LazerBeam Reacts To PewDiePie Copying Claim
YouTuber LazarBeam has a massive fanbase, but he has also seen his fair share of detractors over the years. While he very rarely takes them to task in a public way, the gamer couldn't help himself when he was recently accused of copying PewDiePie's content.
On March 12, LazarBeam uploaded a video titled "100 Minecraft Players vs Natural Disasters," which he excitedly promoted as his first foray into Minecraft content in quite a while. Though his fans were clearly pleased, as evidenced by the comments section on the YouTube video, many people came out of the woodwork to point out that another notable streamer recently returned to Minecraft at almost the same time.
Some fans of fellow streamer PewDiePie were dismayed by the timing of LazarBeam's latest video. PewDiePie also recently returned to making Minecraft videos, with some hilariously dark results. Some fans have apparently expressed to LazarBeam that they feel like he was simply copying PewDiePie's success by making a Minecraft video around the same time.
In the comments on LazarBeam's video, the YouTuber set the record straight with people criticizing him. Along with pointing out that he and PewDiePie have very different sensibilities when it comes to the content in their videos, he also points out that this is far from the first time he's made a Minecraft video. According to LazarBeam, he has "had this video planned for weeks."
LazarBeam makes a good point in that his video could not be more different from those released recently by PewDiePie. "100 Minecraft Players vs Natural Disasters" has a much more interactive feel to it. In LazarBeam's video, he brought 100 players together from his Discord server and had them spread themselves around the map as he unleashed different natural disasters and obstacles against them. As the video plays out, the YouTuber comments on the different ways he's seeing dozens of players bite the dust. This includes dropping meteors on them, causing volcanoes to erupt, and for one unlucky player, death by silverfish attack.
PewDiePie's videos, on the other hand, consist of edited down clips of himself playing Minecraft and making up his own ludicrous mythology to go along with it. They're still hugely entertaining, especially in the ways in which they can go completely off the rails. His most recent Minecraft upload began with him warning his audience that he had "made the worst mistake ever made in Minecraft." What followed was a highly ridiculous series of events that began with Pewds kidnapping a dog in the game and culminated in him blowing up a giant temple.
As much fun as PewDiePie's videos are, however, it's clear that LazarBeam wants his videos to be something a bit more high concept. It's understandable that he'd be frustrated by people accusing him of ripping off PewDiePie, particularly when their aims are so clearly different.
Both YouTubers tend to take their audience's suggestions when making some choices in the games, but that's about where the similarities end. It'd be like Ninja being accused to ripping off FaZe Jarvis for playing Fortnite. No one streamer owns the exclusive rights to play a single game. It's likely that this will blow over as both streamers continue to put out distinct content.
Of course, PewDiePie's return to Minecraft was a pretty big deal among his fans. Not only had it been a long time since he played the game in a video, but there was a brief moment there when his fans weren't sure when they'd get to see him play anything again. Back in December, PewDiePie announced that he would be taking an extended hiatus from uploading videos, which shocked many of his fans who had grown used to seeing new content from PewDiePie daily.
Even PewDiePie's longtime editor was surprised by the break, but also communicated his understanding that sometimes even a workaholic like Pewds needs to recharge. Fellow streamer Jacksepticeye likewise expressed concern that the overall negativity of people online may have been a contributing factor in PewDiePie's decision to step back from YouTube for a little while. As Jacksepticeye told Metro at the time, "It is strange, all the stuff that gets said about him, it's kind of weird to see that being said about a friend of yours."
Hopefully this latest tiff between fandoms won't put either YouTuber off of continuing to deliver content. If this proves anything, it's that PewDiePie's fanbase is a loyal one, almost to a fault. Luckily, it seems as though LazarBeam has a pretty good attitude about the whole thing.