Matthew Robert Patrick (born November 15, 1986), better known as MatPat, is an American semi-retired YouTuber and internet personality. He is the creator and former host of the YouTube series Game Theory, and its spin-off series Film Theory, Food Theory, and Style Theory, each analyzing various video games, films alongside TV series and web series, food, and fashion respectively. Each of the different series is posted on individual channels, each named after the respective series. In addition to the creation of his channels, MatPat narrated the majority of the videos that are presented on his channels before his departure on March 9, 2024.
MatPat has also created the gaming channel GTLive and hosted the YouTube Premium series MatPat's Game Lab and the 2023 Streamy Awards. As of May 2024, MatPat has amassed over 40 million subscribers, as well as over nine billion total views across all five of his channels. He departed the channels as a regular host in March 2024, although he continued to make minor appearances and host GTLive until October.
Early life and education
Matthew Robert Patrick[4] was born on November 15, 1986,[5] in Medina, Ohio.[6]:02:00 He has Polish, Czech and Slovak ancestry.[7]:00:15 He was nicknamed "MatPat" by his friends in sixth grade. An only child, MatPat was interested in video games, theater and school early on.[6]:01:50–03:20 He was the valedictorian of his high school and received an academic scholarship to Duke University,[8] graduating in 2009 with a double major in theater and psychology with a concentration in neuroscience.[9]
To fulfill his dream of becoming an actor, MatPat moved to New York after graduating and performing in theater productions to little success, spending two years unemployed.[6]:04:20–06:15 His first YouTube videos were auditions for stage plays. In 2011, he decided to revamp his channel as a "portfolio" which could demonstrate to potential employers his ability to write, research, and edit videos online.[9] Inspired by an Extra Credits episode on tangential learning,[8] MatPat uploaded the first episode of Game Theory on April 18, 2011.[10] It discussed the quantum mechanics in the 1995 video game Chrono Trigger.[9]
The channel slowly gained subscribers and his videos were posted on the front pages of sites such as ScrewAttack and GameTrailers.[11] In 2012, MatPat introduced two new segments hosted by fellow YouTubers Gaijin Goombah and Ronnie Edwards, and Austin Hourigan's "The SCIENCE!".[12] In 2015, MatPat launched the spin-off channel Film Theory, which covers movies and television.[10] This channel reached over one million subscribers in a month.[13]
He occasionally uploaded videos commenting on the gaming market and gamers, as well as on other matters that he deemed noteworthy.[14] MatPat started a Let's Play series called GTLive on August 26, 2015,[15] where he posts gameplay and video reactions with his wife Stephanie. Starting on October 3, 2016, the Monday streams became part of YouTube Gaming Primetime, and were therefore scheduled for 3 pm to 5 pm PST. It also included a voting mechanism, which can be used by MatPat to conduct quick polls.[16] As of March 2022, GTLive had 2.94 million subscribers and over 649 million views. As of 2022, the GTLive channel continues to upload mostly unedited, pre-recorded content.
On May 29, 2016, MatPat and eleven other YouTubers met with Pope Francis for an hour. MatPat asked the Pope to encourage others to "fight for what's right" and gifted him a copy of Undertale (2015), saying that its recurrent theme of mercy fits the Pope's proclamation that 2016 would be the "year of mercy for the Catholic church".[21][22]
The third Theory channel, and fourth overall; The Food Theorists, began releasing videos in July 2020. The Food Theorists, using the same style as its predecessors, blends food science with psychology, physiology, and conspiracy.[26] The channel was being developed for two years before its launch.[27] As of October 2022, The Food Theorists had 4 million subscribers and over 499 million views. It had reached 1 million subscribers exactly a week after launch and had then gained another million over the succeeding 4 months.[28]
On December 20, 2022, a fourth Theory channel, and fifth overall, was announced on the Game Theory channel,[29] along with the purchase of their company Theorist Media by startup Lunar X.[30] On February 18, 2023, The Style Theorists was launched. Like the other channels, it focuses on the science, math, history, psychology, and mystery of fashion. It reached a million subscribers three days later.
MatPat also made cameo appearances in multiple installments of YouTube Rewind.
On August 27, 2023, MatPat hosted the Streamy Awards,[31][32] which scored 15 million views across digital platforms in its first 48 hours, beating the 2021 record of 9.7 million views as the most-watched show in its 13-year history.[33]
On January 9, 2024, MatPat announced in a video titled "Goodbye Internet" that he would step down from hosting the channels on March 9,[1] and would be replaced by a different member of the Theorist team for each channel, while still retaining a creative role and making occasional appearances on the channels, along with GTLive, until mid-2024.[34] While he joked that his decision was inspired by Tom Scott, who had recently ended his decade-long run of posting weekly videos, MatPat said that he and his wife had been working towards the change for years.[35] They also chose a ten-week timeframe when announcing his retirement.[36] He additionally revealed that following the departure, he would continue to pursue creative projects.[34] One such project includes a lo-fi mystery series entitled LoreFi;[37] its channel was launched in summer 2024.[37]
Other media and collaborations
MatPat was involved in the web seriesTerrain of Magical Expertise. He gained the series more attention and exposure by uploading a remastered version of the first episode on the channel on October 1, 2013, and then providing a platform for the series.[38][39] MatPat, alongside Cordato, Sundman, Hourigan, and Edwards, also contributed their likeness and voices for self-parodied opponents in the video game adaptation.[citation needed] The game was released on Steam on September 9, 2021.
A character based on MatPat was included in The Walking Dead: Road to Survival (2015).[40] In 2017, MatPat and his wife Stephanie participated in Nintendo's Pokkén Tournament DX Invitational, an event held during E3 2017. He was paired with Allister Singh, the only pro-Pokkén Tournament player in the event. His team eventually won the tournament.[41] MatPat voiced Computron in the animated series Transformers: Titans Return (2017).[42]
In 2016, MatPat hosted the go90 reality series The Runner.[43] In 2019, MatPat partnered with Nickelodeon to make the show Fact or Nicktion.[44] In this show, MatPat examined various phenomena in Nickelodeon shows, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Rugrats to determine whether they could or couldn't happen in real life.
MatPat's videos about the video game series Five Nights at Freddy's have made him prominent within the series' fandom, which is known for its dedication to theorizing about the underlying narrative of the series.[46] He made a cameo appearance in its 2023 film adaptation as a waiter.[47] In 2024, he collaborated with the series for a Youtooz figure and pins.[48] In total, he made 68 theory videos on the series.[49]
In May 2024, MatPat appeared on an episode of Wired's "Web's Most Searched Questions" series.[50]
Personal life
MatPat with his wife Stephanie in 2018
MatPat is married to Stephanie (née Cordato), whom he met while studying at Duke University. The two became close after creating a Legend of Zelda parody called "The Epic of Stew". They married on May 19, 2012.[51] Their son Oliver was born in 2018,[52] and the family currently divides their time between living in California and North Carolina.[53]
↑ Subscribers, broken down by channel: 18.4 million (The Game Theorists) 12.3 million (The Film Theorists) 4.83 million (The Food Theorists) 2.09 million (The Style Theorists) 3.3 million (GTLive)
↑ Views, broken down by channel: 3.82 billion (The Game Theorists) 2.59 billion (The Film Theorists) 675 million (The Food Theorists) 49.04 million (The Style Theorists) 721 million (GTLive)
Related Research Articles
John Patrick Douglass, better known as jacksfilms, is an American YouTuber, videographer, musician, and sketch comedian. He is best known for his series Yesterday I Asked You (YIAY) and Your Grammar Sucks (YGS), in which he commentates on content sent by fans. Douglass' career on YouTube spans over 18 years.
Mark Edward Fischbach, known online as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber, actor, filmmaker, and influencer. One of the most popular YouTubers on the platform, he is known for his "Let's Play" videos of indie horror games. He was listed by Forbes as the third highest-paid content creator on the platform in 2022, and has won four Streamy Awards and a Golden Joystick Award. He has spun-off his YouTube fame into a media career, venturing into acting and filmmaking.
Game Grumps is an American Let's Play web series hosted by Arin Hanson (2012–present) and Dan Avidan (2013–present). 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 his own YouTube webseries, JonTron, he was succeeded by Avidan.
Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a video game series and media franchise created by indie game developer Scott Cawthon. The franchise features ten main video games, several spin-off games, novels, and a film adaptation.
Scott Braden Cawthon is an American video game developer, writer, and producer. He is best known for creating Five Nights at Freddy's, a series of survival horror video games which expanded into a media franchise.
Seán William McLoughlin, better known publicly as jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber whose videos focus on gaming, comedy and vlogging.
Jonathan Aryan Jafari, better known online as JonTron, is an American YouTuber and comedian. He created the eponymous YouTube web series JonTron, where he reviews and parodies video games, films and other media.
MatPat's Game Lab is a single-season YouTube Premium reality streaming television series hosted by Matthew Patrick that debuted on June 8, 2016.
Emiliano Rodolfo Rosales-Birou, also known as Emile Rosales and better known by his online alias Chuggaaconroy or Chugga for short, is an American YouTuber, Internet personality and Let's Player.
Ryan's World is a children's YouTube channel for children aged 2–6 featuring Ryan Kaji along with his mother, father, and twin sisters.
James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, better known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, internet personality, and businessman. He is known for his fast-paced and high-production videos featuring elaborate challenges and lucrative giveaways. With over 330 million subscribers, he has the most subscribers of any YouTube channel, and is the third-most-followed creator on TikTok with over 104 million followers. He also has over 60 million followers on Instagram and 30.9 million on X.
Jacob Rabon IV, better known by his online name Alpharad, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, Esports personality, and musician. He is known for his gaming videos, especially on the Super Smash Bros. series along with his participation in the fighting game community as an announcer/commentator. He is also known for his "Nuzlocke" content, a variation on the game Pokémon to make it more difficult. Currently, he focuses on creating variety content, commonly with his friends.
TKOR is a YouTube channel created by Grant Thompson that originally conducted DIY projects and experiments, often involving large amounts of a single item. Thompson created the channel in 2010 and operated it until his death in 2019. The channel is now run by Thompson's friends and family and no longer has a DIY focus, but produces content such as "life hacks, experiments, and random weekend projects."
Clay, known online as Dream, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, speedrunner, and singer primarily known for creating Minecraft content.
Charles Christopher White Jr., better known as Cr1TiKaL, MoistCr1TiKaL, or penguinz0 is an American YouTuber and streamer. He is best known for his commentary videos and live streams covering internet culture and video games. His content is mostly characterized by his monotonous voice, white shirt, deadpan comedic style, and long hair, which has earned him the nickname of "Internet Jesus". In addition, White is the co-founder and co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports and co-founder and member of the musical duo the Gentle Men.
Matt Watson is an American YouTuber, comedian, musician, podcast host and music video director. He is best known as a co-host of the comedy-variety channel SuperMega and a former editor for and member of the Let's Play-oriented web series Game Grumps. Watson has collaborated with other entertainers, such as Finn Wolfhard, Markiplier, bbno$ and OneyNG. As of 21 July 2024, SuperMega has 976 thousand subscribers and over 427 million total video views.
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.
Cory DeVante Williams, known online as CoryxKenshin, is an American YouTuber 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.
Jirard Khalil is an American YouTuber, internet personality and reviewer known online as The Completionist, the titular character of a web series Khalil created in 2012. Khalil's videos are mainly about video games, focusing on reviews and playthroughs to 100% completion, uncovering every aspect found in the game. Throughout his career on YouTube, Khalil has uploaded reviews of over 340 games. He was also affiliated with the YouTube network and gaming collective Normal Boots.
Iron Lung is an upcoming American science fiction horror film written, directed, produced by, and starring Mark Fischbach in his feature directorial debut. It is an adaptation of the 2022 video game of the same name by David Szymanski.
↑ "YouTube Updates 'n Vlogs + New TOME stuff COMING SOON!". Newgrounds. Kirbopher. December 6, 2013. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2017. I haven't been able to get Google Adsense to work on my YouTube channel for well over a year. The "experiment" was MatPat would be uploading TOME episodes and shorts to their channel as a new show (since they have 3 shows on the GT channel) and giving me a cut of the revenue each month. However, the show didn't perform as well as we were hoping within the first two episodes, so it was ultimately decided to pull it from their channel.
↑ "TOME now on Game Theorist YT & Progress Report". Newgrounds. Kirbopher. October 9, 2013. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2017. MatPat and the Game Theorist crew reached out to me, as fans of the show, and wanted to give it more exposure. So, they've graciously invited me to be part of their channel and help TOME reach a bigger audience than before.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
