R.I.P Rooster Teeth
Just to get this out of the way, I know I haven't been on here in a long time. I was actually planning on coming back, but then this news dropped and I felt like I had to get my thoughts in.
Let's face facts here, this should surprise absolutely no one. Unless you've been living under a rock (or you're just don't care about Rooster Teeth), we've all witnessed the decline this company has had over the past few years. From all the controversies starting to pile up, their audience leaving in droves, the content they were putting out just not being entertaining anymore, the multiple cancellations (RvB, Achievement Hunter, RTX, etc.), to just the company not being the same company we all fell in love with in the beginning. It all spelled the end of Rooster Teeth. I'm not gonna lie, after Achievement Hunter shut down, I felt like the company had at least one more year left in it. I was slightly wrong (by several months) but in the end, this was inevitable.
I started watching Rooster Teeth either in the late 2000's or the early 2010's ( I can't remember exactly when I started watching). Well, I say Rooster Teeth, but in reality it was less Rooster Teeth and more Achievement Hunter and the Let's Play channel. There were other things I liked to watch (The Know and Annual Pass to name a couple) but it was mostly AH content. The only thing I watched on the main RT channel were the RTAA's and RTLife. I did watch a little RvB, but while the stuff I watched I did enjoy, it never really stuck with me. Nope, I was there for the let's plays, the thing to dos, the AHWUs and the fails of the weeks. I've mentioned before that I was the victim of bullying for 13 years. For those latter years, RT and AH definitely brought me some joy during those tough years.
I stopped watching around mid 2023. The reason I stopped watching wasn't because of the controversies (despite how horrible they got, it felt to me like they were addressing them in an appropriate manner (except the Kdin Jenzen stuff, that was corporate bs)) nor was it the roster changes (I like to think I gave everyone there a decent shot to entertain me and for the most part they succeeded). No, the thing that made me stop watching was the content itself; simply put they stopped putting things out that I wanted to watch and the stuff I did want to watch wasn't funny. AHs humor did get old and the games they were playing over on the Let's Play channel I didn't much care for. I think the last series I watched of theirs was their last 7 Days to Die series and even that I didn't finish because it stopped being entertaining. Despite what I said before, it was the Kdin Jenzen stuff that was the final straw for me. After hearing all the crap their employee's went through, I knew I couldn't support this company anymore. That being said, I still wanted to watch their Extra Life stream last year. The Extra Life streams had become less about the charity work (unfortunately) and more a litmus test to see how the company was doing. With that in mind, they failed spectacularly. After that stream I knew the company wasn't gonna survive much longer.
As much as I want to rip into RT for all the crap that lead us here, I have to remember that they did put out content that brought joy in my life. Hopefully, that content will remain up. That being said, RT is owned by the same company who owned Machinima and considering what happened to their content library.....Yeah, I have reason to be nervous. But the memories will remain and I'll try to do my best to remember Rooster Teeth for the better. I do wish the employee's nothing but the best and hope that they land on their feet somewhere where they are paid better and there's less crunch time. However, in the end, as I said before this shouldn't come as any surprise.
Still, thank you Rooster Teeth for everything. Despite everything, you will be missed.