YouTube star’s first mobile game is far from a cash-in: rewarding fans with well-crafted gameplay and an emphasis on skill, not in-app purchases

“A 25 year old man that acts like a hyperactive adolescent on speed – no thanks … I hope his camera falls on his foot and his toe goes septic … Some arsehole talking shit while playing games … an annoying bell-end … He’s absolutely obnoxious … basically the Pitbull of YouTube; nobody knows anyone that likes them, but inexplicably they’re huge … I feel old.”

PewDiePie certainly divides opinion: those are all real comments posted on Guardian articles about the YouTube star Felix Kjellberg over the past 18 months. Yet he has plenty of fans too: 39.5 million subscribers to his channel, where his gaming videos have been watched more than 10.2bn times.