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Former GameXplain members talk about troubles with the company (heavy crunch, low pay) [New: Statements from Steve and Derrick]
- Thread starter Magic-Man
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Wouldn't expect him to. I'm betting that was him trying to cover it up on the GameXplain subreddit.
Yea that's pretty much what I'd disagree with too. Unless it was sponsored stuff no way they were making that from just youtube ads.
Now see this...this is having me feel some type of way.
I accepted the shit pay under the assumption that the channel was strapped for cash, but this, this is fucking unacceptable to me. The things I've held my tongue about, y'all don't even want to know.
There was a time where even $2/hour would have been nice for the amount of hours I put into some of those tech analysis projects.
I am devastated by this news. I can't fucking believe it.
Bullshit.
And brainchild, this may be even harder to hear for you.
So I actually went ahead and did a bit of math here. So I decided to count the amount of views they have in a single month. I went for April, because that was the whole FF7 debacle, the team was still all there, and it was before they started to have the new crew on.
So I counted the viewcounts of april. For the record, I started on Last of 2 Delayed, and I ended on TONS of New Xenoblade Screenshots. Just so people can check my math. I merely counted all of the views from the videos, and man is it staggering. There were a total of 9,252K views. Now this gives us a great baseline, considering that youtube/advertisers grant a certain amount per thousand views.
Now the actual numbers can change and vary, depending on ads and stuff. But the common wisdom, is that a youtube video will make around $3-$5 per thousand views.
Even on the low end, it doesn't look great for Andre. If every video made $3 per thousand views, that means GameXplain racked up a total of $27,756 within the month of April. Alone. At the high end, it means GameXplain racked up a total of $45,260 in the month of April. And yes, advertisers change, so the answer is likely somewhere in the middle, and it stacks up with what Steve's Wife was saying. And this is even before their extra sources of revenue. They have a patreon, are brand ambassadors for Amazon(they get a cut from amazon links in the description), and they also sell some merch. Not to mention donations from streams, and ect. Looking at this.... It is absolutely disgusting that Steve wasn't paid. With this amount of monthly revenue, even on the low end, they would be able to pay each person at GX(at the time) at least 80K a year, with a lot left over. Hell even 40k would be pretty substantial for the "part timers" like Steve and Ash.
This is absolutely disgusting.
Not surprised if it involves reviewing games at a per piece rate esp if it involves rpgs and doing video.
Keep up the great work! The podcast gets me through grading hundreds of first year low effort assignments. It's nice to hear intelligent gaming and industry conversation and speculation, rather than some of the cringe worthy alternatives that are out there.
How Much Money GameXplain Makes On YouTube - Net Worth - Naibuzz
(Last Updated On: May 6, 2019)GameXplain Net Worth – $2 Million GameXplain is a YouTube channel that mainly focuses on Nintendo video games. It analyzes trailers, gameplays and holds discussions on various aspects of the game such as history of characters, speculations, hints etc. It is hosted...
naibuzz.com
they should have stayed covering only Nintendo games. That was what they were good at and do only nintendo game trailers analysis because it was unqiue at the time. Ever since they got big(i mean 1mil subs) on youtube they lost focus.
Pretty interesting breakdown. Thanks.
It’s pretty bad if he has the means didn’t bring them all on full time with decent wages. Like, seeing your long time contributors also running 9-5 jobs and not trying to help stop them doing that...
I'm sorry dude.
For what it's worth, your content on GX was absolutely legendary. Probably was the most high quality content that they had at the time.
I adored your Luigi's Mansion 3 breakdown.
I can't believe that Andre has conned all of these people, and probably the most talented, and optimistic people on the internet. The reason I am poking this deep in itself, is really because Jon touched my heart by coming to a podcast I was doing. A very small one at that. Just that simple gesture gave me so much confidence that I am thriving in my current career, and it got me through a really tough time of physical illness. I will never forget that.
It's a shame that Andre has treated people like that, and the people that were essential to his success this way. And having that star studded moment, and getting to meet Jonneh. Man, knowing that he was being exploited at the time, just makes me feel awful. I added to his impossible schedule, but he went to show me and our small podcast support anyway.
It's great that people have a platform to come on and alert the public to practices like this.
We the viewing public should know who and what we are supporting without being snowed over and silence is usually not a great look in the truth department.
I myself have un-subscribed from GameXplain and choose to support smaller growing channels that treat people like decent human beings...
We the viewing public should know who and what we are supporting without being snowed over and silence is usually not a great look in the truth department.
I myself have un-subscribed from GameXplain and choose to support smaller growing channels that treat people like decent human beings...
Like others have mentioned, I was always under the impression that everyone at GX were good friends doing a side hobby together. If this is true, Andre is scum of the Earth level imo. How could you be that greedy and inhumane to people...?
Lozjam
Thanks for the kind words. It was really the community that kept me motivated to keep doing those videos (goodness knows it wasn't the money).
Unfortunately, there reached a point where I just had too much going on in my life that I really couldn't justify spending so much time on those productions; I had a marketing job, a job in CS/machine learning research, VFX freelance work, I have 5 kids, and was in the middle of a divorce, plus I was suffering from mental health issues for a variety of reasons, so I decided to significantly reduce my involvement with whatever amounted to what I considered to be 'hobbyist work', which is what working with GX was for me.
Now that I know that André really could have afforded to pay me the professional standard, I'm really disappointed in myself that I settled for so little.
It's quite embarrassing honestly.
Thanks for the kind words. It was really the community that kept me motivated to keep doing those videos (goodness knows it wasn't the money).
Unfortunately, there reached a point where I just had too much going on in my life that I really couldn't justify spending so much time on those productions; I had a marketing job, a job in CS/machine learning research, VFX freelance work, I have 5 kids, and was in the middle of a divorce, plus I was suffering from mental health issues for a variety of reasons, so I decided to significantly reduce my involvement with whatever amounted to what I considered to be 'hobbyist work', which is what working with GX was for me.
Now that I know that André really could have afforded to pay me the professional standard, I'm really disappointed in myself that I settled for so little.
It's quite embarrassing honestly.
Wow if GX was really raking in that much money while paying it's (overworked) staff/contributors peanuts... that's worse than I thought. Brainchild, Jonneh, Ash, Derrick, Steve... I'm really sorry to hear about this. You all seemed like genuinely kind, passionate people, and you deserved better. I'm glad you have been able to move on to greener pastures.
Youtube is a pretty horrible grinfy Business that is completely unhealthy how it incentivises work loads that kill people. brainchild I know how much work you Pitt into everything you did: to make each analysis exciting, correct and also very indepth. You surely deserves much more than what you got.
Sadly I had the feeling this was the case for the longest. if they were set up like EZA where all of them put in the same kind of work and share the spoils they would still be thriving ...but when you have one guy getting 80% of the profits while the rest is killing themselves for next to nothing it just won't work out.
Such a bummer to read...but the opinion that GX didn't make enough money for them to be paid more than a dollar per hour was ridiculous.
There really needs to be a reckoning for all of the game sites that aren't paying content creators a fair wage.
It's his fault and no one else's. Unfortunately we live in a world where good people are taken advantage of by greed and inward centered people. I hope you are in a better place and I'm sorry for the challenges you have faced. You did amazing work, and there are tons of people who appreciate it. Andre should grow a spine and address this but who knows. If not, just know that your work helped many of us be entertained, motivated or picked up from a low place. Thank you for that.
I might not be the biggest fan of BOTW but I always liked your analysis of the graphics tech the developers were implementing. Liked the Luigi's Mansion breakdown too.
Thank you. You've always been very supportive of my work and I really appreciate that.
Also, I'm super proud of what you've accomplished at DF so far, Alex. I legitimately can't stop smiling whenever you put out a new ray-tracing video and I'm so happy to know that with every new project, the computer science literacy of the gaming community increases. It's a wonderful feeling
Thank you very much.
Don't beat yourself up brainchild, no way you could have known how much they made, still you should have definitely been compensated fairly and it's abhorrent that GX would pay, who I also presumed were a bunch of great friends making videos, so little. Your contributions in videos like BotW and Luigi's Mansion were some of the best content on the site. You put in a staggering amount of work into your videos with all the research I imagine you had to have done alone.
Thank you.
One thing that doesn't often get talked about is the amount of academic research that goes into making many types of analysis videos. It's like making a documentary and it's very time consuming. Even as a programmer and former tech artist, I have to cite my knowledge (I can't just reference myself) and I need to stay abreast of the latest documentation on modern engines and rendering technologies.
Here is the bibliography for my last Luigi's Mansion 3 video:
https://www.mybib.com/b/jNeBmP
After combing through hundreds of academic resources, I ended up using over 60 citations. It was the biggest project I ever put together and it took me several weeks to complete. That is just not sustainable on low wages. Thankfully, that wasn't my only means of income at the time.
I took a look at your sources and it's crazy how many there were, and as you said, that is just what you chose to end with out of the hundreds you had to comb through. We thank you for putting in the work for your videos because you absolutely did not have to make a tech analysis as in-depth as you did.
I hope you're taking care of yourself and are well, I sincerely mean that, your analysis and calm-rational demeanor on the site is one that was and would be a huge loss.
As soon as I heard about GVG I became a Patreon almost immediately. Until late 2019 I was a long time viewer of GameXplain. When Jon started doing a tonne of work there (and then Steve) I assumed things were in a healthy state. I started sensing a weird vibe when Ash started saying that GameXplain didn't pay the bills and then Jon started up his own channel to help with income. The Patreon itself was weird since Jon tried a few things on there and Ash would often talk about ideas he had but nothing meaningful happened. Never much from Andre though. In the end I had a sense that the owner, Andre, was doing well out of GameXplain but that the employee's weren't so I stopped subscribing. I may be wrong but Andre seemed that one of those people on the left whose solidarity runs out when it comes to sharing personal financial gain.
Anyway glad that Jon is happily employed by the excellent Nintendo Life and that GVG is a thing. I particularly love the diverse roster of guests (something I wish EZA would do more on their two main podcasts).
Anyway glad that Jon is happily employed by the excellent Nintendo Life and that GVG is a thing. I particularly love the diverse roster of guests (something I wish EZA would do more on their two main podcasts).
Conspicuous silence from AndreGX given how promptly and petulantly he often shows up to confront those of us who have long voiced issues with the vacuous, first-to-market clickbait that powers the bulk of SpamXplain.
(With all respect to brainchild, whose technical posts I've always enjoyed and whose content elevated the brand just enough to persuade me to hold my nose, and who deserved so much better. Fascinating to have an inside look at your bibliography for that video in particular.)
GAF/Era were actively exploited by this channel as a content and recruiting pool as well as a driver of traffic. This is very much a local story, with a certain need for local accountability, but I'm not so foolish as to expect a satisfactory response.
(With all respect to brainchild, whose technical posts I've always enjoyed and whose content elevated the brand just enough to persuade me to hold my nose, and who deserved so much better. Fascinating to have an inside look at your bibliography for that video in particular.)
GAF/Era were actively exploited by this channel as a content and recruiting pool as well as a driver of traffic. This is very much a local story, with a certain need for local accountability, but I'm not so foolish as to expect a satisfactory response.
Imagine thinking you know better than the wife of someone who worked on the channel lmao.
Honestly I can't see current Gamexplain lasting for very long if the work conditions of the current staff don't improve dramatically.
I'm glad Jon is doing great at NL, but I really miss him on camera/reporting. He doesn't do as much of that at NL.
How Much Money GameXplain Makes On YouTube - Net Worth - Naibuzz
(Last Updated On: May 6, 2019)GameXplain Net Worth – $2 Million GameXplain is a YouTube channel that mainly focuses on Nintendo video games. It analyzes trailers, gameplays and holds discussions on various aspects of the game such as history of characters, speculations, hints etc. It is hosted...
naibuzz.com
Really disappointed to hear this as a longtime fan of the content and personalities who made it.
'petty', really?
So when it concerns a thing you like, critical work conditions are acceptable? Is that what's at play here?
André absolutely deserves flak for propagating crunch conditions.