Eugene Lee Yang says goodbye to The Try Guys

Eugene Lee Yang is leaving The Try Guys.

But, in an 18-minute announcement video called Love, Eugene, he’s quick to clarify: There’s no beef between him and fellow Try Guys Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfeld.

Instead, he’s departing, first, because the vast number of projects he’s developing—including a directorial debut with Killer Films, a graphic novel with Vault Comics, and a queer YA fantasy duology with Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends—are taking up all his time, with fans noticing that absence more and more over the past couple of years.

“I’m the busiest I’ve ever been in my entire life, and I’m so, so thankful to be committing my blood, sweat, and tears into projects that mean the world to me—projects that have been in rigorous development for many years,” he says. “Now, as you know, once they required my undivided attention, I couldn’t appear as often as I used to in videos. It hasn’t gone unnoticed how much my gradual withdrawal has upset some of you, and I am truly sorry for that. To express this as simply as possible, working full-time here became untenable, and it’s evident that I can’t continue keeping one foot in.”

Yang’s also departing because he’s realized that ultimately, digital content isn’t his home.

“I’ve worked here online proudly for a decade, and will always champion how profound and spectacular this medium can be,” he says. “But after this past decade of work, of being invited in your homes, of having the privilege of getting to know so many of you, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this simply isn’t the right space for me.”

His true passion, he says, lies in literary and film–and so not only is he leaving The Try Guys, he’s leaving YouTube

Habersberger and Kornfeld join Yang for a section of the video, and–with a not-so-subtle dig at former Try Guy Ned Fulmer–say that though Yang’s departure has been planned for a while, “certain circumstances outside of our control kind of challenged the three of us to come together in solidarity, and we’re very glad we did.”

Moving forward, Habersberger and Kornfeld plan to continue expanding The Try Guys cast, with an emphasis on diversity, they say.

They’re also–as is the theme in our space lately–launching their own streaming service, 2ndtry.tv. Unlike fellow Buzzfeed alums Watcher, they’re not taking the we’re-paywalling-everything approach. They’re more aligned with the Critical Role model, where they plan to continue posting all their established content series on YouTube for free; it’s just that folks who pay $4.99/month for 2ndtry.tv will get early access to said content, plus access to things like exclusive and uncensored videos.

“It was very clear to us from the beginning, that for this to work, you cannot take away from your audience, you have to give more,” Kornfeld told Rolling Stone. “Our job now is to prove to people that we’re making stuff that is worth their time.”

The first episode of Yang’s last Try Guys season is now live on 2ndtry.tv, and will be posted to YouTube at a later date.

Yang, getting a little teary, wrapped up his goodbye video with this:

“You, my dear friends, have my profound thanks for the opportunity and privilege to have been a part of your lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you. In conclusion, I want you to take away this one incontrovertible truth. You, all of the fans, and everyone here at 2nd Try, could never be the reason I left, because you are all the reason I stayed. That’s it. I hope y’all enjoy my final season of videos ahead, but this is my official sign-off from the internet for the last time as a Try Guy. And as a guy who still has much to try, I know we’ll meet again. Love, Eugene.”