Phillip Watson (born 1 March 1988), known online as Philza or Ph1LzA, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is known for his Minecraft hardcore series, where he plays the game on its most difficult setting, with permadeath (one life per game) and no respawns. Watson also formerly held the world record for the longest-running Minecraft hardcore world. As of May 2024, he had 4.3 million followers on Twitch.[3]
| Philza | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Watson's Twitch and YouTube icon | ||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | Phillip Watson 1 March 1988 | |||||||||
| Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | |||||||||
| Nationality | British | |||||||||
| Occupations | ||||||||||
| Spouse |
Kristin Rosales (m. 2020) | |||||||||
| Website | ph1lzamerch | |||||||||
| Twitch information | ||||||||||
| Also known as | Ph1LzA Philza Minecraft[1] | |||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2009–present | |||||||||
| Genre |
| |||||||||
| Games | ||||||||||
| Followers | 4.3 million | |||||||||
| Associated acts | ||||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2006–present | |||||||||
| Genre | Minecraft | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 3.01 million[2] | |||||||||
| Total views | 276.82 million[2] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 28 August 2024 | ||||||||||
Early life
editPhillip Watson[4][5] was born on 1 March 1988.[4][6] He is from Newcastle upon Tyne, England.[4]
He worked in a retail job for more than a decade while making content on Twitch and YouTube before quitting his job to become a full-time content creator.[7]
Career
edit2006–2013: Early career
editWatson created his YouTube account in 2006 and started his channel by uploading Halo 2 and Skate 2 content.[8] He created his Twitch (then Justin.tv) account "Philza" in 2009.[9]
2014–2019: Minecraft hardcore series and initial growth
editIn 2014, Watson started his Minecraft hardcore series, playing the game in its most difficult setting with increased mobs difficulty, permadeath (one life per game), and no respawns.[10] The series garnered significant attention in April 2019 when Watson's then-world-record five-year hardcore run[4][10][11] ended due to a surprise attack by a fully enchanted golden-armoured baby zombie, a spider, and a skeleton.[4][12][13][14] Watson has described this event as a turning point in his career, propelling him from an average viewership of 5–15 per stream to roughly 180 viewers on Twitch. The success of the series ultimately led him to leave his retail job and pursue content creation full-time.[15][7]
On 26 July 2019, Watson was featured in the official Minecraft series Meet a Minecrafter.[7]
2020–present: Continued growth
editIn October 2021, Watson appeared in the infamous Twitch leaks, which disclosed the top Twitch streamers' revenue from August 2019 to October 2021. Watson placed 47th on the list, with a reported payout of $1,364,215.61 for this time period.[16]
In 2023, Watson, along with fellow Twitch streamers and YouTubers TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot, Slimecicle, and Ranboo, started a new comedy group YouTube channel called The Sorry Boys. The channel mainly posted sketch comedy group vlog content.[17]
Philanthropy
editIn September 2021, Watson participated in a charity livestream fundraising event organized by fellow streamer and YouTuber Technoblade. The event featured a Minecraft game where Watson served as one of the "hunters" tasked with pursuing Technoblade. They managed to raise more than $324,000 for the Sarcoma Foundation of America.[18][19]
Personal life
editWatson met his wife, Kristin Rosales, an American, on Twitch and began dating. They were married on 12 March 2020, at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.[20]
Filmography
editWeb
edit| Year(s) | Title | Role | Episodes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Meet a Minecrafter | Himself | 1 | [7][21][22] |
References
edit- ^ Richman, Olivia (25 January 2022). "Who is Philza Minecraft, the man behind Hardcore world?". win.gg. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ a b "About Ph1LzA". YouTube.
- ^ "Philza - Statistics". TwitchTracker. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Minecraft player loses five-year-long game". BBC. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Watson, Phillip. spelling of Phillip (Video). Retrieved 14 May 2024 – via Twitch.
- ^ @Ph1LzA (1 March 2021). "I don't about you, but I'm feeling 33🎵" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c d Wes Fenlon (10 April 2020). "Dying once in a videogame changed this streamer's life forever". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ "Ph1LzA - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ "Philza - Streamer Overview & Stats". TwitchTracker. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ a b Duckworth, Joshua (30 April 2019). "5-Year Minecraft Run Ended By Zombie Baby". Game Rant. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Samuel Horti (28 April 2019). "This streamer's five-year run in Minecraft's permadeath mode comes to an agonizing end". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (27 April 2019). "Five-year run in Minecraft hardcore mode ends with a whimper". Polygon. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (2 May 2019). "Five-Year Minecraft Game Ends With Shameful Death". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Connellan, Shannon (29 April 2019). "Dude's five-year 'Minecraft' game comes to an unfortunate end". Mashable. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Wes Fenlon (9 May 2019). "How it feels to die in a permadeath game after five years". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Alex Tsiaoussidis, Max Miceli (14 July 2022). "Full list of all Twitch payouts (Twitch leaks)". Dot Esports. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ "TommyInnit, Slimecicle, Ranboo, Ph1LzA, and Wilbur Soot say "Sorry" with new comedy group". Tubefilter. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Michael, Cale (26 September 2021). "Technoblade and the Minecraft community raise $323K for cancer research in under four hours". Dot Esports. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Lai, Glenn (28 September 2021). "'Minecraft' Youtuber raises over $300,000 for cancer research in under 4 hours". Happy Mag. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Karomo, Chege (28 April 2021). "How Philza and his wife Kristin met and the challenges they overcame before getting married". TheNetline. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Meet a Minecrafter: Ph1LzA. Minecraft. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ Howard, Kelsey (26 July 2019). "MEET A MINECRAFTER: A HARDCORE TRAGEDY". Minecraft. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
External links
edit- Philza's channel on YouTube
- Philza on Twitch