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Born | Clay (last name unknown) August 12, 1999 | ||||||||||||
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Website | dream | ||||||||||||
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Years active | 2014–present | ||||||||||||
Genre | Gaming | ||||||||||||
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Genre | Gaming | ||||||||||||
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Genres | Pop [2] [3] | ||||||||||||
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Last updated: September 8, 2023 |
Clay [5] (born August 12, 1999), known online as Dream, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, speedrunner, and singer primarily known for creating Minecraft content.
Dream has been active online since 2014, but did not gain substantial popularity until 2019, with the release of his "Minecraft Manhunt" YouTube series. Dream also gained notability for his Minecraft speedruns; however, several of his records were struck down due to evidence of cheating. Content created in the Dream SMP, Dream's invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server that stars content creators engaged in roleplay, also attracted considerable attention, acclaim and a popular fandom.
As of August 12,2023 [update] , his seven YouTube channels have collectively reached over 43.51 million subscribers [a] and over 3.66 billion views, [b] and his two Twitch channels have collectively gained 7.37 million followers [c] and 19.01 million views. [d] YouTube awarded Dream the Streamy Award for Gaming in 2020, 2021, and 2023.
Dream created his YouTube account on February 8, 2014, [6] under the username DreamTraps [7] and started to upload content regularly in July 2019. [8] The oldest accessible video on Dream's account involves him playing Minecraft poorly on purpose in order to "trigger" viewers. [8] As of December 2022, the video has amassed 18 million views. [9]
In July 2019, Dream figured out the seed of a Minecraft world YouTuber PewDiePie was playing on by using reverse engineering techniques that Dream learned from online forums. [8] In November 2019, Dream uploaded a viral video titled "Minecraft, But Item Drops Are Random And Multiplied..." that has amassed 49 million views as of January 2021. [8] In January 2020, Dream uploaded a video in which he and another YouTuber, GeorgeNotFound, connected an Arduino board to an electric dog collar, which emitted an electric shock whenever a player lost health in Minecraft. [10]
In December 2020, in place of their annual YouTube Rewind series, YouTube released a list of their top-trending videos and creators. On the U.S. list, YouTube ranked Dream's "Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters GRAND FINALE" video as the number seven "Top Trending Video", and ranked Dream as the number two "Top Creator" and number one "Breakout Creator". [11] A livestream by Dream on YouTube in November 2020 with about 700,000 peak viewers was the 6th highest viewed gaming stream of all time as of January 2021. [12] A December 2020 Polygon article stated that "2020 has been a tremendous year for Dream", describing him as "YouTube's biggest gaming channel of the moment." [13]
In a January 2021 article, Steven Asarch of Business Insider attributed Dream's growth during 2019 and 2020 "to his understanding of the YouTube algorithm", noting that "[h]e puts his keywords in the right places, capitalizes on trends, and makes thumbnails that fans want to click on." [8]
Dream is a member of the "Dream Team", along with fellow YouTubers Sapnap and GeorgeNotFound. The group frequently collaborate to create new content. [14] Dream also had a friendly rivalry with fellow Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade before his death, as they each had a contested recognition for the title of "best Minecraft player." [15]
Dream's most popular YouTube series is "Minecraft Manhunt", a format where one player — usually Dream — attempts to complete a speedrun of Minecraft, while another player or team of players (the "hunters") attempts to kill the runner or thwart their progress. [16] The first video in the series, titled "Beating Minecraft But My Friend Tries to Stop Me", was published on December 26, 2019. [17] Further videos were published in the following years, featuring incrementally greater numbers of hunters. The final episode of the series was published on February 26, 2022. [18] Many of the Minecraft Manhunt videos have received tens of millions of views, [19] with one of them ranking sixth in YouTube's Top Trending Videos of 2020. [20] As of February 2022, the most-viewed in Dream's Minecraft Manhunt series has 108 million views. [18]
The series has received positive acclaim. Urian B. wrote in Tech Times that Minecraft Manhunt "requires not only mastery of the terrain but also the ability to think fast on your feet while different choices present themselves with only milliseconds of time for decision making. This is something that Dream is good at, split second decision making." [21] Nicolas Perez from Paste described Minecraft Manhunt as "an experience that leaves me slack-jawed every time", stating that the format of Minecraft Manhunt "seems to guarantee the hunters come out on top. But more often than not, Dream pulls just enough aces out of his sleeve to narrowly beat the hunters, and eventually the game." [16] Gonzalo Cardona, writing for Ginx TV, noted that Minecraft Manhunt had "inspired cult-like montages by fans." [9] Nathan Grayson, writing for Kotaku , said that Minecraft Manhunt had turned Dream "into a household name among Minecraft fans." [22]
In April 2020, shortly after the release of Minecraft snapshot 20w17a, Dream and GeorgeNotFound created the Dream SMP, a private Survival Multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. [14] [23] [24] Over time, other prominent Minecraft content creators outside of the "Dream Team" have been invited to the server, including TommyInnit, Technoblade, and Wilbur Soot. [25] [26]
Throughout 2020, Dream was a prominent participant in MC Championship, a monthly Minecraft competition organized by Noxcrew. He won first in both the 8th and 11th MC Championships. [27] In September 2020, during the 10th MC Championship, he played for charity and raised around $3,400. [28]
The Dream SMP has become very well-known. [29] The primary attraction for fans, according to their feedback, is the roleplay aspect. Major events are loosely scripted in advance, while most other elements consist of improvisation, performed live on YouTube and Twitch. [29] Cecilia D'Anastasio of Wired described the Dream SMP as a form of live theatre and as a "Machiavellian political drama." [30] During January 2021, over 1 million people tuned into Dream SMP livestreams. [30]
On April 26, 2021, as a collaboration with Dream, fellow YouTuber MrBeast's fast-food restaurant chain MrBeast Burger released the Dream Burger as a limited-time addition to its menu. [31] [32]
On February 4, 2021, Dream released his first song, entitled "Roadtrip", in collaboration with PmBata, which garnered over 25 million views on YouTube. [33] [34] On May 20, 2021, Dream released his second song, entitled "Mask", which garnered over 24.7 million views on YouTube. [35] An animated music video for "Mask" was released in June of the same year, though it was later deleted. [34] [36] The song and accompanying music video faced criticism for the content of the lyrics and animation, including a negative portrayal of prescription drugs. He depicted his own negative experience taking prescribed ADHD pills, [37] referring to them in the work as "normal pills". [34] On August 19, 2021, Dream released his third song, entitled "Change My Clothes", in collaboration with American singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin, which garnered over 8.3 million views on YouTube. [38] [ citation needed ]
Dream's fourth song, titled "Until I End Up Dead", was released through Mercury and Republic Records on June 23, 2023, [39] [40] after he had signed to Republic Records in December 2022. [41] : 5:16 It was his first song to be released through a major label. On July 26, 2023, Dream announced that his debut EP To Whoever Wants to Hear would be released on September 1, 2023, and would have seven tracks. [42] The second single from that EP, "Everest" with Yung Gravy, was released on July 28, 2023, [43] followed by its music video on August 9, 2023. [44] A music video for "Kind of Love", the second track on To Whoever Wants to Hear , was released on August 31, 2023, the day before the EP's release. [45] The EP debuted at number 173 on the Billboard 200 chart. [46]
Dream is considered to have a polarizing personality on the YouTube platform. [47] A 2020 SurveyMonkey poll revealed that 59.7% of respondents held a favorable view of him, while 22.1% expressed an unfavorable view. [48] Dream and other members of the Dream SMP have given rise to a popular fandom. [49]
On January 1, 2021, Dream was doxxed. [8] On January 7, 2021, Dream addressed the doxxing and denied accusations made against him by his ex-girlfriend. [8]
In June 2021, Dream was criticized for announcing that all revenue generated by his streams in June would go to charity, with critics claiming he did not stream for more than a single day that month. Dream had streamed multiple times on different platforms during the month of June, including at least four streams on Discord, where he encouraged fans to subscribe and donate to his Twitch channel. [50] [51] On June 30, 2021, Dream announced that he had donated US$140,000 (US$90,000 from fan contributions and US$50,000 from the Dream Team) to The Trevor Project, an LGBT youth charity. [52]
In response to fellow YouTuber Technoblade's cancer diagnosis, Dream donated US$21,409 to cancer research in late August 2021. [53] Dream has since participated in many other cancer charity initiatives, organized with Technoblade's father, who goes by his online pseudonym Mr. Technodad. [54]
During his career, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reached out to him about a "threat made against his life". [55]
In early October 2020, Dream livestreamed himself speedrunning Minecraft, and submitted one of his times to speedrun.com. He was awarded with 5th place at the time in the "1.16+ random seed glitchless" category. [13] Accusations of Dream cheating in these speedruns first arose on October 16, when another Minecraft speedrunner, in now-deleted Twitter posts, reported seeing higher drop rates for key items in one of the speedrunning attempts that Dream submitted. [56] Dream responded on October 29 in now-deleted Twitter posts, arguing that he had no reason to cheat, that he did not possess the coding knowledge to raise drop rates, and that the data was cherry picked. [57]
On December 11, 2020, following a two-month investigation, speedrun.com's Minecraft verification team removed his submission from the leaderboards. The team published a report, along with a 14-minute video to YouTube, analyzing six archived livestreams of speedrunning sessions by Dream from around the time of the record. The team concluded that the game had been modified to make the chance of obtaining certain items needed to complete the game higher than normal; they argued the odds of "anyone in the Minecraft speedrunning community would ever get luck comparable to Dream's" was at most 1 in 7.5 trillion. [13] [56] [58] In response, Dream called the investigation clickbait and claimed that it was flawed enough that some members of speedrun.com's moderation team threatened to quit over it. Speedrun.com moderator Geosquare denied the accusation, saying: "All moderators voted unanimously in our decision and no one is threatening to leave in protest", and "From everything we know[,] that [claim] is unsubstantiated or complete hyperbole." [13]
In a YouTube video, Dream maintained that the accusations of his cheating were untrue. In response to the report by speedrun.com, Dream commissioned a report by an anonymous statistician, who Dream claimed was an astrophysicist. They argued that the odds of a Minecraft speedrunner seeing luck comparable to Dream's was 1 in 10 million, instead of the speedrun.com team's 1 in 7.5 trillion. [e] [19] [59] Dot Esports said that the report did not exonerate him, and "at most" it suggested it was not impossible that he was lucky. The moderation team stood by their ruling and issued a rebuttal to Dream's report. In a Twitter post, Dream indicated that he would accept their decision without admitting fault. [56] [57] [59] On February 4, 2021, Matt Parker, a YouTube personality and recreational mathematician, published a 40-minute video on the controversy supporting the conclusions of the moderators, estimating the actual odds of being 1 in 20 sextillion (2 × 1022). [60] [59]
On May 30, 2021, in a written statement, Dream stated that he had in fact been using a "disallowed modification" that altered item drop probabilities, although he maintained that the addition of the modification was unintentional. According to him, this discrepancy was a result of a change to a client mod written for his YouTube channel. In his statement, he said that the item modifications were changed by the developer of the mod, and said that he was unaware of the addition until February 2021. [61] After becoming aware of the addition, he deleted his video response to the speedrun.com moderators. Dream explained that he did not mention his discovery of the addition publicly back then because he "felt like the community had been through enough drama and that it was pointless." He also "didn't want to be the center of controversy for the hundredth time" and that he figured "it would be a story I would tell in a few years when no one really cared." [59]
In a 2021 interview with YouTuber Anthony Padilla, Dream said that he regretted his initial reaction to the cheating scandal, saying that "I handled the situation horribly. When it originally came out, my response was, You guys are idiots, blah blah blah." When asked by Padilla how he thought he should have handled the scandal, Dream said that "I should have shut off all my devices for a couple days and been like, OK, let me not react with emotion." [49]
Having not revealed his face until 2022, Dream's real-life identity and many aspects of his personal life are unknown. [8] He is an American, [62] was born with the first name "Clay" [63] [64] on August 12, 1999, [65] and, as of 2022, resides in Orlando, Florida, with fellow internet personalities GeorgeNotFound and Sapnap. [66] Dream has spoken publicly about his diagnosis with ADHD. [67] His anonymous avatar was inspired by a picture his former girlfriend posted on Discord. [49] He has a pet cat named Patches. [68]
On September 19, 2022, Dream stated that the next YouTube video he would upload would be him revealing his face to the public for the first time. [69] [70] [71] He revealed his face in said YouTube video, titled "hi, I'm Dream.", thirteen days later, on October 2, 2022. [72] [64] [73] Dream decided to do a face reveal because he wanted to meet up with friends, explore making new types of content, and do more work outside of his home. [49] [74] He also said that he would post "more IRL content" but does not "plan on adding a face cam" to his Minecraft videos. [74] Dream's face reveal prompted both positive and negative comments online. [72] His face reveal video garnered over 21.9 million views and 2.5 million likes in less than a day. [74] As of May 2024, [update] the video has over 62.9 million views and over 4.6 million likes, making it the 13th-most-viewed video on Dream's YouTube channel. [75] Due to backlash, Dream deleted the face reveal video in June 2023. [76] As of September 2023, the video has been restored.[ improper synthesis? ]
According to Time magazine, "Dream's anonymity has been one of the most alluring aspects of his persona online and that intrigue, paired with his vibrant personality, have helped him build a loyal following across social media platforms." In a 2021 interview with YouTuber Anthony Padilla, Dream explained that although he never intended to remain anonymous, this aspect of his identity had become too important to his online persona for him to abandon at that time. [72]
Dream discography | |
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EPs | 1 |
Singles | 5 |
Music videos | 4 |
Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
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US [46] | ||
To Whoever Wants to Hear | 173 |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
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CAN [78] | HUN [79] | IRE [80] | NZ Hot [81] | SWE Heat. [82] | UK [83] | |||
"Roadtrip" (with PmBata) | 2021 | 87 | — | 70 | — | — | 75 | Non-album singles |
"Mask" | 96 | 37 | 43 | — | — | 38 | ||
"Change My Clothes" (with Alec Benjamin) | — | 31 | 70 | — | 13 | 67 | ||
"Until I End Up Dead" [84] [39] | 2023 | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | To Whoever Wants to Hear |
"Everest" (with Yung Gravy) [85] | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Director(s) | Album | Ref. |
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"Mask" [f] | 2021 | Xoriak | Non-album single | [36] |
"Until I End Up Dead" | 2023 | Ethan Frank, Neema Sadeghi & Dream | To Whoever Wants to Hear | [40] |
"Everest" (with Yung Gravy) | Kevin Aguirre | [44] | ||
"Kind of Love" | — | [45] |
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Streamy Awards | Gaming | Won | [86] |
Breakout Creator | Nominated | |||
2021 | Streamy Awards | Gaming | Won | [87] |
Creator of the Year | Nominated | |||
The Game Awards | Content Creator of the Year | Won | [88] | |
2022 | Streamy Awards | Creator of the Year | Nominated | [89] |
Gamer | Nominated | |||
2023 | Streamy Awards | Gamer | Won | [90] |
Publication | Year | World record | R. Status | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Guinness World Records | 2022 | Most subscribers for a dedicated Minecraft channel on YouTube | Record | [91] |
Most viewed Minecraft gameplay video on YouTube | Record |
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | "Until I End Up Dead" | Himself | Himself | [40] |
"Everest" | Himself & Yung Gravy | [44] | ||
"Kind of Love" | Himself | [45] |
Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and exploit glitches that allow sections to be skipped or completed more quickly than intended. Tool-assisted speedrunning (TAS) is a subcategory of speedrunning that uses emulation software or additional tools to create a precisely controlled sequence of inputs.
Narcissa Wright is an American speedrunner and co-founder of the website SpeedRunsLive, which allows speedrunners to race with one another in real time. She previously held the records for the fastest completion of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on the GameCube, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the iQue Player, Paper Mario on the Wii using Virtual Console, and Castlevania 64 on the Nintendo 64.
Zfg is an American speedrunner and streamer known for his The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time gameplay. He has held various records in speedrunning the game and its alternative version Master Quest, most notably the 100% completion category for the original game, for which he had held the record since mid-2015. He was the first person to complete Ocarina of Time to 100% in under four hours. He currently holds the record in the 100% SRM category with a time of 3 hours, 0 minutes, and 39 seconds, as of December 2022.
William Patrick Spencer Gold, known professionally as Wilbur Soot, is an English Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and musician. He first became known in 2017 for his work with the group comedy YouTube channel SootHouse, where he made recurring appearances and was the lead editor and a co-founder. He later started his own channel, Wilbur Soot, in March 2019.
Thomas Michael Simons, better known as TommyInnit, is an English YouTuber, Twitch streamer and comedian. He produces Minecraft-related videos and live streams, including collaborations with fellow YouTubers and streamers in the Dream SMP. Joining the Dream SMP caused his YouTube and Twitch channels to increase in popularity. As of 24 April 2023, his eleven YouTube channels have collectively reached over 27.74 million subscribers and over 2.82 billion views; his two Twitch channels have reached over 9.02 million followers, making him the most-followed Minecraft channel on Twitch, as well as the 17th most-followed overall.
The Dream SMP was an invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. YouTubers Dream and GeorgeNotFound created a roleplay with Minecraft content creators. They played fictionalized versions of themselves in a loose storyline. Participants livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube. It became a popular Minecraft web series. The server was officially shut down on April 10, 2023.
Nicholas "Nick" Armstrong, known online as Sapnap, is an American YouTuber and livestreamer known for his Minecraft content. Along with Dream and GeorgeNotFound, he is part of the Dream Team and was a founding member of the Dream SMP Minecraft server. He has co-owned NRG Esports since 2022.
George Davidson, better known online as GeorgeNotFound, is an English internet personality, YouTuber, and Twitch streamer. He gained substantial popularity in 2020 and 2021 through uploading Minecraft content. Alongside content creator and frequent collaborator Dream, Davidson founded the Dream SMP, a Minecraft role-playing server consisting of multiple storylines and characters. As of July 2023, Davidson's five YouTube channels have all collectively reached over 15.2 million subscribers and over 742.1 million views.
Ranboo is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer primarily known for their Minecraft content. They gained popularity after their inclusion in the Dream SMP and competing in MC Championship. As of September 2024, they have 4.4 million followers and over 100 thousand subscribers on Twitch, making them the 57th most-followed Twitch streamer overall and the 9th most-subscribed Twitch streamer overall.
Karl Jobst is an Australian GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark speedrunner, YouTuber, and investigative journalist whose work has primarily focused on exposing cheating and fraud in the gaming community. He also covers other speedrunning and challenge-related feats, including world record histories. As of February 2024, he has over one million subscribers on YouTube.
Karl Thomas Jacobs, formerly known as GamerBoyKarl, is an American Twitch streamer, YouTuber, writer, and producer. He rose to prominence as a member of MrBeast's on-screen cast and then developed his own videos, primarily Minecraft content. Jacobs is the creator of the anthology series Tales from the SMP set in the Dream SMP, which will be adapted into a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He is also a co-host of the Banter podcast with fellow YouTubers Sapnap and GeorgeNotFound.
Douglas Scott Wreden, better known by his pseudonym DougDoug, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, and former Hearthstone caster and producer. He makes gaming videos that revolve around him doing various gaming challenges, often involving the use of artificial intelligence, modifications to games, and giving his viewers on Twitch heavy control of the game or stream. In 2023, he won the "League of Their Own" award at The Streamer Awards, and in 2024, he was nominated for the "Best Software and Game Development" award.
Alexander, known online as Technoblade, was an American YouTuber known for his Minecraft videos, livestreams, and involvement in the Dream SMP. Technoblade registered his main channel on YouTube in 2013. His videos consisted primarily of Minecraft gameplay, particularly on the minigame server Hypixel. After rising to popularity in 2019 for his performances in player versus player (PvP) events, Technoblade was invited to the Dream SMP Minecraft server in 2020, further increasing his following.
Eric Morino, better known as PointCrow, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer. He is known for online content surrounding video games—most notably The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom—and other real life productions. He has completed several challenges based around Breath of the Wild, and has received media attention for offering a US$10,000 bounty to whoever created a mod that allowed the game to be played in online multiplayer. The mod was released on April 4, 2023, and some of Morino's videos making use of it were issued YouTube copyright strikes by Nintendo shortly after.
Summoning Salt is an American speedrunner and YouTuber known for his video documentaries about the history of speedrunning records. As of June 2024, his channel has over 1.9 million subscribers and more than 213 million views.
Alexis, better known online as Quackity, is a Mexican YouTuber and Twitch streamer. He is known as the founder of QSMP, an invite-only multilingual survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. He is also well known for his time in the Dream SMP. As of September 2024, he had 6.4 million followers on Twitch, making him the 28th most followed streamer on the platform.
Tobias James Smith, known online as Tubbo, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for creating Minecraft content. He is also known for his time in the Dream SMP, an invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. As of May 2024, he had 5.2 million followers on Twitch, making him the 43rd most followed streamer on the platform.
Phillip Watson, known online as Philza or Ph1LzA, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is known for his Minecraft hardcore series, where he plays the game on its most difficult setting, with permadeath and no respawns. Watson also formerly held the world record for the longest-running Minecraft hardcore world. As of May 2024, he had 4.3 million followers on Twitch.
Aimee, known professionally as Aimsey, is a Welsh Twitch streamer, TikToker and YouTuber best known for their gaming commentary and various collaborations with other content creators. Aimsey has also been involved in the Dream SMP and MC Championship. They are currently a member of Misfits Gaming.
Born on 12th August 1999 and residing in Orlando, Florida, Dream had always attempted to "peak" in two things: Minecraft and YouTube.
a U.S. YouTuber with more than 20 million subscribers who goes by the nom de game "Dream"
Well, my name's Clay, but-