Pokemon content creator Lee ‘Leonhart’ Steinfeld revealed a glitch on YouTube that is apparently impacting channels who make uploads based on the Nintendo RPG. The bug is flagging videos as “made for kids” when they’re not.
Leonhart is one of the top Pokemon YouTubers on the platform. The personality attracts viewers by hunting down the rarest items in the Trading Card Game -–such as when he pulled a 1st Edition Charizard worth up to $55k on May 16.
However during his May 20 upload, the Nintendo fan opened up to his audience about a potential glitch that is impacting videos based on the RPG. Addressing his subscribers, he explains how it’s affecting many channels.
Pokemon YouTube channelss being flagged
In his latest upload, the popular YouTuber revealed he began to notice a drastic decline in views starting around April. He also explained that viewers were not able to hit the “bell notification” on his channel as the feature was grayed out.
“They weren’t even able to ring it. And when they tried to a little thing popped up that said “This content is disabled on videos that are made for kids,” he said, and followed up by saying that after other Pokemon channels began to be impacted, he contacted YouTube support – who confirmed the glitch.
“They said ‘The engineers are aware of this issue, and are currently working on it'” That is what the engineers are confirming is an issue, and this has been the problem since April. So, there you have it guys, the big problem that has been causing the downward trend of thousands of channels,” he said.
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The Pokemon fan summed up the issue, and exclaimed, “The big bug that YouTube did confirm, is an issue where your videos, even though it looks good on analytics, are not getting promoted, are getting marked for kids. It’s literally stopped suggesting your old videos and not promoting your new videos.”
He then stated that he continued to blame himself for months, and would “one-up” his prior videos by opening the rarest packs in his collection. “The [bug] is ruining channels. It really made me depressed. What am I doing wrong? You blame yourself.”
According to the YouTuber, the bug is hitting channels even outside of Pokemon – although it seems to be related to content that the platform’s algorithm perceives is content for children.
While no doubt the series was initially aimed at kids, the Nintendo RPG continues to be one of the best selling properties among adults. The TCG in particular has become a hardcore hobby for enthusiasts.