''Game Grumps'' is an American
Let's Play
A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and/or a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough or strateg ...
web series
A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...
hosted by
Arin Hanson
Arin Hanson (born January 6, 1987), also known by the pseudonym Egoraptor, is an American YouTuber, actor, rapper, and animator. He is well-known for his Flash cartoons, as well as being the co-founder and co-star of the popular YouTube Let's Pla ...
and
Dan Avidan
Leigh Daniel Avidan (born March 14, 1979), also known by his stage name Danny Sexbang, is an American musician, Internet personality, comedian, songwriter, actor and record producer. He is one half of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party with B ...
. Created in 2012 by co-hosts Hanson and
Jon Jafari
Jonathan Aryan Jafari ( /ˈɛəriən/) (born March 24, 1990), better known by his Internet pseudonym JonTron, is an American YouTuber, comedian, reviewer, and Internet personality. He is best known for his eponymous YouTube web series ''JonTr ...
, the series centers around its hosts playing video games. After Jafari left the show in 2013 to focus on his own
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
webseries,
''JonTron'', he was succeeded by Avidan.
Since Jafari's departure, the channel has expanded to include other hosts, besides the main two, who have floated in and out of the channel over time as a part of spin-off shows. Those include
Ross O'Donovan
Ross Kenry O'Donovan (born 17 June 1987), also known as RubberNinja and RubberRoss, is an Australian animator, voice actor, and Internet personality. He is known for his solo work as a Twitch streamer, as well as his YouTube and Newgrounds c ...
, Barry Kramer, Suzy Berhow, and
Brian Wecht
Brian Alexander Wecht, also known by his character name Ninja Brian, is an American musician, Internet personality and theoretical physicist. He is best known as a member of comedy musical duo Ninja Sex Party and video game-based comedy music t ...
, as well as various guest hosts. , ''Game Grumps'' has over 5.35 million subscribers and over 6.2 billion total video views. ''Game Grumps'' have also developed and published two of their own video games, ''
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator'' and ''Soviet Jump Game'', as well as writing the
young adult novels
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
''Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chateau'' and ''Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Express Train to Nowhere''.
Format
Episodes usually consist of two hosts or more playing a video game, featuring their commentary, experience with (and opinions of) the chosen game, as well as related and unrelated discussions, along with stories from their lives. Frequently this commentary features voice characterizations performed by the hosts, especially in the case of Hanson and Avidan. Many of the games played on the show are sent in by fans, who mail in games to the Grumps' PO box in Glendale, California.
History
''Game Grumps'' was created by
Jon "JonTron" Jafari and
Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson, and began with a video of the two playing ''
Kirby Super Star
''Kirby Super Star'', released as ''Kirby's Fun Pak'' in PAL regions, is an anthology platform video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996. It is part of the ''Kirby'' serie ...
'' uploaded on July 18, 2012 to video streaming site
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.
According to Jafari and Hanson, the idea for the show came about when the two were arguing over whether or not the character Wolf from the fighting game ''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 List of crossovers in video games, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros., ''Super Smash ...
'' was too similar to the character Fox in terms of their fighting styles. After animator Ross O’Donovan told the duo about their tendency to be “grumpy” with each other over video games, Hanson came up with the idea of a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
revolving around this concept, though the show ultimately became a video series on YouTube rather than a podcast.
In September 2012, Barry Kramer was brought onto the show as an editor.
Hanson and Jafari worked on the show together until June 25, 2013, when Jafari announced he would be leaving the show due to desires to focus on
his own show. Many fans were upset by Jafari's departure from ''Game Grumps'', with many expressing disappointment in the decision's last-minute announcement, as well as the channel's decision to announce the beginning of ''Steam Train'' on the same day.
After Jafari's departure,
Ninja Sex Party
Ninja Sex Party (often abbreviated as NSP) is an American musical comedy duo consisting of singer Dan Avidan and keyboardist Brian Wecht. They formed in 2009 in New York City and are currently based in Los Angeles. They are also known as two thi ...
vocalist
Dan Avidan
Leigh Daniel Avidan (born March 14, 1979), also known by his stage name Danny Sexbang, is an American musician, Internet personality, comedian, songwriter, actor and record producer. He is one half of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party with B ...
succeeded him as co-host of the main show. Avidan also joined animator
Ross O'Donovan
Ross Kenry O'Donovan (born 17 June 1987), also known as RubberNinja and RubberRoss, is an Australian animator, voice actor, and Internet personality. He is known for his solo work as a Twitch streamer, as well as his YouTube and Newgrounds c ...
as co-host of the show ''Steam Train'' where both play
PC games. This expanded the channel's output to three videos a day: two standard ''Game Grumps'' episodes and a single ''Steam Train'' episode. ''Steam Train'' later expanded to include Hanson as a co-host at times, as well as featuring one of the group's editors, Barry Kramer, and Hanson's wife Suzy Berhow.
In December 2013, Kramer and Berhow began hosting ''Table Flip'', where they dress in
Victorian/
19th century American period clothing and play
tabletop game
Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, or tile-based games.
Classification according to equipment used
Tabletop games c ...
s, such as
card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
s,
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
s, and
tile-based game
A tile-based game is a game that uses tiles as one of the fundamental elements of play. Traditional tile-based games use small tiles as playing pieces for gambling or entertainment games. Some board games use tiles to create their board, givin ...
s with other YouTube personalities. The series was professionally produced by Polaris, with seven cameras and extensive editing in
post-production
Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments.
The ...
to fit the content to the show's 45 to 60 minute format on Polaris's website rather than the ''Game Grumps'' YouTube channel. The final episode of ''Table Flip'' aired on October 14, 2016.
In November 2014, Kevin Abernathy was hired to assist Kramer with video editing and production. Although Abernathy took on editing for most of the series, Kramer continued to edit ''Steam Train''. Since Abernathy's departure from the show in mid-2016, Kramer, Ryan Magee, and
Matt Watson had taken the editing duties.
In January 2015, to celebrate reaching two million subscribers, a new show called ''Grumpcade'' was launched, featuring any combination of co-hosts playing console games. The show also features guest YouTube personalities, including game critics ProJared, The Completionist and YouTuber
Markiplier
Mark Edward Fischbach ( ; born June 28, 1989), also known as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, he began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to uplo ...
. Shortly after, in February 2015, GrumpOut, a channel dedicated to recreational and live-action video projects, was created. In November 2015, Avidan's
Ninja Sex Party
Ninja Sex Party (often abbreviated as NSP) is an American musical comedy duo consisting of singer Dan Avidan and keyboardist Brian Wecht. They formed in 2009 in New York City and are currently based in Los Angeles. They are also known as two thi ...
bandmate
Brian Wecht
Brian Alexander Wecht, also known by his character name Ninja Brian, is an American musician, Internet personality and theoretical physicist. He is best known as a member of comedy musical duo Ninja Sex Party and video game-based comedy music t ...
officially joined the team, leaving behind his career as a
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimen ...
.
In February 2016, it was announced that Avidan and Hanson would appear at
Hollywood Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s.
History
Originally, it was a single venue founded in 19 ...
for a special performance of ''Game Grumps Live'' on March 30 and 31. Later, in April 2016, it was announced that Avidan and Hanson would appear at Levity Live in
Nyack,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
for more performances of ''Game Grumps Live'' on April 29 and 30.
On January 6, 2017, it was announced that the show's middle slot would no longer upload on a consistent schedule. While ''Steam Train'' and ''Grumpcade'' were not canceled, the format was changed so that they would be released only upon the creators' discretion on an occasional basis. A few substitute shows were created to fill the empty slot on certain days. These include ''Doodle Doods'', an artistic show hosted by O'Donovan and Chris O'Neil, ''The G Club'', a media-centric podcast show, and ''Dragons in Places'', an audio-only podcast detailing a ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' campaign.
In December 2017, Kramer announced that he would be departing from the show to focus on his own pursuits; he was replaced by Ryan Magee and Matt Watson.
In May 2019, all episodes guest starring the YouTuber Jared "ProJared" Knabenbauer were first made private then deleted entirely, presumably in an effort by the ''Game Grumps'' to distance themselves from Knabenbaurer following allegations against him, in that he abused his fame to solicit nude photos from underage fans.
Since 2015, ''Game Grumps'' has also been developing an animated series titled ''Gameoverse'', created by O'Donovan. By June 21, 2017, the development team had expanded to include writer Chad Quandt, concept artist Ashley Swaby, and the story artist Krooked_Glasses.
Personnel
Over time, ''Game Grumps'' has accumulated a variety of hosts, editors and other personnel since Jafari's departure in 2013, some of which are not mentioned below. All members have appeared in various roles outside of their main position.
Main hosts
Hosts of the main ''Game Grumps'' series.
;Current
*
Arin Hanson
Arin Hanson (born January 6, 1987), also known by the pseudonym Egoraptor, is an American YouTuber, actor, rapper, and animator. He is well-known for his Flash cartoons, as well as being the co-founder and co-star of the popular YouTube Let's Pla ...
– Main host (2012–present); Steam Rolled host (2013–present); 10 Minute Power Hour host (2018–present)
*
Dan Avidan
Leigh Daniel Avidan (born March 14, 1979), also known by his stage name Danny Sexbang, is an American musician, Internet personality, comedian, songwriter, actor and record producer. He is one half of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party with B ...
– Main host (2013–present); Steam Train host (2013–2014); Steam Rolled host (2013–present); 10 Minute Power Hour host (2018–present)
;Former
*
Jon Jafari
Jonathan Aryan Jafari ( /ˈɛəriən/) (born March 24, 1990), better known by his Internet pseudonym JonTron, is an American YouTuber, comedian, reviewer, and Internet personality. He is best known for his eponymous YouTube web series ''JonTr ...
– Main host (2012–2013); primary editor (2012)
Other members
Official members according to the ''Game Grumps'' in various videos. These members have hosted various shows of their own, or have made appearances in Grumpcade and other series.
;Current
*Suzanne (Suzy) Berhow – Steam Rolled host (2013–present); Table Flip host (2013–2016); various roles (2013–present)
*
Brian Wecht
Brian Alexander Wecht, also known by his character name Ninja Brian, is an American musician, Internet personality and theoretical physicist. He is best known as a member of comedy musical duo Ninja Sex Party and video game-based comedy music t ...
– Various roles (2015–present)
*Allie Jean – PR manager, producer, occasionally appears on ''Game Grumps'' episodes (2018–present)
;Former
*
Ross O'Donovan
Ross Kenry O'Donovan (born 17 June 1987), also known as RubberNinja and RubberRoss, is an Australian animator, voice actor, and Internet personality. He is known for his solo work as a Twitch streamer, as well as his YouTube and Newgrounds c ...
– Steam Train host (2013–2018); Steam Rolled host (2013–2020); various roles (2013–2020), ''
Mario Maker
is a 2015 side-scrolling platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U, released worldwide in September 2015. Players can create, play, and share courses online, free of charge, based on the styles ...
'' level producer (2015–2020)
*Barry Kramer – Primary editor (2012–2015); Steam Rolled host (2013–2016); Table Flip host (2013–2016); The G Club host (2017); various roles (2012–2017)
Primary editors
Aside from Jon Jafari and Barry Kramer, ''Game Grumps'' has had a few editors who, aside from various appearances, were not necessarily dubbed as official members.
;Current
*Tony MacDowell – Primary editor (2021–present); various roles (2021–present)
;Former
*Kevin Abernathy – Primary editor (2015–2016); various roles (2015–2016)
*
Ryan Magee
''Game Grumps'' is an American Let's Play web series hosted by Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan. Created in 2012 by co-hosts Hanson and Jon Jafari, the series centers around its hosts playing video games. After Jafari left the show in 2013 to focus on h ...
– Primary editor (2016–2019); various roles (2016–2019)
*
Matt Watson – Primary editor (2016–2019); various roles (2016–2019)
*Ben Anderson – Primary editor (2019–2021); various roles (2019–2021)
Philanthropy
In late 2013, the ''Game Grumps'' had put various games, which they'd received multiple copies of, on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
for auction, with all the proceeds going to the children's charity
Child's Play. After the auctions ended, they had raised a total of over $7,000.
In June 2015, a 5-episode miniseries was released called ''Guild Grumps''. O'Donovan mentored Hanson, Avidan, Kramer and Berhow in a 5-day race to advance from Level 90 to Level 100 in ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
''. Each participant had $1,000 to donate to a charity of their choice, if they reached the goal. If they did not, their donation would be split between those who won. In the end, O'Donovan was the sole winner, and, combined with the participants' distributed funds, donated $5,000 to
cancer research
Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.
Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and ...
.
As of 2015, ''Game Grumps'' has raised over $70,000 by hosting charity livestreams on
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
.
In 2016, ''Game Grumps'' raised approximately $155,000 by hosting another charity livestream on Twitch, as well as redirecting all proceeds from an exclusive shirt to the cause. The livestream was for the
Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line is a global not-for-profit organization providing free mental health texting service through confidential crisis intervention via SMS message. The organization's services are available 24 hours a day, every day, throughout the Un ...
; a free text service available for people experiencing moments of crisis.
On February 17, 2018, ''Game Grumps'' held a 6-hour livestream on
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
in which they played several games, including ''
Mad Max
''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'', ''
Half-Life 2
''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, and ...
'', ''
Fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
'', and ''
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: ''Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fea ...
'', raising around $77,000 for the
Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line is a global not-for-profit organization providing free mental health texting service through confidential crisis intervention via SMS message. The organization's services are available 24 hours a day, every day, throughout the Un ...
. Later in the same year, ''Game Grumps'' did another 6-hour livestream to raise money for
Camp Kesem Kesem is a national 501(c)(3) organization that supports children who are affected by a parent's cancer. It provides year-round programs and services to support these children, ages 6–18, at no cost to families. It has a presence at more than 130 ...
, raising over $37,000.
On June 4, 2020, in wake of the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
and
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
movement, ''Game Grumps'' announced that they had donated a total of $20,000 to charities that support Black-owned Businesses, Black LGBTQ+ support groups and various bail funds to assist arrested protesters.
Non-gaming content
In recent years, ''Game Grumps'' have expanded to content that is either only tangentially related to, or not at all related to video games. These include live-action comedy shows ''10 Minute Power Hour'' and ''Good Content'', ''
Good Game'', a YouTube Premium exclusive show,
and two ''Game Grumps''-published books, ''Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chateau'', and ''Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Express Train to Nowhere'', supposedly written by Hanson's estranged uncle Dr. Cecil H.H. Mills; Mills is physically portrayed by Hanson under "old man" makeup. The first book was released on March 10, 2020, and published by Permuted Press. The audiobook version of ''Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chateau'' was released on
Audible
Audible may refer to:
* Audible (service), an online audiobook store
* Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks
* ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player
* Audible finish or rush ...
on August 19, 2020, narrated by Hanson in character as Dr. Cecil H. H. Mills. The second book in the series, ''Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Express Train to Nowhere'', was published on June 7, 2022, accompanied with its own theme song.
Promotions
In 2013, before Jafari's departure to work on his own ''JonTron'' series, Jafari and Hanson appeared in a
promotional video for the
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
movie ''
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire.
List of co ...
'' produced by
Polaris
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...
. The video also featured other internet personalities Jesse Cox, Brooke "Dodger" Lawson,
Mike Lamond
Michael Lamond (born May 4, 1987), more commonly known by his online alias Husky or HuskyStarcraft, is a former sports commentator, YouTuber, director, and voice actor. He is best known for his work in esports, most notably for his commentating ...
and
John Bain. In the video they played new recruits under training by "The Lieutenant Commander" played by
Robert Kazinsky
Robert John Appleby (born 18 November 1983), known professionally as Robert Kazinsky, is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Casper Rose in the Sky One drama ''Dream Team'', the Don in '' Captain Marvel'', Sean Slater in the BBC soa ...
.
In 2015, the ''Game Grumps'' were featured in the official reveal trailer for the ''
Shovel Knight
''Shovel Knight'' is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Yacht Club Games. Development was crowdfunded and the game was released for Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Windows in June 2014. It was ported to OS X and Linux in Se ...
''
Amiibo
(, ; officially stylized as amiibo; plural: ''Amiibo'') is a toys-to-life platform by Nintendo, which was launched in November 2014. It consists of a wireless communications and storage protocol for connecting figurines to the Wii U, Ninten ...
figure.
Popularity and influence
The show and its hosts have since been referenced in a number of video games such as ''DLC Quest'' and ''
The Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures
''The Angry Video Game Nerd'' (abbreviated as ''AVGN'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd" (sometime ...
''.
In the third issue of the 2016 ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''
Ninth Doctor comic series, an alien girl is seen wearing a "Hey I'm Grump! I'm Not So Grump!" shirt.
A specially modified version of the demo for ''
The Stanley Parable
''The Stanley Parable'' is a story-based video game designed and written by developers Davey Wreden and William Pugh. The game carries themes such as choice in video games, the relationship between a game creator and player, and predestination ...
'' was played on the channel's side show ''Steam Train'' which addressed the show's hosts, Dan Avidan and Ross O'Donovan.
In an interview with ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', Olympic swimmer
Tom Shields
]
Thomas Allen Shields (born July 11, 1991) is an American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. He is a two-time Olympian and the current American record-holder in the short course 50-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly. At the 2016 Summ ...
said that ''Game Grumps'' was one of his favorite shows and that he watched it "almost daily." He mentioned that the show's hosts "helped him normalize a lot of things. It's kind of a new phenomenon in his life."
In 2021, ''Game Grumps'' was cited as an example of a "comfort creator" in an article from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
.''
''Guest Grumps''
''Guest Grumps'' is a spin-off series in which each episode features a special guest star. In addition to the roster of guests, the hosts have jokingly expressed a wish for
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...
and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
to come on the show. The following list is in order from their first appearance on the show.
*
Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish-American composer and voice actor for video games and film. Some of his notable works include '' GoldenEye 007'', '' Banjo-Kazooie'', ''Donkey Kong 64'', and ''Perfect Dark'', among many others. He has been nominate ...
*
Markiplier
Mark Edward Fischbach ( ; born June 28, 1989), also known as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, he began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to uplo ...
*
Steve-O
Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American entertainer, television personality, stunt performer and YouTuber. His career is mostly centered on his performance stunts in the reality comedy tel ...
*
Jacob Anderson
Jacob Basil Anderson (born 18 June 1990) is a British actor and musician. As an actor, he is known for his roles as Grey Worm in '' Game of Thrones'' and Louis de Pointe du Lac in '' Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire'', and his recurrin ...
*
Claudio Sanchez
Claudio Paul Sanchez III (born March 12, 1978)Sanchez, Claudio: "The Amory Wars Sketchbook", page 30. Evil Ink, 2007. is an American writer and musician of Puerto Rican and Italian descentKitchen Chronicles: The Menna Family (New York, 2003, p.3 ...
*
Rob and Patricia Schneider
*
Brent Weinbach
Brent Weinbach is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and pianist based in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his experimental style and abstract, deadpan delivery. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and ...
*
Finn Wolfhard
Finn Wolfhard (born December 23, 2002) is a Canadian actor and musician. He gained recognition for playing Mike Wheeler (Stranger Things character), Mike Wheeler in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present). His film roles include ...
*
Thomas Middleditch
Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series '' Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award ...
and
Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wri ...
*
Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''The State'', ''Viva Variety'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: Fi ...
*
Paul F. Tompkins and
Tim Baltz
Tim Baltz is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He appeared as a "citizen journalist" on the Comedy Central series '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper''. He currently stars on ''The Righteous Gemstones''.
Early life
Born in Joliet, Ill ...
*
Dan Harmon
Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast ''Harmontown ...
*
Michael Ornstein
Michael Marisi Ornstein (born 1963) is an American actor.
He is best known for his recurring role as Chucky Marstein on Sons of Anarchy 2008–2014) and its spin-off '' Mayans M.C. (2019-present).
Early life
Ornstein studied acting as a child ...
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Rhett & Link
Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating and ...
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"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
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Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...
and her daughter, Ruby
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Brian Regan
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Ben Schwartz
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Michelle Visage
Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction which ...
and her daughter, Lillie Case
* Super Guitar Bros
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TheOdd1sOut
Robert James Rallison (born May 14, 1996), known online as TheOdd1sOut, is an American cartoonist, YouTuber, animator, author, and voice actor. He is known for producing storytime animations on his YouTube channel and being the co-creator and c ...
* Insym
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RubberNinja
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Jaiden Animations
Jaiden Dittfach (born September 27, 1997), known online as Jaiden Animations, is an American YouTuber and animator, known for her story-time animations. Her videos explore a variety of topics, spanning from her experiences to personal stories. ...
* Flamingo
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Wilbur Soot
William Patrick Spencer Gold (born 14 September 1996), known professionally as Wilbur Soot, is a British Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and musician. He first became known in 2017 for his work with the group comedy YouTube channel SootHouse, where ...
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Matthew Mercer
Matthew Christopher Miller (born June 29, 1982), better known as Matthew Mercer, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his work with Studiopolis, Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, and NYAV Post in anime, cartoons, and ...
* Value Select
* Skweezy Jibbs
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Trash Taste
''Trash Taste'' ( ja, トラッシュ・テイスト) is a weekly audio and video podcast hosted by Joey Bizinger, Garnt Maneetapho, and Connor Colquhoun – three Tokyo-based content creators primarily focusing on anime and Japanese pop cu ...
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Jacksepticeye
Seán William McLoughlin (born 7 February 1990), better known as Jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber, best known for his vlogs and comedic Let's Play series. , his channel has over 15.7 billion views and 28.9 million subscribers, and is the mo ...
* Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil
* Sneegsnag and Ranboo
* CrankGameplays
Video game development
On June 13, 2017, ''Game Grumps'' announced on their official Twitter account that they were developing a video game of their own. A teaser trailer for the game was released on June 18, 2017, titled ''
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator''. After some delays, Dream Daddy was released on Steam on July 20, 2017 on both Windows and MacOS. The game was later ported to
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
. On the day of its release, Hanson stated that ''Game Grumps'' was now a video game development studio.
In November 2019, the channel posted two videos covering games for the Dendy video game console. It was followed by a video on December 3, 2019, where Arin Hanson "discovered" a multiplayer
battle royale game
A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who sta ...
for the console. The following day it was revealed to be an elaborate promotion for ''Soviet Jump Game'', the second video game to be published by ''Game Grumps'', with a trailer released that same day. The game was released for free on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
on January 9, 2020.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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{{Portal bar, Video games, Internet
2010s YouTube series
2012 web series debuts
2020s YouTube series
American comedy web series
Let's Players
Maker Studios people
Polaris channels
YouTube channels launched in 2012
Video game commentators
Video game critics
YouTube channels