By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

From left, are Breana Mayer and Brandon Dicken. InkFreeNews photo by Liz Shepherd.

WARSAW —YouTube is home to millions of videos, including reviews by Brandon Dicken, a Warsaw resident with 24,900 subscribers and more than 3.5 million video views.

Dicken, 22, created the YouTube channel “Crimson Gaming” on March 7, 2021, with a focus on reviewing mods in the video game “Minecraft.” Mods are fan-made creations players can download and try out in video games, with mods typically used by computer players. Dicken’s reviews help players learn more about specific mods through Dicken’s elaborate process on explaining each mod and how it works within “Minecraft.”

He first began his venture in YouTube channel creation in 2014 with “DrillbladeX,” then started a second channel in 2020, “Crimson & Lilac,” alongside his girlfriend of seven years, Breana Mayer. Both of those accounts accumulated a couple hundred subscribers before Dicken and Mayer decided to no longer upload to the channels.

“Crimson Gaming” is home to over 20 videos, one of which has accumulated 1.5 million views in a five-month span. That video in particular reviews the “Cracker’s Wither Storm” mod, which is designed as a survival challenge for players.

“I like staying in the realm of crafting/survival games,” said Dicken on gaming. “That’s the genre that I like.”

Dicken was first introduced to video games through his older brother, with his first gaming experiences connected to the Nintendo Wii gaming console. He decided to create a YouTube channel after being inspired by the fun that Jacksepticeye and other Minecraft YouTubers had with their work.

Dicken said he wanted to primarily focus on mod reviews since it’s such a niche topic. Each video takes Dicken about 30 to 40 hours to make. Out of the 27 videos on “Crimson Gaming,” Dicken’s personal favorite is his “Origins Mod” video, which allows gamers to experience new content and unique play styles.

For Dicken, the process of creating a mod review is determining which mod to start with, then creating a Google Docs template to lay out all the information he wants to put within the review.

“I really just dissect all the information each mod has laid out because I’m teaching people, ‘Here’s what the mod has,'” said Dicken.

After completing a template layout, Dicken records his voiceovers and video clips.

“I think editing is the biggest part that takes a while,” said Dicken. “Because I have an hour’s worth of footage that I have to cut down to 15 minutes.”

He first began noticing his channel getting more views in January after uploading a review on the “Scape and Run: Parasites” mod in Minecraft.

“A month before that (upload), I think I was sitting at about 800 subscribers,” said Dicken. “That (video) catapulted me to a couple thousand, and that really got my foot in the door.”

Following this, Dicken’s videos began seeing exponential growth. He had a feeling his review on the “Cracker’s Wither Storm” mod would be a gold mine since he was one of the few people who created a video about it.

“The mod (developer) who created that mod actually put my video on his page, so that also helped traction,” said Dicken.

Since the “Cracker’s Wither Storm” mod review, Dicken sees making his hobby of YouTube content creation into a career. “Crimson Gaming” has been monetized since Jan. 17 and has one sponsorship.

Outside of creating content for YouTube, Dicken enjoys watching other YouTubers’ content.

Currently, Dicken has plans to work on a mod pack. He hopes to get 100,000 subscribers to receive a Silver Creator award from YouTube.

“I did a lot of research before starting (YouTube creation),” said Dicken to those who want to create a YouTube channel. “Getting yourself educated on a topic is good. Keep in mind that YouTube is a marathon, not a sprint. Find what you like and perfect your craft. And don’t do all-nighters. That leads to burnout pretty quick.”

Those interested in watching Dicken’s videos or becoming a subscriber can visit his YouTube channel.

Pictured is the banner on Dicken’s YouTube channel.