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FPSRussia

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"FPS Russia" redirects here. For the former section of the Russian border patrol, see Border Guard Service of Russia § Old FPS Structure.
FPSRussia
GenreFirearms/Weapons
Created byKyle Myers
Presented byKyle Myers
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locationsGeorgia, United States
Running time3-10 minutes
Original release
NetworkYouTube
ReleaseSeptember 1, 2010 (2010-09-01) –
present

FPSRussia is a popular YouTube channel consisting of videos involving firearms and explosives. The videos feature Kyle Myers, an American born in Hart County, Georgia, USA, playing the role of Dmitri Potapoff, a heavily accented Russian. Each video on the channel generally has Myers explaining the characteristics of the weapons he will use in that video (occasionally giving history about 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.[1][2] The FPSRussia channel reached the 1 million subscriber mark in June 2011.[3] 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,[4][5] a .50BMG rifle and a computer-animated quadrotor.[6] As of August 2013, the channel had over 550 million video views and over 4.4 million subscribers, making it the 39th most subscribed channel on YouTube.[7]

After an announcement video in December 2012 and a successful Kickstarter campaign, FPSRussia released a game on the App Store for iOS devices in March 2013 with developer Zaah.[8]

History

FPSRussia
Born
Kyle Lamar Myers

(1986-05-09) May 9, 1986 (age 38)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDmitri Potapoff
OccupationYouTube partner
Known forFPSRussia, FPSKyle

Before Myers started FPSRussia, he ran a channel named "klm5986". He also had a YouTube channel called "FPSKylesletsplays" where he created videos on games such as Fallout, Duke Nukem and Dead Space. Here he posted footage of himself playing first-person shooter video games, usually ones in the Call of Duty series under the name FPSKyle. At times, he played his YouTube channel featured videos primarily from other YouTube personalities, namely 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.[9] He got the idea for a Russian accent while working at a car dealership. One of his co-workers was Russian and he took 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 Dmitri and what followed was him filming himself shooting guns on his family farm in Georgia. But ultimately, the idea for FPSRussia originated from a prank on his co-founded podcast, PKA. Myers also runs a third channel known as FPSRussiaTV.[10]

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.[11] The collaboration has earned over 7.3 million video views as of September 20, 2013.

Myers' character hosts the live fire section of Machinima Prime's web series, The Controller: Medal of Honor Warfighter.[12][13]

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.[14]

He is a host on the popular internet podcast Painkiller Already (PKA). The podcast features him as well as fellow youtubers WoodysGamertag, Wings of Redemption, and LeftyOX as the hosts. The podcast began its life on Podbean and iTunes. However, not before long, they shifted to the YouTube platform.

Death of Keith Ratliff

On January 6, 2013, it was reported that Keith Ratliff, a member of the FPSRussia team, was found dead on January 3.[15][16] Ratliff's death is being investigated as a homicide.[17] Since the shooting, several conspiracy theories have been stirred.[18] Ratliff was responsible for obtaining the firearms used in the videos.[19] The production of video was on hiatus until February 19, 2013.[20] In March 2013, it was announced by authorities that they are still investigating the death of Ratliff.[21]

ATF Raid

On March 29, 2013, Myers' Georgia residence was searched by upwards of 40 members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms alongside members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The investigators also searched Myers's father's nearby farm, a frequent filming location for FPSRussia. ATF spokesman Richard Coes stated to the local press that the justification for the search was: "The claim is that [Myers] was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube."[22] Potentially contradictorily, Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas stated that the raids were in connection with the investigation into the suspected murder of Keith Ratliff.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gabriel Beltrone (September 13, 2011). "Marketing With a Fake Accent and Real Guns". Adweek. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Curtis Cartier (March 30, 2011). "FPS Russia, Crazy Russian Gun Freak, Shoots and Blows Up His Xbox 360 (VIDEO)". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  3. ^ Joshua Cohen (June 22, 2011). "FPSRussia Breaks 1 Million YouTube Subscribers, Blows Things Up". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  4. ^ Jeremy Korzeniewski (August 29, 2011). "FPS Russia takes an armored troop carrier through a drive thru". Autoblog. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  5. ^ Kevin Fernandez (September 23, 2011). "Viral: THE MINIGUN - FPS Russia Background". The One Nut Review. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "This Weaponized Quadrotor is Fake, But Cool Viral Marketing for Upcoming Call of Duty Game". Geekosystem. April 23, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  7. ^ http://www.statsheep.com/FPSRussia
  8. ^ James Plafke (December 12, 2012). "Gun-obsessed YouTube star FPS Russia is making a video game". Geek. Retrieved July 13, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Justin Massoud (November 8, 2010). "Gamer and Gun Enthusiast Imitates Crazy 'Call of Duty' Stunts". Asylum. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  10. ^ Robert Snow (October 17, 2011). "EpicMealTime, FPSRussia and the Secret to Mass Appeal on YouTube". Professionally Incoherent. Wordpress. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  11. ^ Marc Hustvedt (July 19, 2011). "Quick Clicks: Rebecca Black Un-Auto-Tuned, 'Yam Roll', YouTube View Counts, 'Epic Meal Time' w/ FPSRussia". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  12. ^ Sam Gutelle (September 20, 2012). "Machinima Prime's 'The Controller' Is A New Spin On Jock/Nerd Pairing". Tubefilter. Retrieved September 22, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Matthew Manarino (September 21, 2012). "NMR'S EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT EP. 3 OF MACHINIMA'S 'THE CONTROLLER: MEDAL OF HONOR WARFIGHTER'". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  14. ^ Tim Nudd (October 29, 2012). "FPSRussia Leads All-Star Cast in Guy Ritchie's Killer 'Black Ops 2' Spot". Adweek. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  15. ^ Matthew Manarino (January 7, 2013). "Pro-gun blog claims that murdered man is the manager of FPSRussia". New Media Rockstars. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ MJ Kneiser (January 6, 2013). "GBI to help investigate Kentucky man's shooting". Independent Mail. Retrieved January 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Dillon, Denise (January 8, 2013). "Man behind popular FPSRussia YouTube channel found dead". Fox 5. My Fox Atlanta. Retrieved January 9, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Luke Plunkett (January 18, 2013). "Wild Conspiracy Theories Abound In Death Of FPS Russia Producer". Kotaku. Retrieved February 18, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Robbie Brown (January 11, 2013). "Gun Enthusiast With Popular Online Videos Is Shot to Death in Georgia". The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Chris Callahan (February 20, 2013). "FPSRussia Returns from Hiatus (VIDEO)". Guns.com. Retrieved March 5, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ MJ Kneiser (March 7, 2013). "Ratliff murder investigation is active, GBI says". Independent Mail. Retrieved March 10, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ Hunter Stuart (March 29, 2013). "FPSRussia Raid: Kyle Myers's Property Searched By Federal Agents". Huffington Post. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ MJ Kneiser (March 29, 2013). "ATF Agents Search Two Properties in Connection with Ratliff Homicide". 92.1 WHLR. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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