Back to Work

TLDR: I'm closing Patreon and going back to work as a software developer.

When I quit my job two years ago I wasn't really planning on turning YouTube into my new job. I submitted my resignation months before my Pixel Art Animation video went viral and my plan was to use my savings (which would last me for about a year) to focus on Astortion and just see where things would go.

Regardless, through some miraculous coincidence, the channel exploded right after, allowing me to hit the $800 threshold on Patreon - which at the time was enough to cover all my expenses.

However, this revenue has never been particularly stable. In fact, it's been continuously declining:

For the past few months, the money I've made was less than my cost of living. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to complain. I don't think I'm entitled to making a living through my passion and I'm genuinely grateful to all of you who have supported me thus far (Some of you from the very beginning) I just want you to know what the current situation is.

As it stands, I'm not really interested in trying to make the channel sustainable again. While I could include sponsored segments in my videos, increase the quantity, enable midroll ads, focus on more viral and clickable topics, etc. To me, personally, it would feel less like a passion and more like a soulless grind. Not to mention the constant dependence on the whims of the algorithm.

Fortunately, I already have a promising career path as a software developer so I decided to continue on that road instead. Since the beginning of this year, I have been in talks with some companies looking for a job that I'd find fulfilling and I'm happy to announce that I succeeded. I'm trying to keep my online presence separate from my private life so I can't tell you where exactly I'll be working. But believe me when I say I'm genuinely excited about the opportunity I was given.

This job was the main reason for my disappearance this June. The interview process was quite long and stressful. And since I couldn't focus on making the next video I decided to go on an unpaid vacation.

So what does this mean for our community?

• First of all, I'll be pausing billing indefinitely so you won't be charged anymore. All of the currently active supporters will receive a special role on the Discord server and will continue to have access to the playtest builds of Astortion.
  I'll eventually close the Patreon page entirely so make sure to join the Discord server if you haven't already!

• I'll continue working on Astortion in my free time. The work will obviously progress slower but on the other hand, having a well-paid job will let me invest in the game and make it a much better experience. For example, I'll be able to commission real artists and properly pay the composer.

• YouTube will take the backseat for now. I cannot split myself between too many projects so if I need to choose between game development and making videos, games are a bit more important to me.

• Speaking of too many projects, I will still try to allocate some time to Motion Canvas because I have ambitious plans for it. But we'll see how that goes.

• Lastly, I'm going to make our Discord server public and share it with other viewers. The current channels will be archived and remain accessible only to the supporters.

Thank you all so much for all the support you have given me. I hope it doesn't sound too much like a goodbye because I'm not really going anywhere. I'll just have a bit less time to work on those projects. I'm still really invested in finishing Astortion and can't wait till you'll be able to play it.

Have a great weekend!