by Jeremy Rogers On July 18, 2012 Arin Hanson, animator and voice actor, and Jon Jafari, online entertainer, posted their inaugural episode to their collaborative let’s play YouTube channel, Game Grumps. The game was Kirby Super Star, which took 19 videos to complete, but it was just the beginning. The Grump channel skyrocketed to the forefront of Youtube culture when the site’s algorithms started prioritizing channels that had more minutes watched, a perfect storm to put let’s players front and center on the site. The Grumps became known for their personal chemistry and their amusing rants about the subpar qualities of certain titles. After a year, Jafari left to focus on his own YouTube series: JonTron, and was replaced by Danny Avidan, a member of the comedic music duo, Ninja Sex Party. Spinoff shows under the Grump name include Game Grumps VS, and Guest Grumps. Since the Channel’s inception many more people have joined the Grump team to host their own webseries including Steam Train and Doodle Doods, both of which were created and hosted primarily by Ross O’Donovan. The Grumps have also collaborated with many other famous YouTubers and even non-YouTube personalities over the years. Fellow content creators who have appeared on the Game Grumps channel include Markiplier, the Completionist, Jacksepticeye, and many more. Other notable people who have made appearances on their shows include Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, Game of Thrones actor Jacob Anderson, and BoJack Horseman voice actor Paul F. Tompkins. The Grumps, in addition to making appearances at conventions and similar events, have been hosting a string of live shows for fans to attend. They have toured from coast to coast and have even brought their unique brand of video game comedy to foreign nations. At five years the Grumps have nearly 4 million subscribers and 3.3 billion views on their channel. To mark the occasion, the Grumps have made limited edition shirts available for purchase. The Grumps also released a collaborative animated episode of Game Grumps featuring animations by multiple online artists.
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