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Achievement Hunter

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Achievement Hunter
Company typeDivision
IndustryEntertainment
GenreComedy gaming, Let's Plays, game walkthroughs
FoundedJuly 6, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-07-06)
FoundersGeoff Ramsey
Jack Pattillo
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
United States
Key people
Geoff Ramsey
Jack Pattillo
Gavin Free
Michael Jones
Ryan Haywood
Jeremy Dooley
Trevor Collins
Lindsay Jones
ServicesOnline video
Community website
Number of employees
18
ParentRooster Teeth
WebsiteOfficial Website

Achievement Hunter is an American video gaming website and a division of Rooster Teeth Productions. Founded by Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo on July 6, 2008, the website is largely based on the achievement mechanic found in seventh and eighth generation video game consoles. Since its founding, Achievement Hunter has grown to become a core component of Rooster Teeth, hosting a wide variety of videos related to video games. The most frequent videos are hosted by the six most prolific employees: Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo, Gavin Free, Michael Jones, Ryan Haywood, and Jeremy Dooley.

Achievement Hunter has a large presence on YouTube – where it runs four different channels: Achievement Hunter, LetsPlay, GameFails and LetsPlay Community – garnering a combined total of 5.8 million subscribers and 2 billion video views.[1][2][3][4]

History and development

2008–10: Inception and growth

Shortly following his employment at Rooster Teeth, Jack Pattillo largely assisted Geoff Ramsey in the founding of Achievement Hunter.

In 2008, Geoff Ramsey's interest in gaming achievements resulted in the realization that no community-based website related to achievements existed. As a result, Ramsey approached Burnie Burns, then CEO of Rooster Teeth, about creating a website based on achievements; Burns agreed, and Ramsey created Achievement Hunter, which shares a similar design to the main Rooster Teeth website.[5] Ramsey later elaborated, saying he had grown tired of making Red vs. Blue and enjoyed working on this new, creative outlet in his spare time.[6] Alongside employee Jack Pattillo, Ramsey regularly released achievement guides and Easter egg videos, often receiving assistance from select volunteers from the Rooster Teeth community. David Dreger also assisted in the founding of the site.[7][8]

Geoff Ramsey's interest in gaming achievements led to the creation of Achievement Hunter.

2011–12: Employment growth

In 2011, Achievement Hunter hired Ryan Haywood as an editor and manager; Haywood later began being featured in videos as a host in March 2012, becoming one of the main crew members. Four new shows were introduced to Achievement Hunter in 2011. One of them, Rage Quit, led to the official hiring of Michael Jones as a full-time staff member in August 2011.[9]

In December 2011, Achievement Hunter also began creating Let's Play videos. The success of the videos resulted in a weekly sub-series in 2012, in which the main hosts play Minecraft. Weekly Let's Play videos focusing on Grand Theft Auto games are also released.[10][11]

Achievement Hunter hired Gavin Free in 2012, after he had assisted with the company for many years. In March 2012, Achievement Hunter debuted Game Night, in which Ramsey and Caleb Denecour play games with community members; the series switched to a live stream format in 2014. Community member Ray Narvaez, Jr. was hired in April 2012, having worked as a contract host for multiple years. Later, in September 2012, contract editor Franco Scarcello created Five Facts, which was generally hosted by Pattillo and Ramsey and focused on little-known facts about various video games; it was not renewed for a sixth season in May 2016.[12]

2013–present: Popularization

In early 2013, Achievement Hunter introduced a competition series titled VS, in which the employees challenge each other to compete in games. In April 2013, Achievement Hunter launched their own channel on YouTube, which hosts a variety of their videos.[1] Later in 2013, the company retired Achievement HORSE, replacing it with Achievement HUNT, in which a variety of employees challenge each other until the word "HUNT" has been spelled.

In October 2013, Pattillo hosted a 24-hour live stream benefiting Extra Life, a charity benefiting hospitalized children. With appearances from other Achievement Hunter members and various Rooster Teeth employees, the live stream managed to raise $340,000. This charity live stream has become an annual event, with 2014's Extra Life live stream raising over $442,000 for Children's Miracle Network.[13] At RTX in July 2014, community members Matt Bragg and Jeremy Dooley were hired as editors and secondary hosts at Achievement Hunter.[14]

In early 2015, Achievement Hunter hosted the first Let's Play Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. In April 2015, Narvaez departed from the company as a full-time employee to focus on Twitch livestreaming, although he continued to voice his character for the company's X-Ray and Vav animated series until its eventual cancellation.[15] In mid-2015, Achievement Hunter launched a new YouTube channel, named after themselves, thereon they upload series of videos that were previously uploaded to the Rooster Teeth channel. Additionally, they moved out of Rooster Teeth's Stage 5, Austin Studios office into their own office nearby.[16]

Dooley was promoted to a main host in October 2015, during an episode of Let's Play Minecraft.[17] A weekly podcast titled Off Topic was announced in early October by Michael Jones. Four test episodes aired live and were only available to "Sponsors" on their website. The first official episode aired to the public after the initial tests. Jones serves as the main host of the show and makes the most frequent appearances alongside other Achievement Hunter employees and special guests.[18]

From 2015, Achievement Hunter would feature celebrities as guest collaborators in some of their Let's Play videos such as Rahul Kohli, Dan Campbell from The Wonder Years, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Dante Basco, James Buckley and pop punk band Neck Deep. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

Let's Play Live!

Main article: Let's Play Live

Let's Play Live! is an on-stage event produced by Rooster Teeth in which the Achievement Hunter members play video games and perform comedy sketches in front of a live audience. Their first event was held on February 20, 2015, at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas.[26] On September 14, a behind-the-scenes documentary was released about the event for sponsors on their website.

In 2016, three more Let's Play Live! shows were held, with the first at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on June 17,[27] the second at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on August 19, and the third at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York on October 8. These events also feature appearances by other members of the Let's Play family; Funhaus, ScrewAttack, Kinda Funny, Cow Chop and The Creatures.[28]

In 2017, four Let's Play Live! shows were announced as the East Coast Tour. The tour was held from April 24 to April 30, with them going to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey, the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Florida and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida.

Event Dates

Date Name Location Associated act(s)
February 20, 2015 Let's Play Live! Austin, Texas Funhaus
June 17, 2016 Let's Play Live! 2 Hollywood, California Funhaus, ScrewAttack, Kinda Funny, Cow Chop and The Creatures
August 19, 2016 Let's Play Live: Chicago Chicago, Illinois Funhaus, Kinda Funny and The Creatures
October 8, 2016 Let's Play Live: New York New York City, New York Funhaus and Cow Chop
April 24, 2017 Lets Play Live! East Coast Tour Newark, New Jersey Funhaus
April 26, 2017 Baltimore, Maryland Funhaus
April 28, 2017 Orlando, Florida Funhaus
April 30, 2017 Tampa, Florida Funhaus

List of shows

Former

First episode Series Primary contributor(s) Final episode
March 25, 2008 Forced Enjoyment Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo July 28, 2010
December 20, 2008 Pajamachievements Griffon Ramsey September 25, 2009
September 22, 2010 Fails of the Weak Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo May 13, 2016
December 6, 2010 Achievement HORSE/PIG Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo January 2, 2016
March 29, 2011 This Is... Various August 14, 2015
December 16, 2011 A Look Back At Brandon "Fragger" Light; Ray Narvaez, Jr. August 15, 2012
March 23, 2012 Game Night Geoff Ramsey, Caleb Denecour February 14, 2014
April 24, 2012 Trials Files Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo November 4, 2014
May 30, 2012 Retro Active Brandon "Fragger" Light October 31, 2012
August 20, 2012 Quick Bits Various December 17, 2012
September 11, 2012 Five Facts Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo, Franco Scarcello May 17, 2016[12]
March 5, 2013 Coming Soon Kdin Jenzen May 1, 2015
October 30, 2013 Achievement HUNT Various May 10, 2016
February 6, 2014 How To: Joel Heyman, Adam Ellis, Jeremy Dooley, Matt Bragg May 15, 2016[29][30]
May 12, 2014 Countdown/Top Five Various January 5, 2016
August 13, 2014 Imaginary Achievements Jeremy Dooley April 8, 2015
August 18, 2014 MegaCraft Matt Bragg August 12, 2015
September 25, 2014 Grab Bag Various April 21, 2016
August 1, 2015 Presented With Comment Jeremy Dooley (with various contenders) January 7, 2016

Current

First episode Series Primary contributor(s)
July 29, 2008 Achievement Guides/Achievement Unlocked Various
July 14, 2009 Easter Eggs Various
March 4, 2010 Achievement Hunter Weekly Update (AHWU) Various
May 5, 2010 Behind the Scenes Various
January 20, 2011 Rage Quit Michael Jones
November 30, 2011 Things to Do In: Various
December 7, 2011 Let's Play Various
March 8, 2013 Versus (VS) Various
October 29, 2013 GO! Various
May 8, 2014 Play Pals Michael Jones, Gavin Free, Ryan Haywood
September 18, 2014 Let's Watch Various
October 16, 2014 Achievement Hunter vs. The World Various
November 6, 2014 Sunday Driving Various
December 19, 2014 Shenanigans Various
October 30, 2015 Off Topic Podcast Michael Jones (with various AH members)
December 29, 2015 Great Levels in Gaming Max Bernard
April 12, 2016 VR the Champions Ryan Haywood, Gavin Free, Jeremy Dooley, Michael Jones, Jack Pattillo
April 29, 2016 Theater Mode[31] Various
June 9, 2016 Heroes and Halfwits[32] Frank J. Kim, Geoff Ramsey, Griffon Ramsey, Michael Jones, Gus Sorola, Ryan Haywood
September 29, 2016 RouLetsPlay Various
October 3, 2016 Schooled Geoff Ramsey, Millie Ramsey
October 11, 2016 Between the Games Various
May 9, 2017 Battle Buddies Ryan Haywood, Jeremy Dooley

Cast and crew

References

  1. ^ a b "LetsPlay - YouTube". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Achievement Hunter- YouTube". Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  3. ^ "GameFails- YouTube". Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. ^ "LetsPlay Community- YouTube". Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  5. ^ Burg, Dustin (July 28, 2008). "RvB launches achievement website, achievables unlocked!". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  6. ^ Palamountain, Jamie. "An Interview with Geoff Ramsey - RTX Sydney 2017". YouTube. The Loaded Gamer. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  7. ^ a b Sliwinski, Alexander (28 July 2008). "Rooster Teeth creates Achievement/Trophy database site". Engadget. AOL Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "RIP Ex-Achievement Hunter Knuckles Dawson". 343 industries. 343 industries. June 22, 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2016. Knuckles Dawson was one the original achievement hunters for Rooster Teeth back in day he created a large library of achievement videos while narrating the viewers through the achievements.
  9. ^ "Rooster Teeth Podcast No. 228". Rooster Teeth Productions. July 23, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  10. ^ Amini, Tina (May 4, 2012). "Launch Your Friends Off Helicopters in Grand Theft Auto IV". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  11. ^ Vas, Gergo (February 27, 2014). "Almost nailed it! The Achievement Hunter crew is back on track with GTA V, and they're really pushing the limits of possible stunts this time". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  12. ^ a b c Scarcello, Franco (June 15, 2016). "The End of Five Facts". Achievement Hunter. Rooster Teeth. Archived from the original on June 18, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Brouwer, Bree (October 27, 2014). "Rooster Teeth Raises $442, 389 For Extra Life, LeVar Burton Reads Adult Kid's Books". Tubefilter. Tubefilter, Inc. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  14. ^ Ramsey, Geoff; Pattillo, Jack; Haywood, Ryan; Jones, Michael; Free, Gavin; Narvaez, Ray, Jr.; Jones, Lindsay; Jenzen, Kdin; Denecour, Caleb (July 6, 2014). Achievement Hunter Panel #2. RTX. Austin, Texas. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ a b Brouwer, Bree (May 6, 2015). "Ray Narvaez, Jr. Leaves Rooster Teeth, Moves To Full-Time Twitch Streaming". Tubefilter. Tubefilter, Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  16. ^ Brouwer, Bree (July 2, 2015). "Rooster Teeth's Achievement Hunter Gets Its Own Channel, Offices". Tubefilter. Tubefilter, Inc. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  17. ^ Achievement Hunter (October 16, 2015). Let's Play Minecraft Episode 177 - Blocking List (Part 2). Rooster Teeth. Event occurs at 32:35. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Jones, Michael (October 28, 2015). "Brand New Achievement Hunter Podcast, Off Topic!". Michael Jones - roosterteeth.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  19. ^ Achievement Hunter (June 17, 2015). Let's Play - Left 4 Dead 2 with Rahul Kohli. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  20. ^ Achievement Hunter (November 18, 2015). Let's Play – Madden 16 with Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  21. ^ Achievement Hunter (January 14, 2016). Let's Play - Lego Dimensions with Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  22. ^ Achievement Hunter (January 19, 2016). Let's Play - StarWhal Just the Tip with Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  23. ^ Achievement Hunter (May 21, 2016). Let's Play - SMITE with Dante Basco. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  24. ^ Achievement Hunter (March 24, 2016). Let's Play - StarWhal Just the Tip with Dante Basco. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  25. ^ Achievement Hunter (April 5, 2016). Let's Play - Rocket League with Neck Deep. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  26. ^ "Let's Play Live! | Rooster Teeth". roosterteeth.com. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  27. ^ "Rooster Teeth Mounting 'Let's Play Live' Tour with Mills Entertainment - VideoInk". VideoInk. 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  28. ^ Achievement Hunter (2016-04-18), FIVE-WAY IN 4K – Let's Play Live Trailer!, retrieved 2016-04-28
  29. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X2kwpTIzqc
  30. ^ "'How To' coming to a end | Rooster Teeth". roosterteeth.com. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  31. ^ Achievement Hunter (2016-04-15), Theater Mode Trailer, retrieved 2016-04-28
  32. ^ Achievement Hunter (2016-06-07), Heroes and Halfwits Trailer, retrieved 2016-07-01
  33. ^ a b Bugeja, Kane (June 16, 2014). "Michael and Lindsay Jones Panel at Supanova 2014". Capsule Computers. Capsule Computers. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  34. ^ Matovina, Larry [@larrymatovina] (February 25, 2017). "Now that @_TrevorC is the Supervising Producer of Achievement Hunter, we needed a new lead editor. Happy to say it's me! New Trevor!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 27, 2017 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ a b c Hardy, Steffie [@TheSteffie] (April 29, 2016). "AH editors AKA The Most Disappointing Boy Band Ever" (Tweet). Retrieved May 18, 2016 – via Twitter.
  36. ^ Burton, Mica (May 19, 2016). "Officially Hunting Achievements". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  37. ^ Blanchard, Andrew (May 27, 2016). "Working Title". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  38. ^ Dillard, Ashley (December 21, 2016). "Ask the Editor - 7 Days of 7 Days to Die". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference Alfredo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ Lien, Tracey (21 June 2013). "Ex-Rooster Teeth contributor found dead in West Vancouver". Polygon. VOX Media. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  41. ^ Burns, Michael Justin "Burnie". "David Dreger Update". Rooster Teeth. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  42. ^ Light, Brandon. "Fragger". Rooster Teeth. Brandon Light. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  43. ^ Jones Castillo, Jose. "JJ News". Rooster Teeth. Jose Jones Castillo. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
Cite error: A list-defined reference with the name "Alfredo" has been invoked, but is not defined in the <references> tag (see the help page).
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