FPSRussia is a YouTube channel run by a man named Kyle Meyers. He was born in Georgia and has grown up on U.S. soil. He is "home grown" as some would say. Kyle's channel features video's of a variety of weapons, from pistols to tanks and everything in between. But Kyle's videos are a little bit stranger. Kyle isn't necessarily the one hosting the channel, Dimitri Potapoff is. Dimitri is a Russian character that Kyle created to enhance this explosive YouTube channel of his. (No terrible pun intended) He has an extremely strong accent, and a natural relaxed aura around these extremely dangerous weapons.
In each of his videos Dimitri usually explains what weapon he will be looking at and shares some of its characteristics and features, often sharing where its from and what it is used for. Directly after that he proceeds to fire the weapon or weapons at some sort of target whether that be a mannequin dressed up as some sort of "enemy", or a steel plate, or whatever he has decided to destroy that day. Often each of these targets are strapped with an explosive to give an extra bang to the show.
FPSRussia is an extremely popular channel with over 5,975,700 subscribers. Each of his videos has close to, if not over one million views, sometimes even reaching over several million views! Why is he so popular? Here is the thing, I'm not sure if FPSRussia is so different from mainstream content. But I can dive into a few reasons why he might have gained so much attention!
It seems that "Dimitri" is genuinely having fun! Of course, for those who have ever gone shooting, who doesn't love the rush that comes with nailing an object from fifty feet away? He takes a real enjoyment in working with the weapons he does, and in teaching his viewers about them! So while it is very fun simply watching things explode, it is also exciting to watch some get exciting about things exploding!
Another aspect of his success is probably due to the fact that his videos are actually fairly good quality. What I mean is that they are well executed, well organized, and they don't waste your time. Okay, so they might not look like a movie, in terms of video quality, but what he does, he does well. He's got a great, quick intro clip with some hard rockin' music that leads to a quick overview of what he will be reviewing. He follows that with the actual action of using the weapon on said "enemies", and finally he ends with a closing remark. Quick, clear, and to the point! Here, check it out!
Lastly, I think that Kyle, embodies the character of this Russian gun nut all too well, it's quite humorous! It's funny to watch this American guy knowing give such a good impersonation of some born and bread Russian man who loves blowing stuff up. I think the American embodiment of Dimitri is whats so very attractive to avid subscribers.
Dimitri tends to gain my time and attention for his videos for three main reasons. He consistently has different guns and weapons in his videos. The variety is attractive in itself. Each time he's having fun with different explosives, destroying and blowing up all kinds of items. Second, the cold, subtly humorous, Russian ambiance he has is attractive. I think it brings a different edge to the videos that is enjoyable to watch. Third, he is very knowledgeable about every weapon he demonstrates. He not only has fun with them, but he conveys facts, specs, and characteristics about the weapons. He is pandering to the fun side of me, as well as the intellectual, analytical side of me. In that way, I am never bored.
Although Kyle...or Dimitri has had great success on YouTube, I am not quite sure he would have had great success out side of YouTube. At least, not with out a lot of financial help. There are and have been plenty of gun shows out there, and they continue to be made in certain avenues of media. It would be awfully difficult for him to thrive among such an atmosphere. Aside from that, he has some very worth while videos, and I highly recommend checking them out!
-Ray Royal
