It is Clear Why Fantasy Has Misplaced 95% Of His Viewers

Not all that way back, Fantasy was one of the vital fashionable streamers on the earth. Across the identical time that Ninja had his life remodeled by “Fortnite,” Fantasy’s streaming profession additionally took off when he began taking part in the free-to-play shooter. In 2018, Fantasy’s channel blew up. At his peak he had greater than 3 million stay viewers watching him play.

Fantasy’s profession in the present day seems very totally different. As a substitute of dominating Twitch, Fantasy now streams to some thousand viewers at most, and it has been a very long time since he is streamed in entrance of tens of millions. “Fortnite” has modified rather a lot since 2018, too, however Fantasy’s profession has by no means actually been tied to that sport’s success. Fantasy solid his personal path within the business. He made daring choices like giving up on a aggressive gaming profession and leaving Twitch for YouTube. Fantasy has misplaced 95% of his viewers, however the individuals who have caught with him via to now have created a tight-knit neighborhood.

Nearly each fashionable streamer has a specific sport that helped them break into the scene. For Fantasy, that sport is “Fortnite.” He began taking part in the free-to-play battle royale earlier than it grew to become fashionable amongst avid gamers generally. By the point “Fortnite” grew to become a mainstream hit, Fantasy already had a ton of expertise within the sport, and his followers beloved watching Fantasy make the most of the constructing mechanics in “Fortnite” to decimate his foes.

Fantasy had a leg up on the competitors within the early days of “Fortnite,” however sadly for the streamer, that aggressive benefit did not final lengthy. As avid gamers adjusted to the distinctive techniques in “Fortnite,” it slowly grew to become clear that Fantasy wasn’t essentially the most completed builder or shooter within the sport. He was, nonetheless, one of the vital well-known “Fortnite” gamers within the sport’s early days, and due to that he ended up collaborating in a stay competitors in opposition to the sport’s different well-known participant, Ninja.

In 2018 Ninja and Fantasy went head-to-head in Las Vegas with hundreds of devoted followers cheering for them each. Fantasy underperformed in the course of the match, operating into issues with each his FPS and his “Fortnite” constructing abilities. Ninja received the evening, which grew to become a turning level in Fantasy’s aggressive profession. Followers not considered him as one of many world’s greatest “Fortnite” gamers, and a few of them determined to maneuver on different streamers.

In 2018 Fantasy pushed his limits as a aggressive gamer and content material creator. Fantasy signed on to the aggressive esports group Crew SoloMid (TSM) in January. That group gave Fantasy a house within the esports world, and being part of TSM helped expose Fantasy to a complete new viewers of followers who’d been following the staff since its creation in 2009. For years, Fantasy was an enthusiastic member of TSM, however he shocked his neighborhood in late 2021 by asserting that he could be leaving the staff.

Fantasy made the announcement in a publish on what was then known as Twitter. In it, Fantasy expressed his because of TSM and mentioned the staff had modified his life, however he additionally defined why it was time for him to depart. “TSM kind of misplaced that household really feel that I had with it,” Fantasy wrote (through Dexerto). 

The vibe at TSM wasn’t the one purpose Fantasy thought it was time for a change. He additionally defined, “I felt like I wasn’t actually utilized in an environment friendly method, I finished being somebody that was in TSM content material rather a lot.” Paradoxically, by leaving the TSM, Fantasy ensured that he obtained even much less publicity on-line. Fantasy grew to become a solo streamer and, separated from a bigger content material creation group, his attain out of the blue dropped. Fantasy had already misplaced viewers by 2021. Leaving TSM did nothing to assist his streaming profession.

When Fantasy’s reputation as a aggressive “Fortnite” participant started to wane, he discovered himself in a troublesome place. On the time, “Fortnite” was extra fashionable than it ever had been earlier than, with new gamers coming to the sport each single day, however fewer and fewer individuals had been taken with watching Fantasy play it. Fantasy had been on the proper place on the proper time when “Fortnite” took off, and he discovered himself attempting to duplicate that success with different new video games. 

As a substitute of sticking with a single sport and grinding it out, Fantasy began leaping from sport to sport. He spent a while in 2020 taking part in “Valorant” and noticed his viewership spike to its highest level in years. His streams had been averaging over 30,000 concurrent viewers at a time, however that peak did not final lengthy. 

After “Valorant” Fantasy moved to different fashionable video games like “Fall Guys” and “Amongst Us.” Each time Fantasy moved to a brand new sport, his channel noticed a small spike in viewership as newcomers and previous followers alike stopped by his stream to see what was new. None of these spikes got here near matching Fantasy’s concurrent viewers when he was in his prime “Fortnite” section, however they did assist preserve Fantasy’s channel going. 

Not lengthy after leaving TSM, Fantasy made one other choice that had huge ramifications for his streaming profession. Fantasy, like most different main streamers of the time, began his profession on Twitch, and he spent years streaming there completely. That modified in 2022. YouTube was making an enormous push for streamers to come back to its platform, and lots of of them made the soar. On July 11, Fantasy shocked his fellow streamers by becoming a member of the pattern to announce that he was leaving Twitch (and his account with 7.4 million followers) behind.

In a minute-and-a-half-long video posted on-line, Fantasy revealed that he had signed a contract to completely stream on YouTube. The video in contrast the transfer to Fantasy’s preliminary choice to pursue streaming as an alternative of school firstly of the profession. “Choices have made me who I’m,” Fantasy says within the video, “and that is my choice.” Regardless that loads of different streamers had been making comparable strikes, Fantasy’s transition to YouTube was nonetheless an enormous danger, and it is one that did not fairly pan out for him.

When Fantasy moved to YouTube, he virtually instantly noticed a decline in viewership when a few of his viewers did not need to depart Twitch with him. Fantasy principally needed to construct a complete new neighborhood on YouTube. It took time, however Fantasy ultimately managed to construct a core following on his new platform. Sadly, even in spite of everything that work, Fantasy’s YouTube viewers was smaller than his Twitch one had been.

If there’s one one that’s an sincere skilled in what occurred to Fantasy’s streaming profession, it is Fantasy himself. For a very long time the creator did not speak publicly about his dwindling viewership numbers, or how he felt about his shrinking neighborhood. Fantasy ultimately opened up about his emotions on in a video titled “Because of this I fell off …” Within the video Fantasy admitted that there have been instances the place his lack of success felt crushing and left him crying earlier than streams. These days Fantasy isn’t just extra snug with the place he is landed, however he is additionally been frank about how he was his profession’s personal worst enemy.

In that very same video, Fantasy talked about his shrinking viewership and positioned a number of the blame on his “Fortnite” efficiency. “The primary contributors to this had been me not with the ability to maintain that place as being ‘Fortnite’ man and being, like, profitable and aggressive,” Fantasy mentioned. 

After all, Fantasy ultimately moved previous “Fortnite,” however he nonetheless confronted one other self-inflicted barrier to success. “I personally was the kind of individual the place I by no means wished assist. I by no means wished to need to depend on any person else for the reply,” Fantasy mentioned. He went on to elucidate that he now realizes how counter-productive it may be to work fully alone, particularly within the streaming business. If Fantasy had been prepared to ask his fellow content material creators for assist, and even recommendation, his streaming numbers may look very totally different in the present day.

All the concentrate on Fantasy’s decline misses the truth that he nonetheless has an enviable streaming profession. Whereas Fantasy’s viewership in the present day pales compared to 2018, there are many would-be streamers who would like to have an viewers of hundreds. Fantasy remains to be an lively streamer, and although his chat is smaller than it was once, the individuals who nonetheless hand around in his streams are devoted followers. At this level in his profession, Fantasy has discovered alternatives to attempt new issues.

After speaking to different streamers like Ludwig, Fantasy began moving into boxing different content material creators. He took half in a chess boxing event, after which, in 2023, Fantasy took half in Creator Conflict 2, a boxing event that pitted content material creators from all around the web in opposition to one another. Fantasy carried out surprisingly properly, scoring a primary spherical TKO in opposition to former Machinima staff member Hundar. 

Apparently impressed by his efficiency on the occasion, Fantasy signed up for Creator Conflict 3. His followers had been past excited to see him compete in opposition to Kevin Lerdwichagul, however the struggle by no means got here to be. Fantasy disillusioned his viewers by asserting in June 2025 that he was dropping out of the occasion, leaving his followers to surprise once they’ll subsequent get to see him step into the ring.

Fantasy is not the one streamer who’s seen his viewership decline over time. He is not even the one “Fortnite” streamer whose numbers have dipped. Ninja has misplaced 98% of his viewers, but it surely’s not simply because “Fortnite” is not as fashionable because it as soon as was. After all, nobody stays on prime endlessly, however an enormous a part of the explanation Fantasy and different “old style” streamers are having hassle holding their numbers up is due to how stiff the competitors has gotten.

In 2018 streaming was nonetheless a comparatively new phenomenon. Twitch was principally the one streaming platform, and there was a restricted quantity of creators vying for consideration on-line. At this time the panorama is vastly totally different. The platform area is extra aggressive than ever with Twitch, Kick, and YouTube all preventing for streaming viewers. 

There are additionally infinitely extra individuals streaming in the present day than there have been when Fantasy was at his hottest. The streaming world is stuffed with rising stars and new niches like VTubers — “digital” YouTubers that undertaking animated characters as an alternative of their face on display screen — that merely did not exist when Fantasy began his profession. A few of Myths previous viewers have discovered new favorites and moved on.

The latest blow to Fantasy’s viewer rely was inflicted by the streamer himself. The top of 2024 was an essential time. After years of completely streaming on YouTube, his contract with the platform got here to an finish. Fantasy’s followers had been excited to see if he’d signal a brand new cope with YouTube or transfer his streaming elsewhere. As a substitute, he determined to take a break.

“”I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade now, and I really feel that it’s true to my core proper now, that it is necessary for me to take a break,” Fantasy mentioned in a video that he posted. Fantasy, like another work, deserves a break when he wants one, however streamers virtually universally see their numbers drop once they step away from the pc for any size of time. Not with the ability to ever take a break is among the ways in which streaming is secretly a harmful job.

Fantasy determined to make his break into an indefinite hiatus, so followers had no concept when to anticipate his return. After a number of months away, Fantasy got here again to his channels, however that break did some actual injury. Fantasy’s YouTube movies and livestreams carried out worse on common after the break than they did earlier than. All through 2025, Fantasy continued posting and streaming repeatedly, however he did not handle to win again everybody who left in the course of the break.