FPSRussia is a popular YouTube and Twitch.tv channel featuring firearms and explosives. The videos are hosted by Kyle Lamar Myers, an American born in Lavonia, Georgia, USA, playing the role of Dmitri Potapoff, a heavily accented Russian from Moscow. Each video on the channel generally has Myers explaining the characteristics of the weapons he will use in that video (occasionally telling the history behind it and sometimes explanations of its purpose), before he demonstrates their abilities on targets such as fruits, drink bottles, zombie targets, and photos of Justin Bieber in his earlier videos. The FPSRussia channel reached the 1 million subscriber mark in June 2011. As of February 25, 2018, his channel has garnered 6.3 million+ subscribers. Myers has used largely varying pieces of equipment along with weapons that have been featured in his videos such as a golden AK-47, an armored troop carrier, a .50BMG rifle, and a Bofors 40 mm automatic anti-aircraft cannon. Myers ceased producing new videos in 2016.
Video FPSRussia
History
Before Myers started FPSRussia, he ran a channel named "klm5986". He also had a YouTube channel called "FPSKyleletsplays" under the name FPSKyle. His YouTube channel often featured videos from other YouTube personalities, such as xSocrates. He later wanted to show how guns worked in real life and to compare them to how they are portrayed in video games, films, and television shows. He got the idea for a Russian accent while working at a car dealership. One of his co-workers was Russian and he took an interest in impersonating his accent. His uncle was also a prankster and used to use the accent while talking to Kyle while he was five years of age. He used the accent to create the character Dimitri and what followed was him filming himself shooting guns on his family farm in Georgia. Myers also runs a third channel known as FPSRussiaTV. After a nine-month hiatus, on January 10, 2014, FPSRussia returned to YouTube. The channel has been inactive since April 2016.
Maps FPSRussia
Appearances in other media
Due to the success of FPSRussia, Myers opened up a second channel, MoreFPSRussia. Myers collaborated with Epic Meal Time in July 2011. The collaboration has earned over 8.631 million video views on YouTube as of December 18th, 2017.
Myers' character hosts the live fire section of Machinima.com Prime's web series, The Controller: Medal of Honor Warfighter.
On October 29, 2012, Myers had a cameo appearance as his character, Dmitri, in the Call of Duty: Black Ops II live-action trailer directed by Guy Ritchie.
After an announcement video in December 2012 and a successful Kickstarter campaign, FPSRussia released "FPS Russia: The Game" on the App Store for iOS devices in March 2013 with developer Zaah.
In 2014, FPSRussia was listed on New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels, ranked at #78.
Since 2010 Myers has appeared on the podcast "Painkiller Already" with several other YouTuber personalities.
Death of Keith Ratliff
On January 6, 2013, Keith Ratliff, a member of the FPSRussia's production team, was found shot dead in his own gun store. Ratliff was responsible for obtaining the firearms used in the videos. Following Ratliff's death, the production of FPSRussia's videos went on hiatus until February 19, 2013. In March 2013, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said it was still investigating. However, as there have been no official updates since the initial reports following Ratliff's death, the case has become the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.
ATF raids
On March 29, 2013, Myers' Georgia residence was searched by upwards of 40 members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alongside officers from the GBI. The investigators also searched Myers's father's nearby farm, a frequent filming location for FPSRussia. ATF spokesman Richard Coes said the justification for the search was "that [Myers] was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube."
In August 2017, Myers' residence was again raided after Myers was alleged to have received 25 grams of butane honey oil through the mail. Myers was arrested for felony possession of a restricted substance with intent to distribute and 50 of his weapons were confiscated under a federal law that prohibits illegal drug users from possessing firearms.
See also
- List of YouTube personalities
References
External links
- FPSRussia's channel on YouTube
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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