Top YouTuber Felix ‘PewDiePie‘ Kjellberg is currently on his first significant break from daily uploads in years, but the move doesn’t appear to be costing him subscribers.
Any successful YouTuber will preach that consistency is key, and this mentality has led to constant daily uploads from small to big channels alike.
Ensuring there is always fresh content appearing on your subscriber’s home pages is crucial to keep them coming back, but it looks like PewDiePie might be bucking that trend. Despite not uploading for over two weeks, new subscribers are still pouring in.
Of course, it’s not like he needs any more, with a whopping 103 million already, but it’s a fascinating statistic nonetheless.
The Swedish YouTuber gained subscribers at a rapid pace in late 2018 and early 2019, spurred on by his rivalry with T-Series, to reach 100 million first. At times, he was gaining over 200,000 subscribers every day.
Since taking his break, the growth hasn’t been anywhere near as fast as this. But, in the two weeks since his break, PewDiePie’s channel is still gaining 33,000 new subs a day, on average, according to statistics from SocialBlade.
His last video before the break was uploaded on January 15. Since January 19, he has gained an average of 233,000 subscribers each week, for the final two weeks of January.
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He has even hit a new milestone while on his break, cracking 103 million subs on January 26, with almost half a million new subs since taking a hiatus.
According to SocialBlade’s estimates, he will reach the next million-sub milestone at around the same date in February, but fans will be hoping that he returns to uploading before then.
It’s not all good news though, as his raw video views have taken a big hit, down from 6.8 million on January 18, to 3.5 million on January 31 (via StatSheep). But, this is inevitable when not uploading any fresh content.
Before taking his break, Pewds may have worried that it might cost his channel growth. This is often the fear that binds YouTubers to a grueling regiment of uploading nearly every day, and can cause burnout.
Linus Tech Tips, another massive channel, although much smaller than PewDiePie, with 10 million subs, is another YouTuber who has expressed the burnout. Linus revealed that he had even been considering total retirement in an emotional livestream.
Perhaps other YouTubers can take a leaf out of PewDiePie’s book, and avoid burnout by taking a much-needed rest. And, if they’re lucky like him, it might not affect their sub count as much as they fear it will.