RWBY Myths

The following is an assortment of totally-not-lies.

MYTH #1: “RWBY is easier to watch on YouTube than on Rooster Teeth”
Subjective, but I’ll go ahead and say false. With our new apps on Xbox, Apple TV, Roku, and Fire TV, existing apps for iOS and Android (which have that tap-to-shuttle feature everyone loves), and more, we have a lot of feature parity with YouTube.

MYTH #2: “This move was forced upon Rooster Teeth by WarnerMedia”
False. With the launch of our new living room apps, we can now provide a TV experience to the RWBY community. That’s why we chose to do this now. This decision was made based on data and research, with a cross-functional review of the positive and negative impacts to the community and our business.

MYTH #3: “The Rooster Teeth apps don’t have closed captioning”
False. Every RWBY episode on Rooster Teeth has English closed captions, and Volume 8 will too. In the last 12 months, 85% of YouTube views on RWBY episodes did not use captions, 9.7% used English, and 5.3% used any other language besides English. It’s our goal to close that 5.3% gap, but covering 94.7% of use cases for closed captions gives us confidence we’re offering a quality experience.

MYTH #4: “More People Watch RWBY on YouTube than on Rooster Teeth”
'False. More people watched RWBY on Rooster Teeth than on YouTube in the last 12 months. '

MYTH #5: “Putting RWBY on YouTube Drives Discoverability of RWBY and Rooster Teeth”
Somewhat true. We found that certain RWBY videos disproportionately drive discoverability and bring viewers to other RWBY episodes (whether those episodes are on YouTube or Rooster Teeth). That’s why eps 101, trailers, and intros remain on YouTube. We can also offset any potential lost discoverability via potential distribution deals with third parties, like Crunchyroll or others.

MYTH #6: “Rooster Teeth can monetize RWBY better when it’s not on YouTube”
True. RWBY is different than almost anything on YouTube in part because we invest a lot into it, and more every year as production quality improves. That reason alone is enough to make us careful with how we distribute it. We don’t make very much revenue on YouTube, and removing these episodes from YouTube will not have a significant financial impact. But bringing more people to the Rooster Teeth apps gives them a better chance to become engaged viewers and community members. That is very important to us for many reasons. This also opens the opportunity for further downstream distribution, which is how studios like Rooster Teeth generally recoup their costs.

MYTH #7: “Not having RWBY on YouTube will drive increased piracy”
Not easily measurable but probably false. It’s literally free on Rooster Teeth, free on all our apps including free on our new living room apps. You do not need an account to watch it. Viewers tend to do what is easiest for them, and I have no doubt our platform is much easier than piracy. Also if a viewer is seeking out pirated RWBY episodes, I would guess they’re an engaged viewer.

MYTH #8: “This is the beginning of Rooster Teeth abandoning YouTube altogether”
False. First off, this is a slippery slope argument. Second, our YouTube presence is one of our strongest assets, built over more than a decade, and something every 21st century media company strives for. YouTube as a platform has changed significantly, as have our own apps and every other social network we use. We would be remiss not to adapt to those changes.

Leave any questions in the comments, I’ll reply to as many as I can!