Have you heard? Shroud frags for his dad, and chess gets a rules update

Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry. This week, there’s a new Twitch charity drive joining the Mafiathon, a new channel for a disgraced pop star, and a new rule in chess.

Creator commotion

Shrould raises over $100,000 with month-long Fragathon. The streamer known for playing tactical shooters like Valorant and Counter-Strike is spending the whole month of January raising funds for St. Jude’s. The Fragathon is personal for Shroud; his father passed away from lung cancer about two years ago.

Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network ventures onto YouTube. The Call Her Daddy host has made a play in the podcast world with a media company that partners with popular creators. Unwell is now bringing that operation to YouTube, where a short-form series led by Kierra Lewis is among the initial offerings.

The king of video game rants is making a game of his own. The Angry Video Game Nerd is bringing us all back to the past with an 8-bit game that runs on original NES consoles. AVGN is a legend, so I hope his game gets good reviews, but if it doesn’t, he’ll at least get to opportunity to roast himself.

Agency dealings

Bailey Sarian brings her spooky storytelling to Underscore. The creator known for her innovative combination of makeup and murder mysteries has landed new representation. True crime is red hot right now, so it’s a good time for Sarian and Underscore to expand the creator’s product lines.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Katie Feeney signs with CAA. The sports reporter-turned-creator typically flies across our radar during the NFL playoffs, and this year is no exception. Her agreement with CAA will help her level up her content operation on her channels and on the field.

Wilkommen! Electrify greets German market. The firm that invests in YouTube content has backed German creators Simplicissimus and Unfassbar. Those deals, plus a staking of American video essayist fern, give Electrify a strong foothold in the worlds of journalism and politics.

Pop culture minute

Addison Rae is a Rolling Stone cover girl. The creator’s transformation from TikTok star to Grammy nominee is the subject of a feature that chronicles her unusual career turn. In the past, a pivot like the one Rae is making would be difficult to pull off, but in the era of TikTok-driven pop music culture, stars like Rae get a leg up.

Lizzo thinks it’s about damn time to join Twitch. As she looks to rehab her public image after getting hit with some serious accusations, Lizzo is launching her own Twitch channel. You may think it’s too soon to check out the lizzobetwitchin account, but Kai Cenat is already a fan

Warner Bros drops free movies on YouTube. A lot of the available titles are little more than forgotten schlock, but there are some gems in there (like the mockumentary Waiting for Guffman and Richard Linklater’s subUrbia). No matter the quality of these movies, I’m willing to support any initiative that involves free, fully licensed film distribution.

The biz

Flip hunts for TikTok Shop cast-offs with $100 million equity fund. We can now add another social commerce app to the list of tech companies that are trying to pick up TikTok’s discarded scraps. Money for creators is nice, even if the stalled TikTok ban could be officially reversed at any moment.

Creators look to “own the creative” with TikTok takeover bid. Old-school YouTuber Adam Juegos is leading an initiative that looks to put 51% of TikTok shares in the hands of creators. It’s not the first “people’s bid” that has been proposed for TikTok, but if ByteDance does end up selling, I’d still bet on the billionaires to take control.

Google won’t have to pay Russia undecillions of dollars. A U.K. court has ruled that YouTube will not have to pay a fine that is many times larger than the entire world’s GDP. For Russia, it’s on to the next bit of strongarm tactics, I guess.

The internet is a strange place

Buffed bishops are the hot pieces in the new chess meta. The ages-old strategy game has regained much of its popularity thanks to streamers like Alex Botez and Gotham Chess. Like any esport, chess could use a fresh meta from time to time, and that’s what Chess.com provided with a rules update that gives bishops a special move. Sadly, the “Bishop Bosse” is not actually playable; if you try it on the board, you’ll look more like Ding Liren than Magnus Carlsen.

Phones with TikTok installed are selling for thousands on eBay. The app’s endangered status in the United States has made old phones into coveted commodities among digital buyers. All I’ll say is that a VPN is much cheaper.

Turns out Charli D’Amelio’s “anxiety pen” was a vape all along. In 2020, then-16-year-old D’Amelio was caught vaping and tried to play off the device as an inhaler she uses to manage her anxiety. Years later, she revealed that excuse as the lie it is. Look, all I’m saying is, if we could make an anxiety management device into an actual product, I’d buy one.