Why is MatPat retiring? The reason why the YouTuber is leaving Game Theory

For the past decade and a half, the YouTube scene has been dominated by a select few faces that have put incredible amounts of effort to perfecting the art of entertainment as YouTubers. From MrBeast to Markiplier, Jenna Marbles and Tom Scott (who also announced his retirement earlier this month), fans from all around the world have been captivated as they paved the way for modern influencers. And amongst them, Matthew Patrick, better known online as MatPat, the madman that’s been trying to unravel the lore to Five Nights at Freddy’s since its original release, is probably one of the best known. But now he’s retiring.

In a surprise video released just a few days ago, Patrick cut to the chase and revealed that by March 9, 2024, he will be leaving his channel, The Game Theorists, as well as all 3 of his other channels created over the years with the same format and style but specialized on food, film, and style, respectively. You can find the complete video below, in which he goes into detail about why he’s doing so at such a height in his career.

Why is MatPat leaving The Game Theorists?

Thankfully, there is absolutely no kind of drama involved in his departure. Inspired by the previously mentioned Tom Scott, Patrick has chosen to leave his creation in the hands of the team they’ve been building over the years. All of this in favor of bettering his work-life balance and getting to spend more time with his family, claiming that all of this time he’s been spending all of his time talking about work with his wife (Stephanie Patrick, who has been a crucial part in the management and development of all of the channels for years) and hasn’t had the chance to enjoy the very content he talks about in his videos.

During the emotional video, MatPat didn’t shy away from sharing his feelings about the matter: while he’s made the decision he still finds the entire idea very difficult, as his passion for everything they do is still there. But he also revealed that they already knew retirement was their best option if he wanted any level of normalcy in his life.

But as it stands we still have a few weeks of Theories to go. “MatPat’s Final Theory” will be uploaded on March 9, as it will mark his official goodbye to the channel. Until then there will be new weekly videos of “business as usual” content, so fans still have that to look forward to.

And while he won’t completely abandon his creation (he admitted that he’ll still be involved with the channels, albeit only in a smaller creative capacity), he’ll be focusing his future efforts in other kinds of projects that he still hasn’t revealed, but teased a little bit about. The Game Theorists, Film Theory, Food Theory, and Style Theory will be spearheaded by current members of the Game Theorists team.