CoryxKenshin

Last updated

CoryxKenshin
Personal information
Born
Cory DeVante Williams

(1992-11-09) November 9, 1992 (age 32)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Other namesThe Samurai, The Ankle Breaker, The Shogun, Parry Perfect Person, The Chosen, BambiKilla69, Edward Norton, Chef Kenshin
Education Michigan State University University of Michigan
Occupation
  • YouTuber - Actor
Website Official website
YouTube information
Channel
Location Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S.
Years active2009–present
Genres
Subscribers20.8 million [1]
Total views8.28 billion [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2015
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2016
YouTube Diamond Play Button.svg10,000,000 subscribers2021
Last updated: December 17, 2024

Cory DeVante Williams (born November 9, 1992), [2] known online as CoryxKenshin, is an American YouTuber, writer and actor. Williams joined YouTube on April 26, 2009. Known for his comedic playthroughs of horror games, Williams was ranked the fourth top creator in the United States in 2021.

Contents

Internet career

Williams began uploading videos to YouTube in 2009. [3] [4] Although he originally created comedy sketches, Williams began to play popular horror games such as Five Nights at Freddy's (2014) and Bloodborne (2015) instead, [4] along with creating the "Spooky Scary Sunday" horror short film reaction series. [5] [6] He also played video games of other genres and triple-A games such as Elden Ring (2022). [7] [8] His video of the rhythm game Friday Night Funkin' (2020) became the fifth most-viewed video in the United States in 2021. [9] IGN Africa described the video as "part music video, part playthrough" and praised Williams' use of comedy in the video. [10] Besides his let's plays, Williams was known for his humor and energetic, light-hearted personality. [4] [11]

Williams was ranked the fourth top creator in the United States in 2021 by subscriber growth [a] [9] and many of his videos have stayed on the YouTube trending tab for several days. [4] He has also been noted for frequently taking hiatuses from uploading videos, ranging from several days to months. [11] In 2018, he took a four-month break from YouTube; in 2019, Williams uploaded a video discussing his struggles with mental health due to the pressures of content creation, which was cited in an article from The Verge in the wake of YouTuber Etika's death. [12]

In 2023, Williams made a cameo in the Five Nights at Freddy's film as a cabbie. Williams uploaded a reaction to the film's trailer shortly after it was posted online. [13]

On December 13, 2024, Williams posted a video on his channel (breaking a 17-month hiatus) in which he announced an original manga series, titled Monsters We Make. [14] On December 15, his channel reached 20 million subscribers following his return to YouTube. [15] [16]

"YouTube: Racism and Favoritism"

External video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg YouTube: Racism and Favoritism
The video uploaded to Williams' YouTube channel on August 24, 2022.

On August 24, 2022, Williams uploaded a video onto his channel alleging that "racism and favoritism" may influence YouTube's review process. In the video, he recounted an incident where a reviewer age-restricted his video of the horror game The Mortuary Assistant , thereby lessening his visibility and monetization. As many other videos featuring the same content were not subject to the same restrictions, Williams became confused and submitted an appeal, which was rejected. He sent a clip of an even more popular YouTuber, Markiplier, playing the same game to his partner program representative. Although he expected them to restrict Markiplier's video, YouTube instead unrestricted Williams' video.

Confused over the sudden reversal, Williams again contacted his representative, who inquired to the policy team. The company then restricted every video on the platform of The Mortuary Assistant. This led Williams to conclude that the company's favoritism of larger creators—or even, possibly, racism—were factors in the reviewers' decisions, though he was unsure if an automated or human reviewer restricted his video in the first place.

Numerous other YouTubers, including Jacksepticeye, Ludwig, GothamChess, Phillip DeFranco, berleezy, Deestroying, and Cr1TiKaL voiced their support online. The video later peaked at No. 1 on the trending tab. [3] [4]

Personal life

According to Distractify , Williams resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan. [11] He is a devout Christian. [17]

In August 2010, Williams began attending Michigan State University after being rejected from his dream school, the University of Michigan. [18] Williams attended Michigan State for his Freshman and Sophomore years, majoring in Media arts, and despite having exceptional grades and many friends, he still thought a lot about what his life would have been like if he was accepted to the University of Michigan. Williams was eventually convinced by his father to apply for a transfer to Michigan, and although Williams didn't really believe in his chances, he was accepted to his dream school in 2012. [19] Due to changing his major to Computer science, Williams' previous two years at MSU were null, and he had to start back at Freshman year. In April 2015, near the end of his Junior year, Williams made the "super tough" decision to take a break from university for one year to focus solely on YouTube. He moved out of his dorm on May 1, 2015 and decided to give his channel until to May 1, 2016 to become a viable source of income; if it didn't, he would return to Michigan for his Senior year to finish his degree. [20]

In 2017, Williams revealed that he was born with ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that caused him to lack a full set of teeth, and diminished hair growth on his arms and legs. [21] He also revealed that he had been bullied in school as a result of the disorder. [21]

In 2020, Williams stopped uploading YouTube videos temporarily as a result of anxiety, burnout and depression. He described 2020 as "the worst year of [his] life", citing major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. [22]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2023 Five Nights at Freddy's Cabbie [13]

Television

YearTitleChannelNotes
2019–2020Player Select Disney XD [23]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The number of subscribers the creator gained throughout the year; in-country.

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References

  1. 1 2 "About CoryxKenshin". YouTube.
  2. ↑ @coryxkenshin (November 9, 2017). "You can say I turned 25 today.. or, I turned Twenty FIIIINE 😍 alright I'll stop #BirthdayBoy #birthday #coryxkenshin #HUEHUEHEH #NoRegerts" – via Instagram.
  3. 1 2 Gutelle, Sam (August 25, 2022). "Did CoryxKenshin catch YouTube's content moderation team playing favorites?". Tubefilter . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Winslow, Levi (August 26, 2022). "Black Horror Game YouTuber CoryxKenshin Has Everyone Debating Platform Racism, Favoritism". Kotaku . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  5. ↑ Clear, Gina (July 9, 2022). "Local boy meets favorite YouTube star through Make-A-Wish". The News-Enterprise . Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  6. ↑ Burkes, Dawn (January 18, 2022). "Are they not entertained? Here are 17 great ideas to break your kids' pandemic boredom" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  7. ↑ Anderson, Zuri (February 18, 2022). "These Black YouTubers & TikTokers Are Blowing Up Right Now". Black Information Network . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ Sayyed, Rayan (August 3, 2022). "Elden Ring Was One of YouTube's Biggest Game Launches of All Time". IGN . Retrieved August 28, 2022. The most viewed launch videos for Elden Ring were by YouTube channels CoryxKenshin and AshesWolf, sitting at 6.2 million and 5.7 million views respectively.
  9. 1 2 See:
  10. ↑ Leston, Ryan (December 29, 2021). "YouTube's Top Trending Videos of 2021". IGN Africa. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 Gatollari, Mustafa (June 26, 2021). "Did YouTuber Coryxkenshin Really Just Throw 10 Million Followers in the Trash?". Distractify . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  12. ↑ Alexander, Julia (June 27, 2019). "YouTuber Etika's death spurs conversation about how viewers react to creators' mental health struggles". The Verge . Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  13. 1 2 Valdez, Jonah (June 27, 2023). "'Five Nights at Freddy's' trailer contains jump scares and a cameo rumored for weeks" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  14. ↑ Elibert, Mark (December 13, 2024). "CoryxKenshin Returns to YouTube to Announce New Manga Series". Complex . Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  15. ↑ Kassahun, Tomas (December 16, 2024). "'Monsters We Make' Manga: CoryxKenshin Announces Series After Long YouTube Break, And Here's What We Know". Blavity . Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  16. ↑ Kapoor, Atharv (December 16, 2024). "'Netflix, CrunchyRoll, MAPPA, I'm looking at you': CoryxKenshin wants his manga to get turned into anime". Sportskeeda . Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  17. ↑ Moore, Camille (July 1, 2021). "10 Things You Didn't Know about Coryxkenshin". TVovermind. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  18. ↑ Chasing My Dream. (The 'Big' Announcement), April 23, 2015, retrieved January 14, 2025
  19. ↑ Chasing My Dream. (The 'Big' Announcement), April 23, 2015, retrieved January 14, 2025
  20. ↑ Chasing My Dream. (The 'Big' Announcement), April 23, 2015, retrieved January 14, 2025
  21. 1 2 Ectodermal Dysplasia (We need to talk.) [PLEASE WATCH TO END], April 25, 2017, retrieved July 21, 2023
  22. ↑ 2020 is the worst year of my life, May 30, 2020, retrieved July 21, 2023
  23. ↑ "CoryxKenshin". TV Guide . Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
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