What Happened To YouTuber FPSRussia?
If you like watching gunfire & explosions, you might have come across the YouTube channel FPSRussia. Its first video was released in 2010, and it spent several years after that gaining millions of subscribers. But there haven't been any new videos in a while. In this guide, we look at why that is and explore the history of the popular channel. This video was made with Ezvid Wikimaker.
What Happened to FPSRussia?
The channel first started having troubles when Keith Ratliff, a firearms expert and member of the production team, was found dead in 2013. He had been responsible for providing many of the weapons on the show, and most viewers agree that the videos were never the same after he died. Later that year, Kyle Myers, the creator and star of the channel, was the subject of an ATF raid. His video uploads became even less frequent after that. And in 2016, the channel stopped uploading new content altogether.
FPSRussia's 5 Most Popular Videos
| Date Posted | Video Title | Number of Views | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 25, 2011 | AA-12 Fully Automatic Shotgun!!! | 57 million |
| 2 | April 23, 2012 | Prototype Quadrotor with Machine Gun! | 34 million |
| 3 | May 8, 2011 | 12 Gauge Dragons Breath | 22 million |
| 4 | May 23, 2011 | The 40mm Machine Gun!!! | 19 million |
| 5 | June 21, 2011 | 82mm Mortar Fail | 18 million |
FPSRussia's Latest Video
What is Kyle Myers Doing Now?
Myers got in trouble with the law again in 2017. After authorities found illegal drugs in his P.O. box, the ATF raided his home again, this time seizing over 50 firearms. So it's unlikely that Myers will create more content for FPSRussia anytime soon. But he's still active on another project: a podcast called Painkiller Already. The show is a discussion of current events where hosts give their perspective on what's going on in the world, usually with a comedic twist.
In Depth
FPSRussia is one of the most popular "guns and explosives" channels on YouTube, and it was established on April 19, 2010. The channel is run by Kyle Myers, who plays the role of a Russian gun enthusiast named "Dmitri Potapoff." As of January 2018, FPSRussia has over six million subscribers and around eight hundred million total views on his videos, but he hasn't posted any new content since April 2016.
No official announcements or statements were ever made regarding FPSRussia's hiatus in 2016, so it's unclear why the channel became inactive. With that said, let's take a closer look at the events leading up to the channel's inactivity.
On January 2013, Keith Ratliff, an expert in firearms and a part of FPSRussia's production team, was found dead in his own gun store. The details behind his death are unclear, but the police found that there were no signs of a struggle and that Keith was armed but never drew his gun.
On January 2013, Keith Ratliff, an expert in firearms and a part of FPSRussia's production team, was found dead in his own gun store.
Not only was he a close friend of Myers, he was also partly responsible for providing most of the weapons, especially rare ones, used in the show. His death caused FPSRussia to go on a hiatus for a little over a month, and the channel was never the same after that. Around two months after the incident, the "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives" raided Myers' home and shooting range.
Due to Myers' extensive use of an explosive known as Tannerite in his videos, federal agents suspected that he was in possession of illegal explosives. This led to the ATF raid on March 2013. This was also supposedly a part of the investigation behind Keith Ratliff's death. After the raid, FPSRussia's video upload frequency dropped. New content was posted only once or twice every other month.
Despite all of this, the channel's popularity continued to grow as it gained around one million subscribers every year. Even after he went on another unannounced hiatus that lasted from April 2013 to January 2014, all of his videos consistently gained millions of views. In 2016, Kyle Myers stopped uploading new content, yet he continues to be active on a different YouTube channel that's completely unrelated to FPSRussia. This is never brought up in any of his videos.
In 2016, Kyle Myers stopped uploading new content, yet he continues to be active on a different YouTube channel that's completely unrelated to FPSRussia.
Myers is a host and co-founder of a weekly podcast known as "Painkiller Already," which is hosted on Podbean, iTunes, and a YouTube channel named "WoodysGamertag." The podcast has existed since 2010, and all of the episodes can be found on the aforementioned channel. As of January 2018, PKA makes over six thousand dollars per month on Patreon.
Fans of PKA have noted that Myers has been having trouble with firearms and explosives licenses, which is presumably the reason for his hiatus. On August 2017, Myers was arrested after authorities found illegal drugs in his post-office box. Because of this, the ATF raided his home and seized over 50 firearms. He was released from custody shortly after his arrest.
Due to Myers' guns being confiscated, one can easily assume that FPSRussia will no longer be producing new content. As of January 2018, Myers hasn't shared any plans to fully revive the channel.
