Let's Play Live

Let's Play Live
StatusDefunct
GenreGaming, internet, content creation
CountryUnited States
Years active7
InauguratedFebruary 20, 2015 (2015-02-20)
Most recentApril 3, 2022 (2022-04-03)
Organized byRooster Teeth

Let's Play Live, named Achievement Hunter Live during its last two tours, was a touring Let's Play show that featured video games and internet personalities. Let's Play Live grew out of Rooster Teeth's gaming division, Achievement Hunter, and became a collaboration with multiple channels including members of the Let's Play family: Funhaus, ScrewAttack, Kinda Funny, Cow Chop, and The Creatures.[1]

Tours

Everyone who has ever lived has wanted to be a rock star ... since talent is required, that's not going to happen. So this is the next best thing.

— Geoff Ramsey, Let's Play Creative Director and co-founder of Rooster Teeth[2]

Described by organizer Geoff Ramsey as, "the new-media equivalent of a concert or sporting event," LPL recreated web videos his company is best known for, playing video games in a humorous manner to a live audience.[3]

Let's Play Live originated in Austin, Texas in 2015 featuring six Achievement Hunter personalities: Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo, Ryan Haywood, Michael Jones, Gavin Free and Ray Narvaez, Jr. Drawing comparison to DigiTour Media, the first Let's Play Live took place at the Moody Theater on February 20, 2015.[4]

Let's Play Live sold out shows at Chicago's Chicago Theatre, New York City, and Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre in 2016.[2][3] The NYC LPL took place during the 2016 New York Comic Con in the Hammerstein Ballroom and was broadcast live to over 240 theaters across the country in collaboration with Fathom Events.[5] In explaining its appeal, one reviewer noted that knowing the game was irrelevant, the interest came from, "watching the real people on stage react to video games – often in angry, hilarious ways I can relate to".[6]

From April 24–30, 2017 Let's Play Live toured through Newark, New Jersey, Baltimore, Orlando, Florida and Tampa, Florida and featured members of Achievement Hunter and Funhaus.[7][8]

LPL returned to Austin the night before RTX 2018 began.[9]

In August 2018, Rooster Teeth announced they would replace RTX Sydney 2019 with three Let's Play Live events in different Australian cities.[10] Achievement Hunter traveled to Australia to perform Let's Play Live as Achievement Hunter Live from January 23–27, 2019 in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.[11] Another show occurred as part of RTX Austin 2019.

Achievement Hunter Live West Coast Tour was scheduled to run from March 13–20, 2020 in Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco.[12] It has since been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. On January 28, 2021, Achievement Hunter announced that the rescheduled tour dates have been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns with plans to reschedule after the pandemic.[13]

Tour dates

Date Name Location Associated act(s)
February 20, 2015 Let's Play Live! Austin, Texas Funhaus
June 17, 2016 Let's Play Live! 2 Hollywood, California Funhaus, ScrewAttack, Kinda Funny, Cow Chop and The Creatures
August 19, 2016 Let's Play Live: Chicago Chicago, Illinois Funhaus, Kinda Funny and The Creatures
October 8, 2016 Let's Play Live: New York New York City, New York Funhaus and Cow Chop
April 24, 2017 Lets Play Live! East Coast Tour Newark, New Jersey Funhaus
April 26, 2017 Baltimore, Maryland Funhaus
April 28, 2017 Orlando, Florida Funhaus
April 30, 2017 Tampa, Florida Funhaus
August 2, 2018 Lets Play Live! RTX Austin Austin, Texas Funhaus
January 23, 2019 Achievement Hunter Live Sydney, Australia Achievement Hunter
January 25, 2019 Melbourne, Australia
January 27, 2019 Perth, Australia
July 4, 2019 Austin, Texas
March 31, 2022 Achievement Hunter Live West Coast Tour Seattle, Washington
April 2, 2022 San Francisco, California
April 3, 2022 Los Angeles, California

Documentary

Let's Play Live: The Documentary is a behind-the-scenes look at the inaugural event and was released September 14, 2015 to First sponsors.[14] It has been called, "the origin story of the next generation of movie stars and rock bands."[15]

See also

  • RTX, an internet and gaming event spanning three continents

References

  1. ^ longwell, Todd. "Rooster Teeth Mounting 'Let's Play Live' Tour with Mills Entertainment". VideoInk. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b Schroeder, Audra (2 March 2017). "Rooster Teeth's 'Let's Play Live' is going on tour". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b Appleton, Rory. "Rooster Teeth brings funny live video game event to Valley theaters". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  4. ^ Brouwer, Bree (23 December 2014). "Rooster Teeth Plans In-Person Gaming Event 'Let's Play Live'". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  5. ^ Anderson, Kyle. "ROOSTER TEETH TO PRESENT LET'S PLAY LIVE TO CINEMAS EVERYWHERE (EXCLUSIVE)". Nerdist. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  6. ^ Appleton, Rory. "Let's Play Live mines an untapped resource in gaming: On-stage entertainment". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  7. ^ Gutelle, Sam (2 March 2017). "Rooster Teeth To Expand 'Let's Play Live' Franchise With Four Shows In April". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  8. ^ Castillo, Michelle (3 April 2017). "Audiences are lining up to watch this guy play video games badly". CNBC. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  9. ^ Cantu, Tony (5 August 2018). "RTX 2018 Austin Gathering Showcased Robust Gaming-Internet Link". Patch. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  10. ^ Feinstein, Bethany. "NEWS REGARDING RTX SYDNEY AND FUTURE AUSTRALIAN LIVE EVENTS". RoosterTeeth. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Official Achievement Hunter Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Achievement Hunter Live". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  13. ^ @achievementhunt (January 28, 2021). "The West Coast Achievement Hunter Live tour dates are cancelled as we wait until this pandemic shakes out. While disappointing, we want to do what's best for our crew and the community" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-02-25 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Brouwer, Bree (7 September 2015). "Rooster Teeth To Debut 'Let's Play Live: The Documentary' On September 14". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  15. ^ Chan, Anson. "Let's Play Live: The Documentary: The birth of a new era of stars and entertainment legends". Load The Game. Retrieved 2 March 2017.