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Matthew Patrick<\/strong>, aka MatPat<\/strong><\/a>, has announced on Tuesday (January 7) that he is stepping away from the platform and retiring after 13 years on YouTube<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n The 37-year-old started the The Game Theorists<\/a><\/em> channel on YouTube in 2011 with his wife Stephanie<\/strong>, and since has gained over 18 million subscribers on that channel.<\/p>\n On the channel, MatPat<\/strong> has explored \u201cthe vast lore of Minecraft<\/em>, piece together the craziest FNAF conspiracies, and cover the whole world of indie gaming.\u201d <\/p>\n He has also started spinoff channels The Film Theorists<\/a><\/em>, The Food Theorists<\/a><\/em>, The Style Theorists<\/a><\/em> and GTLive<\/a><\/em>. All five combined have upwards of 41 million subscribers and over 9 billion views!<\/p>\n Find out more about MatPat\u2019s retirement inside\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n MatPat<\/strong>, of course, took to YouTube to share his retirement announcement, in a tearful new video posted Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a third of my life, and I\u2019m gonna miss you. I\u2019m going to miss this,\u201d he said. \u201cI value what we have here. I value this conversation. I value this openness, this relationship that we share, and I\u2019m sad that I won\u2019t be able to see you every week, which then I guess prompts the question of why am I doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n Mat<\/strong> then goes on to explain that he and his wife Stephanie<\/strong> knew this day would come, they just didn\u2019t know when. To prepare for a time when he did step away, over the past couple of years, they have been \u201cstaffing up\u201d and partnered with a larger company to help run the channels.<\/p>\n He noted that he has loved doing the theory videos, but didn\u2019t love late nights, or that they have put work first for many years. Mat<\/strong> shared that a big reason for leaving is to just spend more time with his wife without having everything revolved around work, like playing video games or thinking about theories. He also notes that the internet is changing, and his personal life has changed, with his son growing up, and even Mat<\/strong> himself getting older.<\/p>\n So, what happens next?<\/p>\n MatPat <\/strong>reveals that it won\u2019t just be one person taking over the channels, but multiple.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time to pass it on to the next generation. It\u2019s time to give someone else a shot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be one person, but rather four. I would not wish my schedule on anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Those taking over the channels are people that viewers are familiar with and have already seen on the channels before!<\/p>\n Lee<\/strong> will take over The Film Theorists<\/em>, Amy<\/strong> will take over The Style Theorists<\/em>, Santi<\/strong> will take over on The Food Theorists<\/em>, and Tom <\/strong>will take over on the main channel, The Game Theorists<\/em>.<\/p>\n March 9th will be MatPat<\/strong>\u2018s final video, and he will also appear on GTLive<\/em> for the foreseeable future, \u201cprobably until the end of the summer.\u201d He will also still be working with those mentioned above, and he will be working on other projects on the channels and elsewhere. <\/p>\n Check out MatPat\u2019s goodbye video right here\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n