YouTube megastar MatPat of The Game Theorists is retiring, saying he wants to spend more time with his son

• YouTuber MatPat announced he's standing down from fronting his immensely popular YouTube channels.
• The veteran has been on YouTube for more than a decade, and has amassed millions of subscribers.
• He will be handing the reins to other members of the team to spend more time with his family.

MatPat is handing over the theorizing baton to someone else.

The YouTube veteran announced he would be standing down in a few weeks, and passing over the reins of his immensely popular channels to other members of his team, partly so he could spend more time with his son.

MatPat, whose real name is Matthew Patrick, made the announcement in a video titled "Goodbye Internet" — a nod to his famed intro of "Hello internet" — on January 9.

"It's not clickbait," Patrick said. "On March 9th, I'll be hosting my last theory episode, at which point I'll be handing off the channels to someone else."

The Game Theorists launched in 2011 with Patrick and his wife Stephanie Patrick. The first-ever video discussed the game "Chrono Trigger" and its rules around time traveling.

The channel currently has more than 18.5 million subscribers, and led to the launch of other popular channels including The Film Theorists, which has 12 million subscribers, The Food Theorists with 5 million, The Style Theorists with 2.3 million, and GTLive with 3.4 million.

Patrick and Stephanie built up their legacy by playing video games and theorizing about the "lore" behind the story arcs.

Over the past decade, The Game Theorists have become particularly synonymous with theories behind the tangled, perplexing storyline of "Five Nights at Freddy's," the murderous animatronic game franchise, colloquially known as "FNAF," which launched in 2014, and was made into a blockbuster movie in 2023.

Patrick even landed a small role in the movie, a waiter named Ness, thanks to his dedication to the series.

Patrick remained the main host of videos on all five channels over the years while Stephanie appeared less frequently in front of the camera with her role as COO.

They sold the company, Theory Media, to the startup Lunar X in December 2022, but promised at the time the team would "remain totally intact."

A year later, Patrick announced his departure.

In the video, which currently stands at 8.6 million views, Patrick said leaving the channel was "a big deal" because it was his and Stephanie's "first child."

"This was our baby," he said. "This channel has been going for 13 years."

The couple's son, Ollie, is getting older, and Patrick said he wanted to spend more time with him.

Patrick himself is 37, which he said was "over the hill."

"I think I'm the only 37-year-old out there who has an un-ironic appreciation of Skibidi Toilet," he said. "Then again, maybe that's the problem."

He said making videos for the channel had been "a literal third of my life."

"I'm going to miss you," he said. "I'm going to miss this. I value what we have here. I value this conversation, this openness, this relationship that we share."

Patrick said his decision to stand down had been coming for around three years, but fellow YouTuber Tom Scott's departure from the platform this month had been a factor.

"There's a lot of these videos that are coming out these days and there's going to be a lot more happening throughout this year," he said, referencing other YouTubers who have retired recently, including CaptainSparklez and SethEverman.

He said this was why Theory Media had been hiring more staff and why they had partnered with a larger company.

"We knew that we couldn't do this forever," he said. "We knew that, honestly, we didn't want to do this forever."

Patrick said that as much as he loved overthinking about games and making content for fans, he didn't enjoy the late nights and the fact that he and Stephanie had put work first for more than 10 years.

"I miss the days where I could just sit down on the couch with her and play video games and it's not for content," he said.

Patrick said he never wanted to fade into irrelevancy, so wanted to retire from his channels while on a high.

He added that familiar faces on the channel would be stepping up to main roles, including Amy on Style Theory, and Lee on Film Theory. He said he wanted to make it "more sustainable" for them, so no single person would be taking up as much work as he put in over the years.

"I have been so blessed to have this platform available to me that you've given me over the last 13 years, but I think now it's time to pass it on to the next generation," he said. "It's time to give someone else a shot."

Patrick said he wouldn't be leaving the company, but would have more of a behind-the-scenes role, and appear "from time to time" like a grandparent who "looks forward to seeing you."

"I know this is going to sound cheesy, and I know the internet will probably break me over the coals for crying for one, but I love you guys, I do," he said through tears.

"You have taken me on the wildest, craziest 13-year ride of my life and I'm so grateful."

There are going to be nine more episodes on The Game Theorists, Patrick said, and he would be continuing to play games on GTLive for "the foreseeable future."

He then ended the video with his renowned catchphrase for "one of the final times."

"As always, my friends remember, it's just a theory — a game theory," he said. "Thank you. Thank you for watching."