Those familiar with the MineCraft content creation community will no doubt be surprised at the announcement that one of the most popular YouTubers playing Mojang’s ubiquitous sandbox game has now retired. MineCraft stalwart SkyDoesMinecraft announced his retirement a few days ago in a video on his channel, stating that he no longer enjoys the game and has been disillusioned by its oft-criticized community.

SkyDoesMinecraft’s announcement comes as a shock to many despite the fact that his social media accounts had been littered with statements of MineCraft-related discontent in the months leading up to it. That’s because the YouTuber has managed to amass over 11 million subscribers to his channel – while it isn’t quite PewDiePie quitting YouTube, it’s perhaps the closest thing to it that the gaming community has experienced on the platform thus far. Here’s Sky – real name Adam Dahlberg – explaining his decision:

Alternatively, Dahlberg also provided a less kid-friendly explanation here, but despite the discrepancy in the amount of cursing done on each video, the content is essentially the same – Dahlberg fell out of love with both MineCraft and its community. It is a common sentiment among those who have grown up a bit while being part of MineCraft‘s massive online creation communities, which are often regarded as extremely toxic and demanding of those they feel owe them videos and other content daily.

Still, Dahlberg’s decision isn’t one to be made lightly. Walking away from that many subscribers and such a heavy presence in the MineCraft community is sure to have financial ramifications for the creator, who makes an estimated two-or-more thousand dollars a video and uploaded 20 this past June alone.

That figure doesn’t even factor in Dahlberg’s retail merchandising deals, which has seen his creations marketed in stores like Toys-R’-Us. The revenue that content creators in the MineCraft community can generate is truly staggering, and it might be set to grow even more soon, with MineCraft for the Switch on the horizon offering even more potential consumers.

It takes bravery in SkyDoesMinecraft’s position to walk away from it all, and while his channel will continue to upload user-submitted content and offer chosen videos a percentage of the profit, he’s leaving behind a huge payday in the pursuit of happiness – something that should be commended, regardless of the void his absence will leave in MineCraft‘s online community.

Minecraft is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and can also be played on Android and iOS devices.

Popular Minecraft YouTube Creator SkyDoesMinecraft Quits