We have hit YouTube restrict so are shifting to Netflix

The Sidemen are used to creating content material for YouTube, however say they’ve now “hit the restrict” on what they’ll obtain on the video sharing platform so are shifting “to one thing even greater”.

The British YouTube superstars have introduced that the second season of their actuality present, Inside, will debut on Netflix subsequent yr. The streaming large will even make a US model.

The Sidemen – the seven-strong group that features content material creator, rapper and boxer KSI – have greater than 146 million YouTube subscribers between them.

Vik Barn – aka Vikkstar123 – instructed the BBC the transfer was “formidable” however it was “thrilling to beat a brand new problem”.

He mentioned: “Netflix is the gold commonplace and a part of us working with them is to say that over the previous decade we have managed to go from filming content material in our bedrooms to working with the most important streaming platform on the earth.”

The Sidemen began creating YouTube content material within the early 2010s.

They began by taking part in and reacting to video video games, however previously decade the group of pals have branched out to comedy sketches, journey challenges, podcasts and a relationship present.

They now make use of a manufacturing group of greater than 100 individuals who assist create the movies and generate concepts, Vik mentioned.

One concept that has “massively taken off” is Inside, which launched in June on YouTube and racked up 14 hundreds of thousands of views for its opening episode.

The competition’s first season noticed 10 influencers locked in a home for per week as they battled for a prize with as much as £1m.

Its success caught the eye of Netflix bosses, who’ve now commissioned a second UK season and a US model of the present. Each shall be on Netflix as a substitute of YouTube.

“YouTube opened so many doorways for us so we will not diminish its energy and it is nonetheless unrivalled in some methods,” Vik defined. “However working with Netflix is a cool alternative for us to succeed in a brand new viewers.

“We’re at a ceiling with YouTube – we usher in 20 million UK viewers every month and now we’re excited about the right way to join with totally different folks.”

Except for Vik and KSI, the opposite Sidemen are Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL, Behzinga and W2S.

Vik mentioned the group, who’re aged between 27 and 32, had some reservations about bringing their work to a brand new platform as a result of “we have by no means completed it earlier than and we’re all very specific about the way in which we work”.

“We additionally transfer at a extremely quick tempo – typically we shoot on Wednesday and by Sunday we can have uploaded a two-hour video. So we needed to verify Netflix had been pleased with the quick turnarounds and us being very dynamic.”

However the seven members vote on all the pieces and had been unanimous within the choice to maneuver their actuality present to Netflix, he mentioned.

The group will function govt producers and have “full management to make the brand new season greater and higher than the final”.

They don’t seem to be the one on-line stars to take their very own big-money sport present to a standard streaming platform as a substitute of placing it on YouTube.

MrBeast, the world’s hottest YouTuber, will launch Beast Video games on Amazon Prime Video on 19 December, though that present has been on the centre of controversy.

As one of many UK’s greatest YouTube content material creators, 29-year-old Vik may be very conscious of what number of younger males look as much as him. However he mentioned it isn’t his job to be a task mannequin.

“In our movies we’re simply ourselves, we’re not aiming to make certain characters, and initially we’re content material creators who make enjoyable movies.”

He added that the Sidemen had a “unified stance on not talking about political and social points”.

“Typically we really feel stress to, however we might slightly go away this to the consultants.”

A part of the rationale for this choice is the extreme media scrutiny they face.

KSI not too long ago confronted backlash after he shared a video of Donald Trump consuming a bottle of Prime, an power drink he co-founded.

Some noticed that as selling and supporting Trump forward of the US election. Nevertheless, Vik responded by saying the group “attempt to not over analyse issues”.

“Every little thing we do will all the time upset a small group of individuals however you simply have to maneuver ahead,” he mentioned.

The Sheffield-based creator additionally mentioned the group had bought higher at “ignoring the trolling and hate”.

“The web has turn into a really turbulent place not too long ago and sometimes issues do get to us.

“We attempt to simply take into consideration how proud we’re of all the pieces we have constructed and that helps us cancel out the negativity.”

Vik mentioned “folks thought I used to be bizarre” when he first began making content material a decade in the past.

“At college folks would suppose I used to be unusual for videoing myself taking part in video games and that there was one thing improper with me after I was recording myself on my cellphone in public.

“And my dad and mom weren’t joyful in any respect with how a lot time I used to be spending on YouTube, however they mentioned so long as I bought good grades in school then I may stick with it.”

The Sidemen have been working collectively for greater than a decade, and in latest months there have been rumours that the group could disband quickly.

Nevertheless, Vik quashed these rumours, saying: “Proper now all the pieces is improbable.

“We by no means actually know the place we’re going sooner or later however there’s completely no finish in sight proper now.”