reach one billion views.[12] That same year, the group started a Kickstarter campaign to develop a video game called "Yogventures!". The goal of $250,000 was quickly reached, with a full total of $567,000 eventually being raised by 13,647 donators. The project was cancelled, however, in July 2014. Backers were compensated with a copy of the game "TUG" by Nerd Kingdom, who also took hold of all developmental Yogventures! artwork and source code.[13]

By the end of 2015, The Yogscast had:

Video series

Principal members of The Yogscast at BlizzCon 2011. From left to right, Hannah Rutherford, Lewis Brindley, and Simon Lane.

World of Warcraft

The Yogscast's World of Warcraft videos were the first productions released by the group, and largely took the form of parodic how to's. When the Cataclysm expansion set was released, Brindley and Lane also began recording play-through videos. Much of The Yogscast's initial popularity was due to media and blog coverage of these videos, with Joystiq regularly covering them as they were released.[2][16]

Minecraft

One of the most popular video features of The Yogscast are their many Minecraft series.[4] In December 2010, Brindley and Lane began an ongoing series of Let's Play-style Minecraft survival multiplayer videos. As the series progressed, however, it evolved into a semi-improvised comedy drama named "Shadow of Israphel". This new series led to a boom in the number of the group's YouTube subscribers, though its sporadic release schedule was halted in the summer of 2012, following the release episode 42. Lewis Brindley confirmed the series would be back but no date has been announced. On December 11th 2015, Lewis announced that "The Shadow of Israphel" would be returning if the 2015 Jingle Jam Charity drive would raise $2.5 million dollars, (US dollar) However The goal of $2.5 million dollars has not been reached.

Live Action

Since growing in size, The Yogscast have also been able to produce and take part in larger scale projects, including more live action video series. The most common of these are the group's coverage of various gaming conventions, as well as flamboyantly acted RPG sessions and studio-promoted "challenge" videos. Other notable live action productions include a discussion with television and radio presenter Jonathan Ross,[17] and a mockumentary-style interview with actor Warwick Davis.[18] Both Ross and Davis were promoting mobile games at the time.

Podcast

The YoGPoD
Presentation
Hosted by Xephos (Lewis Brindley), Honeydew (Simon Lane)
Genre Gaming, Comedy
Language English
Length 15 – 120 minutes
Production
Production Tom Clarke
Publication
Debut 5 February 2009 (2009-02-05)
Provider Yogscast Ltd.
Website http://www.yogscast.com

The YoGPoD podcast was first released on 5 February 2009, and was intended to run alongside the group's YouTube video releases. It often featured other members of the "Yogs" World of Warcraft guild, and were initially released with a proposed weekly schedule. Releases became more sporadic over time, however, to the point that "Episode 42: Strawnana" came 5 months after its predecessor. A new, Halloween-themed YoGPoD was released on the 30th of October 2012, marking the first podcast from the group in 12 months. On October 29, 2015, the Yogscast released a new Halloween-themed YoGPoD, with intention to continue making more in the future.

The YoGPoD has no strict structure, but one of the more prominent features has Lane impersonate public figures that Brindley then "interviews". Brian Blessed, Warwick Davis and Elizabeth II are often mocked in this fashion.

The podcast reached #1 on the iTunes UK Podcasts chart on 4 July 2012,[19] following the release of 'Episode 42: Strawnana'. After nearly of year of hiatus for the YogPod, the YogPod returned Fall 2015, with classic sequels of "Halloween SpackTacular" and the "YogPod Christmas Special."[20]

Charity initiatives

The Yogscast win at the Oxfam Awards 2012, accepting the award for Most Popular Fundraiser from JustGiving

For the 2011 festive season, The Yogscast team raised money for Oxfam to "send locally-sourced and vaccinated goats to families living in poverty." As of May 2012, a total of £63,780 was raised, exceeding the target goal of £60,000.[21] The Yogscast was named JustGiving's Most Popular Fundraiser of 2012 for this achievement.[22]

For the 2012 holiday season, the Yogscast team did another charity drive for Oxfam,[23] As part of this charity drive, the group hosted a livestream every day in December, with the exception of Christmas Day.[24] working with other YouTube partners such as HatFilms (now long-term associates), GameChap, TotalBiscuit and Athene. "Honeydew's Honey Drive" was successful in raising £210,977.[23] The group were again nominated for JustGiving's Most Popular Fundraiser of 2013, and received a Special Recognition Award at the JustGiving Awards ceremony.[25]

The Yogscast followed this Christmas charity format through to 2013 and 2014, hosting the "Dwarven Dairy Drive"[26] and "Yogscast Jingle Jam"[27] in association with Humble Bundle. These drives raised $1,156,799.80 (~£700,000)[28] and $1,104,882.09, respectively.[29]

The Yogscast continued its annual charity livestream tradition again in 2015, staying with the same "Jingle Jam" theme used in 2014. Like 2013 and 2014, donations were made via the Humble Bundle charity website. The charities included in the 2015 Jingle Jam were Médecins Sans Frontières, Fauna and Flora International, Oxfam, Special Effect, GamesAid, Cancer Research UK, and the Mental Health Foundation. Guests to the live streams included big YouTube personalities including CaptainSparklez, who hold the most viewed gaming related video on YouTube, and Tobuscus, who has over 15.3 million subscribers. [30][31]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Ceremony Award Recipient Result
2012 Golden Joystick Awards YouTuber Gamer Award The Yogscast Won
2013 Golden Joystick Awards YouTuber Gamer Award The Yogscast Won

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Key Financials". Company Check Ltd. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "PC gaming's new video professionals". PC Gamer: 18–19. September 2011.
  3. 1 2 Rory Cellan-Jones (10 July 2012). "The TV tycoons you may have missed". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Rob Spillman (6 December 2011). "Inside the revolutionary world of "Minecraft"". Salon. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Yogscast | FAQ". Yogscast. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  6. ↑ "People: Simon Lane & Lewis Brindley". Edge: 130–131. December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Director Summary/Overview". Company Check Ltd. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Minecon 2011 Schedule of Events". GameShampoo Magazine. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  9. 1 2 Henry Winchester (22 November 2011). "Minecraft’s Notch versus Yogscast: the story so far". PC Gamer. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Nathan Brown (24 November 2011). "Yogscast "disappointed" by Notch Minecon claims". Edge Online. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  11. ↑ Tom Hoggins. "Inside the Yogscast, Britain's Biggest Gaming Channel". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Kickstarter-funded Yogventures canned, backers given Steam key for another game instead". Eurogamer.net. 17 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "About Us, Yogscast Staff, The Yogscast Family, Who are The Yogscast?". The Yogscast. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Yogscast Content Creators". Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Posts with tag yogscast". WoW Insider. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  16. ↑ "Simon Meets Jonathan Ross". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "When Simon met Warwick". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Xephos, Honeydew – 'The YoGPoD' British iTunes Chart Performance". DownloadCharts.net. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  19. ↑ "The YoGPoD". iTunes. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  20. ↑ "Yogscast Christmas Goat Giving Special". JustGiving.
  21. ↑ "Most Popular Fundraiser". JustGiving Awards 2012.
  22. 1 2 "Yogscast – Honeydew's Honey Drive". JustGiving.
  23. ↑ Ed Carrasco (4 December 2012). "Yogscast Plays Video Games For Charity This Christmas". NMR.
  24. ↑ "Meet the winners". JustGiving Awards 2013.
  25. ↑ "Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed - Yogscast DLC on Steam".
  26. ↑ Andy Chalk (21 November 2014). "Yogscast Announces the 2014 Jingle Jam Charity Drive". PC Gaming.
  27. ↑ GamePress (3 January 2014). "The Yogscast raise over £700,000 for charity in December live stream". Gamasutra.
  28. ↑ Julian Bencon (2 January 2015). "Yogscast Jingle Jam raises over $1m for charity". pcgamesn.
  29. ↑ http://tubechum.com/yogscast-livestream-2015-jingle-jam-details/
  30. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Yogscast/comments/3uhdh2/jingle_jam_charity_drive_2015_schedule_and_links/#christmas-box

External links

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