4 ms·

Husky Starcraft: From Burgerville to 500K YouTube Subscribers in 2 Years

132 points by joshmattvander 15y ago

MatthewB 15y ago
I really like stories like this. I was a pretty decent Starcraft player myself and I started watching his videos last year. He does a great job of announcing the matches and just watching the videos makes you a better player. Congrats to him.
staunch 15y ago
200 million views is somewhere around $400k - $600k ($2 - $3 CPM). It's crazy how many people are earning a good living off YouTube. Not a lot in absolute numbers, but when you compare it to the number of TV show hosts on cable/broadcast TV it's quite impressive. The dream of independent niche content producers finding an audience and making good money is actually happening.
- thadeus_venture 15y ago
  So you are estimating 100% click through rate on those pre video commercials? They are not even shown every time.
  - mlinsey 15y ago
    staunch's estimates were using CPM, not CPC, so click throughs are irrelevant (CPM - cost per 1,000 impressions displayed). That said, $2-3 CPM sounds high to me. But I don't know anything about the YouTube ad market.
    - ryanjmo 15y ago
      I know about the YouTube ad market and $2-$3 is reasonable, especially for gamers who get higher CPM thanks to very targeted advertising.
      - thadeus_venture 15y ago
        Ah yea, missed the CPM part there. That's a ridiculous amount of money then. Husky and HD have 10+ videos a week with 150-200K views.
henryprecheur 15y ago
Husky & HD (another StarCraft caster) both have a healthy revenue stream from their Youtube Channel. There are at least 12 other casters/players in North America/Europe making a living casting StarCraft II games. Husky wasn't the first to cast. Guys like Day9, Artosis, & Tasteless cast too, and are quite popular. But HD & Husky were the first to focus mostly on "Virtual" tournaments. The other successful casters focused more on "Real life" tournaments. Artosis & Tasteless even went to Korea for a year to comment StarCraft II games on GomTV. Day9 regularly travel to big tournaments. And yet, none of them make as much money as Husky & HD (supposedly, I don't have hard numbers.) It shows the power of the web. The old medias are here to stay, but most of the creativity & growth today comes from the web.
- jergason 15y ago
  Husky and HD appeal to the more casual audience. Their casts are more for entertainment, and they don't do too much in-depth analysis. Artosis, Day9 and Tasteless among others are pretty friendly for the average viewer, but they are definitely more knowledgeable and insightful. Just a slight correction. Artosis and Tasteless are actually still living in Korea and casting fulltime.
  - JeremyBanks 15y ago
    Just a slight correction. Artosis and Tasteless are actually still living in Korea and casting fulltime. Aye; this past weekend at MLG they even identified themselves as "from South Korea", not America. They'be been there for a few years and haven't announced any plans to move.
    - MikeCapone 15y ago
      Anyone wanting to see their stuff can go to http://www.gomtv.net/ http://www.gomtv.net/ You'll need to pay 10$ to watch all matches from a 'season', but many are free.
  - fferen 15y ago
    I'd have to say that Day9's "Funday Monday" casts are among the most entertaining videos I've ever seen. The guy is absolutely hilarious and remarkably nerdy even for Starcraft casters, qualities which don't show as much in his more analytic casts.
tejaswiy 15y ago
It's also interesting that Starcraft players themselves don't make anything close to this. new-age movie studios if you will. Not that there's anything wrong with that. These guys actually love what they do, and spend a lot of time doing it.
- light3 15y ago
  The top players make quite decent salaries, over 200k USD/yr: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=142342 http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=142342 Although you literally have to be in the top 2.
Tyrant505 15y ago
Any HN Starcraft2 players looking to do some playing?
- makeramen 15y ago
  Forget the downvotes. SC2 is actually a great way to meet and befriend people remotely, especially if you're on skype. Conversations quickly move to other common interests, which should be pretty easy among hn folks. How about hn peeps meet in channel HackerNews?
  - Tyrant505 15y ago
    Do you mean #startups?
    - nostrademons 15y ago
      I think he was referring to B-net, not IRC.
  - davidhollander 15y ago
    >How about hn peeps meet in channel HackerNews? I'm taking a coding break and will be on for the next hour. HNers are free to add me on BNET using the email in my profile.
    - Tyrant505 15y ago
      This is why I love Starcraft2(prev war2 even only couple years ago) because you can play the quick game as a mental break but not break(even boost) adrenaline! Just saw this reply so I missed playing with you man but another time! Was watching MLG matches of recent. gg
  - ido 15y ago
    SC2 is actually a great way to meet and befriend people remotely Too bad they removed playing on any servers except your regional one...
- 15y ago
w1ntermute 15y ago
Don't forget to check out their parody of Bieber's "Baby", entitled "Banelings": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMhh8zhTiY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMhh8zhTiY
- protomyth 15y ago
  They also put it on iTunes. I wonder how many they sold?

132 points by joshmattvander 15y ago

I really like stories like this. I was a pretty decent Starcraft player myself and I started watching his videos last year. He does a great job of announcing the matches and just watching the videos makes you a better player. Congrats to him.

staunch 15y ago

200 million views is somewhere around $400k - $600k ($2 - $3 CPM). It's crazy how many people are earning a good living off YouTube. Not a lot in absolute numbers, but when you compare it to the number of TV show hosts on cable/broadcast TV it's quite impressive. The dream of independent niche content producers finding an audience and making good money is actually happening.

thadeus_venture 15y ago
So you are estimating 100% click through rate on those pre video commercials? They are not even shown every time.
- mlinsey 15y ago
  staunch's estimates were using CPM, not CPC, so click throughs are irrelevant (CPM - cost per 1,000 impressions displayed). That said, $2-3 CPM sounds high to me. But I don't know anything about the YouTube ad market.
  - ryanjmo 15y ago
    I know about the YouTube ad market and $2-$3 is reasonable, especially for gamers who get higher CPM thanks to very targeted advertising.
    - thadeus_venture 15y ago
      Ah yea, missed the CPM part there. That's a ridiculous amount of money then. Husky and HD have 10+ videos a week with 150-200K views.

henryprecheur 15y ago

Husky & HD (another StarCraft caster) both have a healthy revenue stream from their Youtube Channel. There are at least 12 other casters/players in North America/Europe making a living casting StarCraft II games. Husky wasn't the first to cast. Guys like Day9, Artosis, & Tasteless cast too, and are quite popular. But HD & Husky were the first to focus mostly on "Virtual" tournaments. The other successful casters focused more on "Real life" tournaments. Artosis & Tasteless even went to Korea for a year to comment StarCraft II games on GomTV. Day9 regularly travel to big tournaments. And yet, none of them make as much money as Husky & HD (supposedly, I don't have hard numbers.) It shows the power of the web. The old medias are here to stay, but most of the creativity & growth today comes from the web.

jergason 15y ago
Husky and HD appeal to the more casual audience. Their casts are more for entertainment, and they don't do too much in-depth analysis. Artosis, Day9 and Tasteless among others are pretty friendly for the average viewer, but they are definitely more knowledgeable and insightful. Just a slight correction. Artosis and Tasteless are actually still living in Korea and casting fulltime.
- JeremyBanks 15y ago
  Just a slight correction. Artosis and Tasteless are actually still living in Korea and casting fulltime. Aye; this past weekend at MLG they even identified themselves as "from South Korea", not America. They'be been there for a few years and haven't announced any plans to move.
  - MikeCapone 15y ago
    Anyone wanting to see their stuff can go to http://www.gomtv.net/ http://www.gomtv.net/ You'll need to pay 10$ to watch all matches from a 'season', but many are free.
- fferen 15y ago
  I'd have to say that Day9's "Funday Monday" casts are among the most entertaining videos I've ever seen. The guy is absolutely hilarious and remarkably nerdy even for Starcraft casters, qualities which don't show as much in his more analytic casts.

tejaswiy 15y ago

It's also interesting that Starcraft players themselves don't make anything close to this. new-age movie studios if you will. Not that there's anything wrong with that. These guys actually love what they do, and spend a lot of time doing it.

light3 15y ago
The top players make quite decent salaries, over 200k USD/yr: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=142342 http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=142342 Although you literally have to be in the top 2.

Tyrant505 15y ago

Any HN Starcraft2 players looking to do some playing?

makeramen 15y ago
Forget the downvotes. SC2 is actually a great way to meet and befriend people remotely, especially if you're on skype. Conversations quickly move to other common interests, which should be pretty easy among hn folks. How about hn peeps meet in channel HackerNews?
- Tyrant505 15y ago
  Do you mean #startups?
  - nostrademons 15y ago
    I think he was referring to B-net, not IRC.
- davidhollander 15y ago
  >How about hn peeps meet in channel HackerNews? I'm taking a coding break and will be on for the next hour. HNers are free to add me on BNET using the email in my profile.
  - Tyrant505 15y ago
    This is why I love Starcraft2(prev war2 even only couple years ago) because you can play the quick game as a mental break but not break(even boost) adrenaline! Just saw this reply so I missed playing with you man but another time! Was watching MLG matches of recent. gg
- ido 15y ago
  SC2 is actually a great way to meet and befriend people remotely Too bad they removed playing on any servers except your regional one...
15y ago

w1ntermute 15y ago

Don't forget to check out their parody of Bieber's "Baby", entitled "Banelings": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMhh8zhTiY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMhh8zhTiY

protomyth 15y ago
They also put it on iTunes. I wonder how many they sold?