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Jack Dunlop, aka “CouRageJD,” gave his fans a real scare on Monday (Nov. 4) when he posted a video to YouTube titled “The Next Chapter.” It clearly wants viewers to think that this super funny content creator is leaving his eSports group 100 Thieves.
Dunlop imagines himself going off to bigger and better things, like doing scripted shows called “Jack’s Anatomy” and “Courage Nine-Nine,” or having his own cooking show called “Cooking with Courage.”
As he tells Nadeshot (Matthew Haag) Valkrae (Rachel Hofstetter) that “this is truly just the best decision for me and the CouRageous,” his fellow Fortnite streamers get super sad… until he reveals he’s not leaving 100 Thieves. He’s actually leaving Twitch to stream exclusively on YouTube.
“I’m not leaving 100 Thieves! I’m joining YouTube!” he shouts, as a mariachi band wanders into the room and starts playing.
“Congratulations, Jack! I’m so proud of you,” says Hofstetter, slapping him and telling him never to scare them like that again.
Dunlop says in a statement that this new deal will allow him to “create more content” and engage more with his fans.
“I’m very excited to continue expanding my relationship with my YouTube audience, as well as leverage the platform for new collabs and experiences,” says Dunlop in a statement. “This deal with YouTube allows me to create more content and engage with my fans in real time. I am very fortunate to do what I do on a daily basis and welcome my fans to join me on the next phase of my journey.”
Ryan Wyatt, YouTube’s head of gaming, adds, “YouTube uniquely offers CouRage the ability to focus on both live streaming and VOD in a way that no other platform can and we think his YouTube community will be excited he’s now combining both of these content formats in one place. We are continuing to invest in our live business in gaming in many ways and bringing Jack over is just another way of bolstering our presence in this space.”
CouRageJD’s debut stream starts Tuesday (Nov. 5) on YouTube Gaming at youtube.com/courageJD. Fans were quick to offer their congratulations on Twitter.
@CouRageJD Congrats dude! I love the new direction the industry is going in. Competition makes everyone better.
And Reddit users are excited to watch the tech biggies vie for Twitch streamers. As TheDrunkenKitsune writes, “Google v Amazon v Microsoft. This gettin’ good.”
Indeed, recently three high-profile Twitch streamers — Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Cory “King Gothalion” Michael — all left the Amazon-owned streaming platform to move to Mixer, which is owned by Microsoft.
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