"Minecraft Multiplayer Fun" is a 2010 YouTube video, noted for being the oldest video available for viewing on the PewDiePie channel. The video was uploaded by Felix Kjellberg, the owner of the channel, on 2 October 2010. Also featuring Xebaz, a friend of Kjellberg's, the video shows the two playing Minecraft, a sandbox video game. "Minecraft Multiplayer Fun" has been viewed more than 22 million times as of March 2024.[update][1]
Background and release
Kjellberg registered his "PewDiePie" YouTube account on 29 April 2010, after forgetting the password to his old account.[2][a] His first YouTube upload was a different Minecraft video, which he deleted and no longer has access to.[4][5] Nonetheless, "Minecraft Multiplayer Fun" has been cited as Kjellberg's first video by various outlets.[6][7][8] Kjellberg described his commentary at the time as 'shy', and stated "it was so weird to me, sitting alone in a room talking into a microphone. That was unheard of back at the time. No one really did it."[6]
Released on 2 October 2010,[1] the video is Kjellberg's oldest available for public viewing.[9][10] The video was released while Minecraft was still in its alpha stage of development. The video's description reads: "My friend was going to show me something inside the building, somehow a zombie had spawn waiting for us in his minecart." Indeed, the video featured "what sounded like a young man laughing heartily at an unlucky zombie that had gotten stuck in a tree."[11] The video features mainly Swedish off-screen commentary from Kjellberg and Xebaz, although there is occasional swearing in English.[12] This is in contrast to the English he has primarily employed in his later videos.[11]
Reception and legacy
"Minecraft Multiplayer Fun" has been viewed over 22 million times as of May 2024.[1] The video itself has been cited as one that turned Kjellberg "into [a] huge YouTube star" by Business Insider, as well as one of the "10 most important videos in YouTube history" by Observer.[7][10]
Despite Minecraft being particularly notable within the Let's Play community, which Kjellberg helped to popularize, he did not upload playthroughs of the game during early periods of the game's popularity.[13][14] He stated in a video that "it felt like people were playing it just because it was popular, and not because they were actually [having fun] doing it."[13] However, in 2019, Kjellberg began to regularly upload Minecraft gameplays on his channel; Polygon wrote that he began to play the game, in part because, "he feels that he is flexible enough to not have the game define his channel."[14]The Verge cited one content strategist stating that Kjellberg was the top creator for the Minecraft keyword.[13]
In a pinned comment made in response to people asking about Xebaz, Kjellberg said that "Sad reality is sometimes friendships don't last forever - doesn't mean it's anyone's fault or that something happened. Xebaz was such a great friend to have during this time, he was one of the few people who understood and shared my dreams with YouTube and supported it 1000%."[1]