The Sidemen: We've hit YouTube limit so are moving to Netflix

The Sidemen are utilized to making contented for YouTube, but accidental they've present "hit the limit" connected what they tin execute connected the video sharing level truthful are moving "to thing adjacent bigger".

The British YouTube superstars person announced that the 2nd play of their world show, Inside, volition debut connected Netflix adjacent year. The streaming elephantine volition besides marque a US version.

The Sidemen - the seven-strong radical that includes contented creator, rapper and boxer KSI - person much than 146 cardinal YouTube subscribers betwixt them.

Vik Barn - aka Vikkstar123 - told the BBC the determination was "ambitious" but it was "exciting to conquer a caller challenge".

The Sidemen started creating YouTube contented successful the aboriginal 2010s.

They started by playing and reacting to video games, but successful the past decennary the radical of friends person branched retired to drama sketches, question challenges, podcasts and a dating show.

They present employment a accumulation squad of much than 100 radical who assistance make the videos and make ideas, Vik said.

One thought that has "massively taken off" is Inside, which launched successful June connected YouTube and racked up 14 millions of views for its opening episode.

The contest's archetypal play saw 10 influencers locked successful a location for a week arsenic they battled for a prize with up to £1m.

Its occurrence caught the attraction of Netflix bosses, who person present commissioned a 2nd UK play and a US mentation of the show. Both volition beryllium connected Netflix alternatively of YouTube.

"YouTube opened truthful galore doors for america truthful we can't diminish its powerfulness and it's inactive unrivalled successful immoderate ways," Vik explained. "But moving with Netflix is simply a chill accidental for america to scope a caller audience.

"We're astatine a ceiling with YouTube - we bring successful 20 cardinal UK viewers each period and present we're reasoning astir however to link with antithetic people."

Aside from Vik and KSI, the different Sidemen are Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL, Behzinga and W2S.

Vik said the group, who are aged betwixt 27 and 32, had immoderate reservations astir bringing their enactment to a caller level due to the fact that "we've ne'er done it earlier and we're each precise peculiar astir the mode we work".

"We besides determination astatine a truly accelerated gait - sometimes we sprout connected Wednesday and by Sunday we volition person uploaded a two-hour video. So we wanted to marque definite Netflix were blessed with the accelerated turnarounds and america being precise dynamic."

But the 7 members ballot connected everything and were unanimous successful the determination to determination their world amusement to Netflix, helium said.

The radical volition service arsenic enforcement producers and person "full power to marque the caller play bigger and amended than the last".

They aren't the lone online stars to instrumentality their ain big-money crippled amusement to a accepted streaming level alternatively of putting it connected YouTube.

MrBeast, the world's astir fashionable YouTuber, volition motorboat Beast Games connected Amazon Prime Video connected 19 December, though that amusement has been astatine the centre of controversy.

As 1 of the UK's biggest YouTube contented creators, 29-year-old Vik is precise alert of however galore young men look up to him. But helium said it's not his occupation to beryllium a relation model.

"In our videos we're conscionable ourselves, we're not aiming to beryllium definite characters, and archetypal and foremost we're contented creators who marque amusive videos."

He added that the Sidemen had a "unified stance connected not speaking astir governmental and societal issues".

"Sometimes we consciousness unit to, but we would alternatively permission this to the experts."

Part of the crushed for this determination is the aggravated media scrutiny they face.

KSI precocious faced backlash aft helium shared a video of Donald Trump drinking a vessel of Prime, an vigor portion helium co-founded.

Some saw that arsenic promoting and supporting Trump up of the US election. However, Vik responded by saying the radical "try not to implicit analyse things".

"Everything we bash volition ever upset a tiny radical of radical but you conscionable person to determination forward," helium said.

The Sheffield-based creator besides said the radical had got amended astatine "ignoring the trolling and hate".

"The net has go a precise turbulent spot precocious and occasionally things bash get to us.

"We effort and conscionable deliberation astir however arrogant we are of everything we've built and that helps america cancel retired the negativity."

Vik said "people thought I was weird" erstwhile helium archetypal started making contented a decennary ago.

"At schoolhouse radical would deliberation I was unusual for videoing myself playing games and that determination was thing incorrect with maine erstwhile I was signaling myself connected my telephone successful public.

"And my parents were not blessed astatine each with however overmuch clip I was spending connected YouTube, but they said arsenic agelong arsenic I got bully grades astatine schoolhouse past I could transportation on."

The Sidemen person been moving unneurotic for much than a decade, and successful caller months determination person been rumours that the radical whitethorn disband soon.

However, Vik quashed those rumours, saying: "Right present everything is fantastic.

"We ne'er truly cognize wherever we're going successful the aboriginal but determination is perfectly nary extremity successful show close now."