Upper Echelon Interview

The YouTube commentary space continues to grow with a large variety of influencers providing diverse opinions on various topics. Some for entertainment others to inform people about current events the viewer has a large interest in. One of those channels is Upper Echelon. A tremendous gaming channel that currently stands at 400,000 subscribers on YouTube and averages 4 million views per month. We had the chance to speak to the founder about his growth and his opinions on the gaming industry.

1. Starting off as a tips channel for The Division you eventually decided to branch into commentary, mostly relating to video games but occasionally movies as well. When did you decide to make this shift and why?

I started after the original [Division] died down. There was a point where it was clear the game was past its prime and I thought "well i cna be done with youtube, or expand"... and it was HARD to do at first but after [Red Dead Redemption 2] and [Destiny 2] a little bit, to some degree, I finally broke away and covered everything.

2. Over time you’ve grown your channel, UEG, to amass 400,000 subscribers and generated a large audience. With such a strong voice do you often get second guess videos you’re producing or do you remain firm on the same ideals on gaming as you did when you first started commentary?

I "second guess" coverage all the time but not in negative way. I think I have a responsibility to be as precise as posisble but I also believe that standing true to myself and what/how I want to discuss things is just as important. When new evidence comes to light I sometimes feel regret or embarassment that I didnt do better but i try not to second guess too much on most videos because if I find myself doing so its better to re-evaluate the vidoe entirely.

3. Is there anything that you strongly believe that the gaming industry needs to improve on above everything else especially with the next-generation of consoles on the way?

I believe the gaming industry has to improve on community trust and player value. The monetizatin is way out of wack and having seen the inside I can tell you that they do not need all these different revenue streams. Its a company, I get it, they have to make more and more money but there are ways to do that which dont involve hurting your own playerbase and the industry seriously needs to discover that.

If you wish to watch Upper Echelon's content you can find his YouTube channel here.

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
Twitter | YouTube | Facebook