- Markiplier's interactive series "In Space With Markiplier" was nominated for an Emmy.
- The gaming YouTuber attended the red carpet for the awards, but said he was essentially ignored.
Gaming YouTuber Markiplier spoke about his experience at the Emmy Awards, saying it was underwhelming and he was essentially ignored by every media outlet in attendance.
Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Fischbach, is one of YouTube's biggest gaming creators with over 34 million subscribers.
Fischbach, 33, described the his time at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in a livestream on December 11, the day after he attended.
He said he had been to red-carpet events before, but not ben up for an award like this time, when his choose-your-own-adventure series "In Space With Markiplier" was nominated for the Outstanding Interactive Media award.
Fischbach said that the Emmy event itself was "extremely underwhelming" and quite "awkward" — not least because all of the reporters at the event ignored him.
"And this is fine. It's not a moment where I'm like, 'Do you know who I am?'" Fischbach said.
"What amazes me is that if any of them were to interview me, and put those videos on YouTube, they would do exceptionally well for their channels."
Fischbach's fandom is indeed strong — his multiple weekly videos regularly exceed a million views.
This April, he celebrated 10 years on the platform — a decade which has seen him earn a particularly dedicated fan base and launch several ambitious creative projects.
"In Space With Markiplier"starts out with one YouTube video set on a space ship with many cameos from fellow recognizable gamers. Then disaster hits and the viewer has a choice of what to do — put out a fire or fix the oxygen supply. From there, different story lines play out with each decision, culminating in four distinct endings. The first segment has been viewed 18 million times.
"Madrid Noir," an animated mystery series on Oculus Quest, ultimately won.
In October, Fischbach put his fans' devotion to the test and said he would set up an OnlyFans account if they got both of his podcasts to the top of the charts on Apple Music and Spotify. They did, and as promised, Fischbach announced the "first of three drops of tasteful nudes" on Thursday. It was so popular, the site crashed.
Fischbach said his treatment highlighted a "fundamental disconnect" in which mainstream media undervalue content creators.
"It's not that I'm offended, because I don't care, I don't want to be there in the first place," he said "But it amazes me, because they didn't not know who I was — they actively didn't want to talk to me."
He speculated that media outlets may not care about him because their coverage is less important to online stars than to traditional celebrities.
"They realize that I and none of my fellow content creators need them in any way," he said. "And the moment that they acknowledge that reality, everything just kind of falls apart for them, and it's really hilarious."