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 Logo from 2010 to 2023 | |
| Rooster Teeth | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | April 1, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-04-01) |
| Founders | |
| Defunct | May 15, 2024; 10 months ago (2024-05-15) |
| Fate | Closed |
| Successor | Box Canyon Productions[1] |
| Headquarters | Austin Studios,, U.S. |
Number of locations | 8 (2018)[2] |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | ~150 (March 2024)[3] |
| Parent | |
| Divisions |
|
| Website | www |
Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC was an American entertainment company headquartered inAustin, Texas. Founded in 2003 byBurnie Burns,Matt Hullum,Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña,Gus Sorola, andJoel Heyman,[5] Rooster Teeth was a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment, which is a division ofWarner Bros. Discovery.
Rooster Teeth's first production wasRed vs. Blue, which premiered in April 2003; it is the third longest-running episodic web series of all time.[citation needed] Due to server and web hosting costs, the founders created "Sponsorships" which later became "FIRST", a subscription to exclusive and earlier access to content and discounts on their merchandise store, among other benefits. The company later branched out intolive-action shorts, series, comedy,Let's Play videos, and full animated productions. Other projects included reality shows, video game development, entertainment news programs, andpodcasts. In 2015, Rooster Teeth released its feature-film debutLazer Team, ascience-fictionaction comedy. The company hosted an annual convention,RTX between 2011-2023, inAustin, Texas, and formerly also inSydney andLondon.[6]
The company's videos were regularly released on its own website and app while podcasts and Let's Plays were published on theirYouTube channel as well. As of September 2021, Rooster Teeth's primary YouTube channel has 9.18 million subscribers and has over 6 billion video views.[7] Including all of their other channels, they maintain over 45 million subscribers.[8]
On March 6, 2024, Rooster Teeth announced that the company would shut down.[9] On April 15, 2024, Rooster Teeth announced that both the First program and their website and apps would shut down on May 15, 2024.[10] In February 2025, Burns acquired the Rooster Teeth brand and some of its remaining intellectual property through his company Box Canyon Productions.[1]
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While attending theUniversity of Texas at Austin,Burnie Burns andMatt Hullum collaborated with actorJoel Heyman makingThe Schedule, a 1997independent film.[11] The movie helped Hullum and Heyman to find work in Los Angeles, but otherwise had limited success.[12] While working for a local company named Telenetwork, Burns later metGeoff Ramsey (then named Geoff Fink),Gustavo Sorola, Dan Godwin, and Jason Saldaña; the five formed drunkgamers.com, a website where they reviewed various video games while drunk.[13] According to Ramsey, the group tried to receive free games to review, but "incurred the wrath" of several game developers in doing so.[14]
One of the non-gameplay videos that the drunkgamers crew created during this time was a live-action parody of theApple Switch ad campaign. This video featured Sorola as the main actor, usedPeter Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" as background music, and focused on the lack of games available for theApple Macintosh computer.[15] Sorola and Burns said that the name was changed from 'Drunk Tank Podcast' to 'Rooster Teeth Podcast' for the same reason that 'Drunk Gamers' was changed to 'Rooster Teeth': Nobody would give games or sponsor something with 'drunk' in the title "because it was so unprofessional."[16] Burns said of the name change, "We named it something else to give people the idea that we were going to be doing more than that".[17] The name "Rooster Teeth" is aeuphemism for "cockbite", an insult from the originalRed vs. Blue trailer that Burns described as a "touchstone for the audience".[18][19]
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Among the company's core philosophies, Burns said, "we only make content that we would want to see... it comes from a very genuine space. I think that our audience appreciates that voice".[17] As of 2017, production costs for an episode vary from $15,000 to $100,000.[5]
Rooster Teeth's business strategy was a hybrid model composed of subscriptions, preroll ads, YouTube preroll ads, licensed studio productions, branded merchandise, and annual live events.[20]
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Rooster Teeth has attributed their success to maintaining their community site and was reluctant to joinYouTube initially, stating they viewed them as a "competitor".[21] In 2014, having signed a two-year lease, the entire company (then consisting of over 90 employees) moved into Stage 5 atAustin Studios.[22]
In November 2014, Rooster Teeth was acquired byFullscreen for an undisclosed amount.[23] Rooster Teeth agreed to be bought to give itself "the resources and tools" needed to compete against other producers. Burns elaborated by saying they consideredNetflix,HBO, andAmazon their current competition.[21] On February 3, 2015, Burns confirmed that Rooster Teeth would be establishing an office in Los Angeles.[24] These offices were used by a whole new division,Funhaus.[25] The company released theirfeature film debut in 2015 withLazer Team, ascience fictioncomedy.
In 2016, Rooster Teeth hired three content executives to help with audience expansion: Luis Medina as senior VP of Partnerships, Evan Bregman as Director of Programming and Ryan P. Hall as Head of Development.[26] It was announced that Medina would co-manage theLet's Play family with Ramsey, includingAchievement Hunter, Funhaus, and ScrewAttack, and manage partnerships with third-party brands such as Cow Chop and Kinda Funny. Bregman will be responsible for programming strategy and boosting growth across all platforms such as apps, the community site, YouTube, and Facebook.[27] Hall will oversee Rooster Teeth's development slate and lead efforts to identify up-and-coming projects and talent.
Each year, the company participated inExtra Life, a gaming-themed fundraiser with Rooster Teeth's proceeds going toDell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. During their 2017 Extra Life stream, they raised a total of US$1,209,970.73.[28] The 2018 Extra Life stream raised US$1,417,288 for Extra Life and Dell Children's Medical Center.[29] The 2019 Extra Life stream raised US$1,222,371.[30] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Rooster Teeth shortened the 2020 stream to 12 hours. It raised a total of US$1,163,801 for Dell Children's Medical Center.[31]
On January 26, 2018, Fullscreen President and former COO Ezra Cooperstein was appointed as President of Rooster Teeth.[32]
In May 2018, Rooster Teeth piloted five shows namedBranded,Gorq's Quest,Achievement Haunter,Million Dollars, But ... Animated, andRooster Teeth's Murder Room, and also announcedSpikeface, a new 2D/dark comedy show to be coproduced withRob McElhenney and his RCG Productions.[33]
In December 2018, Otter Media restructured Fullscreen, consolidating Rooster Teeth, along withCrunchyroll andVRV, under Ellation.[34] The companies will align sales efforts to attract advertising and partnerships. During the transition, Otter Media CEO Tony Goncalves highlighted the foundation of increased programming quality at Rooster Teeth, pledging changes to the company would be minimal in order to preserve the brand.[35]Machinima was to be subsumed into Fullscreen.[36]
On December 18, 2018, Rooster Teeth added to their overall content library by partnering with animation channels CypherDen and Flashgitz, premiering their future content on Rooster Teeth First.[37]
On January 31, 2019, Yvonne Secretan,COO of Rooster Teeth, announced her retirement.[38] Ezra Cooperstein stepped down as President of Rooster Teeth on April 26, 2019.[39] On September 12, 2019, Hullum announced Rooster Teeth had laid off 13% of its workforce, approximately 50 employees.[40][41] Two weeks after announcing the layoffs,Jordan Levin was named general manager with most of Rooster Teeth's founders stepping down into creative roles: Matt Hullum stepped down as CEO and became Chief Content Officer, Burnie Burns stepped down as chief creative officer to executive producer and Geoff Ramsey became executive creative director.[4]
In December 2019, Rooster Teeth promoted Doreen Copeland to VP, Head of Production, and Joe Clary and Sean Hinz to Co-Heads of Animation, leading day-to-day operations across all of Rooster Teeth's animated productions; Clary and Hinz will report to Copeland, who will oversee all physical production.[42] In June 2020, Heyman said that he was "laid off" from Rooster Teeth and would no longer perform inRed vs. Blue.[43] Burns resigned in June 2020, maintaining afirst-look deal with Rooster Teeth.[44]
In August 2020, Rooster Teeth announced it was reviewing its online content library as part of a diversity initiative.[45]
In April 2021, it was reported that AT&T was looking to sell Rooster Teeth and that the company's revenue had dropped nearly $20 million in 2019.[46] However, no such sale occurred and the company was included in the completed merger that formed Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022.[47][48]
In the month before, Rooster Teeth and WarnerMedia Access announced the creation of the Rooster Teeth Digital Creators Program, which is intended to support underrepresented talent.[49]
On April 1, 2023, the company turned 20 years old and as part of celebrations, Rooster Teeth ran a 20-week campaign—bringing back "deep cuts, one-off episodes and fan favorites every week" according to Matt Hullum, leading up to a big finale at the 2023 RTX Convention taking place July 7–9 in Austin. As part of its twentieth year, the company rebranded, changing its logo from a rooster icon and a wind-up set of novelty teeth to a stylized "R" with the appearance of a rooster and changing to a red and blue color scheme from the original red and black. The company's new slogan is "Just Playing".[50]
On March 6, 2024, general manager Jordan Levin notified employees that the company would close over the next several months. In an email, he cited reasons for the shutdown including "fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and monetization across platforms, advertising, and patronage", with it being reported that the number of subscribers to Rooster Teeth's "First" service had dropped to around one-quarter of their peak and that Rooster Teeth as a whole had been unprofitable for a decade. While the Roost Podcast Network planned to remain in operation while Warner Bros. Discovery sought a buyer, Warner also gauged interest in Rooster Teeth's intellectual property, includingRWBY,Red vs. Blue andGen:Lock.[9][3] In April 2024, The Roost Podcast Network would be sold to the talent management company,Night[51] and in July 2024, theRWBY franchise would be sold toViz Media.[52]
Some employees are still working in order to finalize the shutdown and it is unclear when the company will close entirely. Most employees left on May 10, 2024, with the website updated to a final goodbye message on May 15, 2024.[53][54] Following the closure, several of the former talent and staff members from Rooster Teeth continued to work together in new ventures.[55]
On February 5, 2025, Burns announced he had acquired the Rooster Teeth brand and some of its remaining intellectual property through his company Box Canyon Productions. Some Rooster Teeth productions are set to return, alongside a "reimagining" of Burns's first film,The Schedule, and a new audio adventure,Again.[1][56]
Rooster Teeth Animation was a division of Rooster Teeth that was founded in 2014, withGray Haddock as the head of the department.[57] On December 13, 2019, it was announced that Joe Clary and Sean Hinz were promoted to co-heads of the department to replace Haddock.[58]
In a parody of science-fiction films and games,[59] and of military life,[60]Red vs. Blue tells the story of two groups of soldiers fighting acivil war in adesolate and isolated box canyon. Initially, Rooster Teeth expected the series to consist of only six to eight episodes.[61] However, the series quickly became very popular, receiving 20,000 downloads in a single day, which contributed to bringing Rooster Teeth to fame.[62] Accordingly, Burns conceived an extension of the plot.[63]
RWBY (pronounced "Ruby") is ananime-styledCG-animatedweb series that was created and directed by animatorMonty Oum, and written by Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross. The first episode ofRWBY premiered on July 5, 2013, atRTX 2013 and was released on the Rooster Teeth site on July 18, 2013.[64][65][66] The story takes place in the world of Remnant, which is filled with supernatural forces and shadowy creatures known as the "Creatures of Grimm". Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of survival against the Grimm before discovering the power of a mysterious element called Dust, which allowed them to fight back against the monsters. On February 1, 2015, Oum died due to a severeallergic reaction during a medical procedure, but the series he created continues.[67] The success ofRWBY also resulted in a secondary series by Rooster Teeth,RWBY Chibi, which features the show's main characters inchibi form, with a focus on comedic elements and humor.
In July 2024, theRWBY franchise was purchased byViz Media, who stated their intentions to continue the main web series along withRWBY showrunner and former Rooster Teeth employee Kerry Shawcross. They also stated their intentions to produceRWBY merchandise and search for ways to widely distribute the series via streaming platforms and home video releases.[52]
In July 2010, Jordan Cwierz released the firstRooster Teeth Animated Adventures (RTAA) episode (then known asDrunk Tank Animated Adventures), featuring animations depicting stories told on theRooster Teeth Podcast. In October 2011, Cwierz was officially hired to produce the animated shorts full-time as a feature of the podcast.[68]
On October 8, 2014, Rooster Teeth debutedLet's Play Minimations. It features highlights fromAchievement Hunter's Let's Plays, initially using 3D animation that resembles the sandbox game,Minecraft and later machinimated usingGrand Theft Auto V.[69]
On April 1, 2016, Rooster Teeth announcedCamp Camp with a trailer that aired on their website and YouTube. The series premiered on June 10, 2016, as part of Rooster Teeth'sSummer of Animation promotion.[70] It focuses on a young boy named Max, voiced byMichael Jones, who is forced to go to summer camp but makes two friends there who help him constantly torment their camp counselor, David, voiced by Miles Luna. It airs on Fridays for Rooster Teeth First members and Saturdays for site members. The show was created by Jordan Cwierz and Miles Luna. The first season was extended by two episodes due to positive reception, for a total of 12 episodes in its first season.Camp Camp's composer was Benjamin Zecker, with Miles Luna writing the outlines for "The Camp Camp Theme Song Song" and "Better Than You."[71] The DVD/Blu-ray combo pack of the first two seasons were released on May 22, 2018, with its third season premiered on May 25.[72] Its fourth season announced on May 20, 2019, and premiered on the Rooster Teeth site on June 1, 2019. On July 7, 2023, at Rooster Teeth's annual conventionRTX, it was announced that Camp Camp would return with new episodes on March 1, 2024.[73]
At RTX Austin 2017, Rooster Teeth Animation announced that they would be making a new series calledgen:LOCK that is amecha action drama series byRWBY producer, Gray G. Haddock.[74] It was teased atNew York Comic Con and RTX London.[74][75][76] It was originally set for a late 2018 release, but was pushed back to January 2019. On May 21, 2018, it was revealed that the main character, Julian Chase, is voiced byMichael B. Jordan. Jordan co-produced the series through his production company, Outlier Society Productions.[77][78] The series premiered on January 26, 2019. The first season concluded on March 9, 2019.
On October 24, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered first onHBO Max on November 4, 2021, and concluded on December 23.
In May 2004, at theE3gaming convention, Rooster Teeth was introduced toThe Sims 2 and realized that the game would be suitable for a series that parodiedreality television. The game's publisherElectronic Arts allowed them to continue with the project.[79] The result wasThe Strangerhood, a comedy series that centers on eight strangers who awake one day unaware of where they are or how they arrived there.[80] Its first season of 17 episodes completed on April 27, 2006.[81] In 2005, the group collaborated withPaul Marino[82] onStrangerhood Studios, aspin-off commissioned by theIndependent Film Channel.[83] This spin-off was the first machinima series to be commissioned for broadcast[83] and won an award for Best Editing at the2005 Machinima Film Festival.[84] The second season premiered on September 29, 2015, after the stretch goal was reached forLazer Team'sIndiegogocrowdfunding campaign.
In 2006, Rooster Teeth partnered with Maybeck Productions to createPANICS, a short series filmed onF.E.A.R. that chronicles the misadventures of Bravo Team, a group of soldiers sent to investigate aparanormal disturbance.[83] The four publicly released episodes were released between September 27, 2005, and October 18, 2005,[85] and a prequel was released withF.E.A.R. – Director's Edition.[86] The mini-series won an award for Best Writing at the 2005 Machinima Film Festival.[84] Rooster Teeth's other machinima productions are1-800-Magic, a four-episode mini-series created in 2006 using the gameShadowrun, andSupreme Surrender, a 2008 mini-series made usingSupreme Commander. On February 13, 2017, Rooster Teeth premiered the teaser trailer for their upcoming animated series titledSex Swing featuring members of their Funhaus division based on a recurring joke in their videos where they portray a fictional band of the same name.[87]
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At RTX 2014, a new animated show calledX-Ray and Vav was announced, starring Ray Narvaez, Jr. as X-Ray andGavin Free as Vav. The show is directed byLindsay Jones (who also voices Hilda) and Jordan Cwierz, with art direction by Patrick Rodriguez. The first episode was released on November 27, 2014.[88] The second season premiered on July 19, 2015. Narvaez and Free reprised their roles as the show's titular heroes, with the addition ofMichael Jones as the anti-hero Mogar,Jessica DiCicco as news reporter Ash Samaya, and Ryan Haywood as The Mad King.[89] When asked by a fan if he would return for a third season if asked, Narvaez stated, "Not interested. I am happy with how Season 2 ended, plus as fun as voice acting was I have no interest in doing it anymore."[90]
A new 2D animation show was released on Rooster Teeth First on March 16, 2018. Created by Georden Whitman,Nomad of Nowhere is a western-fantasy hybrid focused on a mute wanderer hunted for being capable of using magic to give life to inanimate objects.[91]
On February 15, 2019, it was announced Rooster Teeth would partner withHasbro for a 2020 animatedNetflix series based on theTransformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy toyline.[92]
Rooster Teeth first ventured intolive action in 2009 withCaptain Dynamic, a mini-series to promote the online gameCity of Heroes.[93] The series tells the story of a team of writers hired to use the new in-game content creation tools to promote the title character, Captain Dynamic, the 'worst superhero in the world'. Directed byMatt Hullum and written byBurnie Burns, the series starredEd Robertson of theBarenaked Ladies, who is a long time friend and fan of Rooster Teeth. A number of Rooster Teeth employees were present throughout the series, notablyJoel Heyman as Captain Dynamic's primary writer. ActorShannon McCormick appears as the series' antagonist, Great Face.[94] The series also led to the release of aniPhone app called theAwesome Button.[95]
Following the positive reception ofCaptain Dynamic, Rooster Teeth began producing another live-action series,Rooster Teeth Shorts, asketch comedy which parodies life at their offices in a similar fashion to the webcomic. The series features the staff of Rooster Teeth, who all play caricatures of themselves, as well as occasional appearances from voice actors from some of their machinima series. The first season ran for twenty episodes, which along withCaptain Dynamic has been released on DVD.
The second season ofRT Shorts debuted on April 23, 2010, with new episodes released weekly via the Rooster Teeth website[96] until a hiatus during late July 2010, during which the team focused all their efforts towardsRed vs. Blue episodes. With production onRed vs. Blue complete, weeklyRT Shorts episodes began again on August 28, 2010, until the second season's conclusion with its twenty-fourth episode and DVD release in early December. Shortly before season two's conclusion, Rooster Teeth collaborated with the team behindMega64, a video game-centered comedy series. Together they produced fourRooster Teeth Shorts episodes, which were released on the Rooster Teeth website as the beginning of season three.
Halfway through season four, Burns announced the cancellation ofRooster Teeth Shorts for several new series. However, on April 1, 2013, Rooster Teeth announcedRooster Teeth Shorts would return with a fifth season, on the same day, the season premiere episodeReunion was released and marked the tenth anniversary of the company.
On August 22, 2013, Rooster Teeth released six 6-second mini-episodes exclusively through the video sharing serviceVine. Six more were published on September 13, 2013. The third set was released on October 11, 2013, followed by a fourth set on November 8, 2013.
Immersion is a series in whichBurnie Burns and Gus Sorola (Griffon Ramsey in the first season) test the concepts of video games in real life, such as whether theheckling that sometimes occurs inmultiplayer video games would negatively affect the performance of real soldiers.[97] Burns joked in the Rooster Teeth podcast that the series started as an "elaborate way for [them] to do fun stuff and get paid for it."[98]Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola were thetest subjects throughout the first season.Gavin Free andMichael Jones served as the test subjects from the second season onwards.[99] Various other Rooster Teeth employees have served as test subjects in certain episodes including Miles Luna, Kerry Shawcross, Blaine Gibson and Chris Demarais.
DuringPAX East in late March 2010, Rooster Teeth released ateaser trailer for a series with apilot episode that tested how easy it would be to drive a car from athird-person perspective. Nothing was mentioned ofImmersion until October 2010, whenBurnie Burns stated during the company's podcast,The Rooster Teeth Podcast, that production had begun on further episodes.
Soon after, on November 23, 2010, the company released pictures onReddit of a door in their office turned into a safe-room door from the video gameLeft 4 Dead to build hype for the series' debut the following day. The post became the most popular post of the day on Reddit.[100][101] Rooster Teeth re-released a tweaked pilot episode the following day to begin the weekly series, which concluded with its seventh episode on January 5, 2011.
A new episode ofImmersion premiered on June 17, 2011, after five months on hiatus. The episode's filming took place on May 29, 2011, during Rooster Teeth's convention, RTX, as well as 400 participants dressed as zombies. The episode shows Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola defending themselves from a horde of zombies.[102]
On June 17, Burns said during a panel at Supanova Sydney, that they would be producing a second season, and they were developing concepts. They also confirmed that Gavin Free and Michael Jones of Achievement Hunter would be joining the cast in the second season, replacing Sorola and Ramsey as the test subjects. In the Rooster Teeth Podcast, it was confirmed that the second season began production in 2013. Burns stated in an episode of theRooster Teeth Podcast[episode needed] that several television stations were interested in picking up the series for its second season.
During RTX 2015, Burns announced that there would be a third season ofImmersion. The third season premiered in November 2015.[citation needed] Airing on August 3, 2019, Burns, Free, and Jones did an episode ofImmersion for Discovery channel'sShark Week.[103] Along with being shown a demonstration of mechanical shark jaws, it involved them riding a mechanical shark, surfing on the back of a shark-like boat, and ultimately ended with both of them diving with sharks with shark expert Luke Tipple. The episode is available to watch on the Discovery website.[104]
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The Slow Mo Guys is a science and technology entertainment web series from Thame, England, United Kingdom created by Gavin Free, starring himself and Daniel Gruchy. The series consists of a wide variety of things filmed in extremeslow motion using a range ofVision ResearchPhantom high-speed cameras, capable of shooting over 1,500,000frames per second.[105] The series premiered on October 15, 2010.[106] On February 20, 2013, Free confirmed that the series had been picked up by Rooster Teeth and that further episodes of the series would be released on Rooster Teeth's website, as well as the series' existing YouTube channel.[107] A best of compilation episode was released by Rooster Teeth Productions for home video on September 10, 2013.[citation needed]
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At RTX 2012, 1,800 fans were used as extras for a scene in post-apocalypse short series calledDay 5, which initially followed a man fighting to stay awake after a virus spreads that causes anyone who falls asleep to die.[108] The trailer premiered at RTX 2014.[109] While the premise was kept the same, the overall story and characters were later changed drastically. In March 2016, the cast was announced, with filming starting that same month.[110] The first episode premiered on June 19, 2016, on both Rooster Teeth's website and YouTube, though the rest of the series was released exclusively on Rooster Teeth's website for FIRST members, making it the company's first premium exclusive show.[111] Its first season concluded on July 31, 2016. Showrunner Josh Flanagan held a Reddit AMA the following day, answering many fan questions about the show. In February 2017, a second season of the show was announced, along with a second season ofCamp Camp.[112]
Million Dollars, But ... is an ongoing series in which three Rooster Teeth employees or a special guest each come up with a typically difficult scenario—which the cast comically re-enact—as a condition for which they will be given a million dollars; for example, the person has to dateAdolf Hitler for a year. The early episodes usually featuredBurnie Burns,Gavin Free, andBarbara Dunkelman, but as time went on, the cast became more varied.[113] The pilot episode premiered on May 21, 2015, with the series continuing on July 9, 2015. The series now features special episodes devoted to specific themes, such as animation, with all the scenarios revolving around animation.Million Dollars, But ... has developed a card game that had a very successful Kickstarter, reaching their goal of US$10,000 within 2 minutes and later surpassing $1 million.[114][115] The card game was released in mid-June 2016.
On the Spot is the name of the Rooster Teeth game show that involves members of the Rooster Teeth cast and crew, split into two teams of two people, playing various improvisational games to gain points awarded by the host Jon Risinger. The winning team is awarded a golden trophy that resembles Gustavo Sorola, affectionately called "The Golden Gus". Although promised to the winner, after being broken several times, the trophy now does not leave Risinger's desk. A frequent theme of the show is the chaotic humor; contestants will frequently attempt to annoy and antagonize Risinger, and to mock his show. The points are assigned arbitrarily and inconsistently based on the random whim of the host, as well as being assigned by the broadcast team that is running the show.[116] In an effort to bring variety to the show, the next few seasons have been themed, with the first themed season being "On the Spot goes to Hell!", where Jon, his show, and his contestants go to hell because his show was too bad. The second themed season is "On the Spot: Lost in Time" with each episode being set in a different time period due to a break in the space-time continuum caused by Chris Demarais. The third themed season involves a "family friendly" version of the show titled "On the Spot: The Happy Room", where each episode has a learning subject such as weather or family which the game prompts are based on. The latest themed season, "On the Spot and Chill", has a TV show theme.
In 2014, a bi-weekly series premiered calledHappy Hour. The series chronicles the drunken adventures of Geoff Ramsey, Gavin Free, and Griffon Ramsey. The series ended on September 24, 2017.
Created to test elaborate social experiments,Social Disorder follows Chris Demarais and Aaron Marquis as they compete for points as a game show. The first episode, The Body Bag Experiment, debuted on September 15, 2014, in which Demarais and Marquis had to drag each other around in a body bag trying to get bystanders to help them out. Points were awarded for making up reasons as to what was in the bag or why they were dragging the bag in the first place.[117]
Crunch Time was a web series that initially aired in September 2016. The original trailer was featured onThe Nerdist's announcement article, and depicted university students creating a machine to allow them to enter other people's dreams. The show starsSamm Levine, known forFreaks and Geeks andInglourious Basterds, as well as Good Neighbor'sNick Rutherford; it also starredJessy Hodges and Kirk C. Johnson, who starred in Rooster Teeth's first feature film,Lazer Team. Supporting the main cast is comedianBrent Morin andTrue Detective'sMichael Hyatt as agents Hobbs and Mullins, respectively.
On Halloween 2012, a partnership between Rooster Teeth andBlip was announced, with the premiere of their new 10-episode, reality game competition series sponsored byGEICO.[118]The Gauntlet followed gamers from around the United States competing in contests of skills, concentration, agility and stamina, inspired by reality competitionsWipeout andThe Voice. The first season was hosted by Ali Baker and Burnie Burns. Season two was hosted by Burns and Joel Heyman and began on September 7, 2013.
Starting in 2014, Rooster Teeth employees Miles Luna and Kyle Taylor started playing video games and recording the gameplay and facial camera footage to create a show originally calledSponsor Play. The show was featured as part of the Sponsor Cut portion of the RT website as an incentive to become a sponsor for their production. This series was renamed toBackwardz Compatible in November 2016 along with the change of sponsorship format. The series included gameplay ofFatal Frame,Resident Evil 7,Sonic Adventure 2,Alien: Isolation,Dark Souls III, and others.
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On September 27, 2015, a sketch comedy showRT-ES, orRooster Teeth Entertainment System, premiered for Rooster Teeth First members on roosterteeth.com.[119] The show was produced in Los Angeles, California and was hosted and created byColton Dunn. The show consisted of Dunn giving interviews, talking about relevant topics, and showing many sketches throughout. It featured comedy, music, and games.
In a Sponsor-Only video, Burnie Burns said thatRT-ES would be put on hiatus. Burns began by saying "occasionally we make some missteps," referring toRT-ES. He elaborated by saying Rooster Teeth would review audience feedback and apply it to the show in the future.
In mid-2006, Electronic Arts commissioned Rooster Teeth to direct[120] commercials for theirEA Sports brand of games, includingMadden NFL 07 andNCAA Football 07, for broadcast on television.[121] Rooster Teeth released some of this work on their website.[122] In late November 2006, controversy arose over aMadden NFL 07 commercial, whenIndianapolis Coltstight endDallas Clark complained about his depiction in the commercial.[123] Hit and tackled multiple times in the advertisement byPhiladelphia Eagles players, Clark stated, "I haven't seen the commercial, but I'm upset about it. It makes me look like a punk."[123] In response, Rooster Teeth posted adirector's cut, in which Clark plays and dominates every position.[124]
They have also made a trailer for a free to play PC game calledLoadout, developed by Austin-basedEdge of Reality.
In February 2014, Burns confirmed that the company was going to launch acrowdfunding campaign for a feature film, as a way to offer more support options while gaining publicity.[125]In June 2014, anIndiegogo campaign forLazer Team was launched. The fundraiser hit its $650,000 target within 11 hours and reached over $1.6 million two days later. The film was due for release in 2015. As of July 24, 2015[update], Lazer Team is the second-most-funded film project on Indiegogo, raising just under $2.5 million.[126]
Production for Lazer Team began on October 9, 2014.[127] On February 21, 2015, the first official teaser trailer was released, and on March 16, 2015, the full trailer was released.[128] The film premiered atFantastic Fest on September 24, 2015, where it received a generally positive reception.[129][130][131][132] It was released in theaters on January 27, 2016.[133]
On August 5, 2016, Burns and Free announced thatLazer Team 2 had been green-lit by Rooster Teeth in partnership with YouTube Red (nowYouTube Premium), who financed the film, and that pre-production had begun.[134] In December 2016, Matt Hullum confirmed Rooster Teeth would filmLazer Team 2 in Texas during the late spring of 2017 and planned to release it later that year.[135] Daniel Fabelo co-directed the sequel with Hullum.Nichole Bloom andVictoria Pratt also joined the cast.[136] Filming for the sequel concluded in April 2017.[137]
AtRTX Austin 2017, Rooster Teeth announcedBlood Fest, a horror-comedy film directed by Owen Egerton, and starringSeychelle Gabriel,Robbie Kay andJacob Batalon. Other cast members includeZachary Levi,Barbara Dunkelman,Nick Rutherford, andTate Donovan.[138]
Rooster Teeth vs. Zombiens is a game made by Team Chaos that features some of the main Rooster Teeth personnel in their fight against zombies in the Rooster Teeth office and parking lot. It was made foriOS,Android andSteam platforms.[139] It has since been taken down from IOS and Android platforms.
AtRTX 2014, Rooster Teeth announced during theRWBY panel on July 4 that aRWBY video game was in development, under the working titleRWBY: Grimm Eclipse, making this the first video game ever created by the company. An early demo of the game was available for consumers to play at the event. Rooster Teeth CEOMatt Hullum stated, "RWBY is a natural choice for us to focus on for our first in-house produced video game. Fans can expect that we will bring the same level of originality in action, comedy and design to the video game that has made theRWBY animated series such a hit."[140][141]
RWBY: Grimm Eclipse was initially developed as afangame by Jordan Scott over the course of five months. A demo version was released on April 1, 2014, to celebrate Rooster Teeth's 11th anniversary, but the demo is no longer available for download. Scott said at the time that it was not an ongoing project, and he had no plans for any future updates. He described it as a "survival-based action RPG" set in the world ofRWBY.[142]
On December 1, 2015, the game was released as anEarly Access title onSteam after rapidly being approved through Steam'sGreenlight feature.[143]
Vicious Circle was first announced on episode 526 of theRooster Teeth Podcast byBurnie Burns andGus Sorola.[144] It is an uncooperative multiplayer shooter and Rooster Teeth's first original IP game. It was released on August 13, 2019, on Steam.[145]
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Achievement Hunter was avideo gaming channel and division of Rooster Teeth, originally created in 2008 byGeoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo as a new creative outlet during production of season 6 ofRed vs. Blue. The channel was largely based on theachievement mechanic found inseventh-generation video game consoles after being made popular withMicrosoft's release of theXbox 360 with the channels produced by a rotating cast Rooster Teeth employees. Achievement Hunter has since become its own division with a consistent cast and has become a core component of Rooster Teeth Productions. In addition to main live-action channel, Achievement Hunter hosts gameplay content on the company's LetsPlay channel. They also formerly managed GameFails and LetsPlay Community channels on YouTube, but those are no longer uploaded on and currently serve as an archive of past GameFails and LetsPlay Community content. On September 18, 2023, it was announced that Achievement Hunter would be converted into an archive channel and all members would be moving onto other projects.[146]
The LetsPlay channel has served a variety of uses since its launch, being most consistently used as theLet's Play channel for Achievement Hunter.
The LetsPlay Network is a formermulti-channel network (MCN) operated by Rooster Teeth. It was founded by Rooster Teeth co-founderGeoff Ramsey and was run by Luis Medina alongside Ramsey. Under this new venture, partnerships with several other YouTube channels, in addition to its own Achievement Hunter and Funhaus, would be established to would provide merchandise, promotion, and other benefits for its partners.
On March 28, 2016, a partnership withKinda Funny was announced. Members of the group appear in Rooster Teeth content, and Kinda Funny merchandise became available on the Rooster Teeth Store.Kinda Funny Live! was presented by Let's Play and hosted by Burnie Burns.[147] A partnership with The Creatures was announced on April 4, 2016.[148] Upon their separate formations, channels Cow Chop and Game Attack were separately confirmed to be part of the "LetsPlay family".[149] Game Attack, which was initially spun off from ScrewAttack before becoming its own independent entity, and Cow Chop both had their own sections on Rooster Teeth's website.[150][151] On May 11, Achievement Hunter announced a partnership between the LetsPlay Network and video game publisherUbisoft. Streams and gameplay videos done by any of the Let's Play family members featuring games published by Ubisoft will be released exclusively on the Ubisoft US YouTube channel.[152] On May 31, 2017, it was announced that YouTubers JT Machinima (now JT Music), NoahJ456,LazarBeam, andSugar Pine 7 had joined Let's Play, with JT Machinima being the first of which to have merchandise sold through the RT Store.[153][154]
On July 12, 2017, it was announced that The Creatures would be disbanding, ending their relationship with Rooster Teeth.[155] In April 2019, Cow Chop announced a "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE", implying the channel would disband by the end of the year.[156] On December 31, Cow Chop posted their final video.[157] In May 2019, Sugar Pine 7 also announced their departure from the Rooster Teeth family.[158] On May 1, 2019, Craig Skistimas of Game Attack announced they as well were now independent, had no further business relationship with Rooster Teeth and was no longer a part of the LetsPlay family. Since their departures, content from The Creatures and Game Attack are no longer hosted on Rooster Teeth's website and Cow Chop & Sugar Pine 7's content are now consolidated under the "Friends of RT" section.
While Rooster Teeth still maintains relationships withKinda Funny and JT Music, along with new deals with other entities, the "LetsPlay Network" has not been referenced since the mentioned departures. A similar kind of partnership with UK basedThe Yogscast has occurred, a deal that includes their own section on Rooster Teeth's website and apps, but the LetsPlay branding and channel has reverted to its function as the gameplay channel for Achievement Hunter.
Inside Gaming was the gaming news division of Rooster Teeth. Originally founded as The Know, an entertainment news division that discusses current events in movies, TV shows, gaming, technology, and media. It was mainly hosted byAshley Jenkins and Brian Gaar, with a selection of other Rooster Teeth staff from each division within the company. It was initially a single news show hosted on Rooster Teeth's main YouTube channel before moving over to its own channel, where it has since expanded into several different categories of entertainment and tech news as well as several different shows,[159] with the latest beingGlitch Please, a successor to their earlier podcastThe Patch, that was greenlit for a full series after six pilot episodes.[160][161]Previously The Know had hostedLeaderboard, whereMeg Turney had discussedesports news,The Patch Game Club, where the hosts ofThe Patch would discuss a new video game they've played each week, andScreen Play, a film and TV podcast. In June 2016, Turney announced on her vlog she was leaving Rooster Teeth to focus more on cosplay.[162]
In October 2017,Variety announced Eric Vespe would join The Know as senior writer responsible for original reporting, interviews and developing new entertainment shows.[163] Vespe had previously worked atAin't It Cool News for 20 years.[164]
On February 14, 2019, Rooster Teeth revivedMachinima's Inside Gaming brand, renaming The Know to Inside Gaming. The Know and Machinima's social team were combined with Inside Gaming. Lawrence Sonntag, Adam Kovic, Bruce Greene andAlanah Pearce from Funhaus hosted Inside Gaming, which includes gaming news, features and reviews.[165] Greene and Sonntag left in 2019.[166][167] Autumn Farrell, formerly of Sugar Pine 7, took over Sonntag's position. Farrell and Pearce departed the company in October 2020.[168] On January 5, 2021, it was announced that Inside Gaming daily would end and all hosts would be joining Funhaus, however, the Inside Gaming weekend round-up would continue.
Game Kids was a kids channel launched in 2014, until 2016.[169]
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Funhaus (pronounced "funhouse") was a division of Rooster Teeth Productions, based in Los Angeles, California. The channel launched on February 16, 2015, by the former cast ofInside Gaming: Adam Kovic, James Willems, Bruce Greene, Lawrence Sonntag, Matt Peake, Sean "Spoole" Poole and Joel Rubin, later joined by formerGameTrailers talentElyse Willems in November 2015 and formerIGN hostAlanah Pearce in August 2018. Funhaus produces gameplay videos in a similar manner to Achievement Hunter. In addition to gameplay, Funhaus also produced segments for The Know up until November 2016. It produced many shows such asOpen Haus (Q&A), Google Trends, podcasts calledDude Soup and "Film Haus", gameplay series such asDemo Disk andWheelhaus,[170] a now-defunct live stream called FunhausTV on YouTube, and the now-defunct Sex Swing: The Animated Series. Shows produced by Funhaus for Rooster Teeth TV include "No Idea", "Arizona Circle", and "Last Laugh".
In 2016, Poole and Rubin left Funhaus.[171][172][173][174] Greene and Sonntag left in 2019.[166][167] Kovic departed the company after breaching its code of conduct in October 2020.[175] Pearce announced her departure in late October 2020.[168]
Death Battle debuted in 2010 as a web series published by the website ScrewAttack.Death Battle became ScrewAttack's most popular show and the website began to shift its focus towards the show, and in 2019 ScrewAttack rebranded to focus exclusively on it.[176][177] The show was acquired by Rooster Teeth,[178] and all of ScrewAttack's existing content was moved to the Rooster Teeth website.[179] In 2020,Amazon Prime Video sponsored a promotional episode ofDeath Battle to advertise thesecond season ofThe Boys.[180]
Death Battle was published by Rooster Teeth from 2019 until 2024, at which point Rooster Teeth was shut down by its parent company,Warner Bros. Discovery.[3] Following the disestablishment of Rooster Teeth,Death Battle became anindependent series.[181]
Community-run events have occurred regularly since 2005.[182][183] These included RvBTO inToronto[184] (the first event, now retired and replaced with Toronto:Unconventional),[185] RvBCanWest inVancouver,[186][187] RT Philly inPhiladelphia,[188] RooTeeth inMelbourne,[189] and SideQuest in Austin.[190] In February 2011, Sorola announced the date for the firstRTX, the company's first official fan event.[191] Burns credited RTX "starting" with the early fan events in Canada.[192]
In May 2011, Rooster Teeth held their first official community event in Austin, Texas. Initially planned as a small gathering for 200 people,[193] demand was so high that over 500 tickets were accidentally sold within minutes of being made available online.[194] Since RTX 2012, each event has been held in theAustin Convention Center, with the attendance growing from 5,000 in 2012 to 45,000 in 2015.[citation needed] In February 2017, RTX London was announced, taking place October 14–15 of that year.[195] Amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, RTX 2020, dubbed "RTX at Home", was held virtually from September 15 to 25.[196]
Let's Play Live is an on-stage event produced by Rooster Teeth in which Achievement Hunter and members of the Let's Play family play video games and perform comedy sketches in front of a live audience. Their first event was held on February 20, 2015, at theMoody Theater in Austin, Texas.[197] Beginning in 2016, LPL toured multiple cities across North America.[198] LPL returned to Austin the night before RTX 2018 began.[199]
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On December 9, 2008, Rooster Teeth launched theDrunk Tank podcast. It was renamed theRooster Teeth Podcast in 2011, due to the previous name not being attractive to advertisers. The podcast is released weekly, and has won several honors, including being the most downloaded podcast on iTunes and winning the Best Gaming Podcast award at thePodcast Awards in 2013 and 2014.[200] As of May 2023, the podcast has over 750 episodes[201] the same year the podcast moved to a multi segment based show featuring new hosts[202]
In June 2017 Rooster Teeth launched its own podcast network, calledThe Roost, representing creators such ash3h3Productions,Game Grumps,Shane Dawson,Getting Doug With High byDoug Benson,Tiny Meat Gang byCody Ko and Noel Miller, andThe Valleyfolk by Joseph Bereta,Elliott Morgan, andSteve Zaragoza among others.[203] In July 2018, The Roost addedThe Last Podcast on the Left, hosted byBen Kissel, Marcus Parks, andHenry Zebrowski.[204] On September 5, 2018, it was revealed that The Roost would also support both current and upcoming podcasts from The Beam, another podcast network, as part of a partnership between Rooster Teeth andHello Sunshine.[205]
A.J Feliciano became the head of the network in August 2020.[206] In October 2020 The Roost began representing prop collecting podcastThe Stuff Dreams Are Made Of.[207] Rooster Teeth andAEW partnered to create the podcastWrestling With The Week in January 2021.[208]Anthony Padilla, along withGrace Helbig andMamrie Hart, launched podcasts with The Roost in early 2021.[209] As of September 2021, The Roost network has over 100 shows and receives 300 million impressions per month.[210] Rooster Teeth said the network increased its viewership by 50% and quadrupled revenue in 2021.[210]
In April 2024,The Roost was purchased byNight, talent management company for several big YouTubers and Twitch streamers includingMrBeast.[51] In an interview withVariety,A.J. Feliciano stated most ofThe Roost staff would be kept on. In the same article Variety claimed The Roost's network of shows has over 350 million views and 20 million monthly downloads as of April 2024.[51] However they provide no sources for these numbers.
"I think the biggest place we've had to adapt is, we've always believed we have to have our own corner on the web, that we don't try to build our own company onFacebook or onMySpace back in the day, or even onTwitter orSnapchat. We try to have RoosterTeeth.com be our destination." ―Burnie Burns, July 8, 2016[17]
On October 4, 2004, after closing theirphpBB forums, Rooster Teeth publicly launched anonline community andsocial networking website as a way to stay in touch with fans while maintaining their own platform for distribution.[211][212] This site included features such as community statistics, journals, an image gallery and a "mod point system" or "emodomy" that was meant to help members moderate the site with options to like or dislike posts.[213] Currently, it receives 5 million unique monthly visitors and is home to over 2 million registered users of which 135,000 pay $5 per month as FIRST members.[214][215][216]
To host their own videos, Rooster Teeth paid aco-location facility $13,000.[5] The cost from server fees prompted Rooster Teeth to implement a site wide program called "Sponsorships" in 2003 (later rebranded as Rooster Teeth First members), which gave paying members access to content before being offered to the public, in addition to extra site features, exclusive videos and merchandise. Sponsorships have been credited with "keeping the lights on" in the company's early years and a "major reason" for Rooster Teeth's growth and the first way that they monetized content.[217][218][219]
On July 1, 2016, the ad-free "Sponsorship" program was rebranded as "FIRST" and offered a new option to upgrade to an even higher-level tier called Double Gold that included such perks as: a 10% discount on all Rooster Teeth items, first access to live event VIP passes and a box of merchandise carrying a value more than $60.[220]
Rooster Teeth's founders often emphasize the importance of the community and how it has helped them to remain relevant in web culture.[217] In 2010, Burnie Burns stated he, "could not imagine RedVsBlue or Rooster Teeth without the community site."[211] In 2014 Gus Sorola said, "From the beginning we have always maintained and promoted our own community site, since before YouTube even existed". Building community is key to having an engaged, active audience who really enjoy your content."[221] Burns elaborated on this in September 2014, attributing how they've managed to build a global audience to constantly engaging in a two-way conversation with the company's "hyper engaged core".[222] In 2016, Burns reiterated their growth again to listening and taking the community's feedback to heart.[219] Burns repeated in 2016 that he considers the secret to the company's successes is their community and their conversation with the community. "Our model revolves around being the home for a core community, and growing it year-after-year ... the loyalty of a community to spread the gospel of your brand is absolutely critical"[223] Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos, after acquiring Rooster Teeth, cited the "insanely powerful community" as a reason they felt the company was a perfect match to buy and later attributedLazer Team's success to the power of the community.[224][225] In 2015, during the production of Rooster Teeth's first feature, co-founder and Director Matt Hullum stated, "We would not have been able to makeLazer Team without the community and really I don't think we would've wanted to."[226] In 2017, Burns re-emphasized that "community is the cornerstone of Rooster Teeth" and one of their core values they impress upon new employees.[227]
Community members have distinguished themselves on and beyond the website. Notable people to come from the community includeGavin Free,Barbara Dunkelman, andKent Nichols.[228] In October 2008, community member "Jeffson" became the first person to post thatBarack Obama's presidential campaign had taken out billboards within the Xbox 360 version ofBurnout Paradise. After being posted to his journal, the story was picked up by major news outlets, includingGamePolitics,MTV andWired.[229][230][231] In 2010, Achievement Hunter community members "AxialMatt" and "Hightower" garnered attention with theirJapan World Cup 3 video.[232][233] ForRed vs. Blue: Revelation, Rooster Teeth used 10 community members to help unlockHalo 3 armor suits for machinima production purposes.[234] In February 2011, Burns tweeted that community member "madmanmoe" discovered the Rooster Teeth website was not blocked by the Libyan government and was blogging events on the website fromTripoli during theFirst Libyan Civil War.[235] The longest-running external resource site, RoosterTooths, has existed since 2005 and contains transcripts, biographies, and a history of theRed vs. Blue title screen.[236]
Community members have been utilized for RT productions at every singleRTX. In 2011, some 400 community members were used as zombie extras for a Horde Mode episode ofImmersion. In 2012, 1,800 attendees were used as extras for a scene in the RT production,Day 5, which involved shutting down the main road in downtownAustin.[237]In 2013, hundreds of fans were used as extras for a water-bomb attack in an episode ofThe Slow Mo Guys.[238] In 2014, casting calls and auditions for minor speaking roles inLazer Team were held for RTX attendees.[239] In 2015, attendees were invited to participate in an interactive, "narrative-driven experience" calledMurder at The RTX which involved hunting clues at prepared "crime scenes".[240] On June 20, 2016, Rooster Teeth confirmed they would be filming audience members at an RTX panel for use in their latest production,Crunch Time.[241]
Many employees have come from the community. In 2014, Burns estimated "at least a third" of the company of 85 started in the fan community, adding it "keeps us grounded" and "makes a whole lot of sense from a business standpoint ... I don't have to explain to them what this company is trying to do."[242] Ben McSweeney, illustrator of Rooster Teeth's logo, was hired by Burns after being found on the site's community forums in April 2003.[213] Others include creative director Barbara Dunkelman, composersNico Audy-Rowland and Jeff Williams ofTrocadero, cartoonist Luke McKay, Achievement Hunters Caleb Denecour and Ray Narvaez, Jr.,Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures creator Jordan Cwierz, andRWBY writer and director Kerry Shawcross.[243][244][245] In August 2014, former intern and current content producer Blaine Gibson garnered media attention when he posted photos proposing toDisney Princesses atWalt Disney World.[246][247][248] In July 2014 it was announced at RTX that fan Jordan Scott would be making theRWBY video game after posting footage of a demo he had made to his YouTube page.[249] It was also announced during the RTX 2014 Achievement Hunter panel that Community Hunters Matthew "AxialMatt" Bragg and Jeremy "Jerem6401" Dooley would be joining AH as its newest employees.[250]
In February 2019, Rooster Teeth announced that they had ended all associations with voice actorVic Mignogna and removed him from theRWBY cast.[251][252] Although there were several allegations of inappropriate behavior, no charges were filed against him and Mignogna denied allegations of criminal misconduct. Mignogna pursued defamation lawsuits after the accusations were made against him, and although he lost appeals and was ordered to pay legal fees, the civil rulings only determined whether the statements were defamatory.[253]
In October 2020, Achievement Hunter's Ryan Haywood and Funhaus co-founder Adam Kovic were both involved in scandals involving their leaked nudes; Kovic parted ways with the company.[254] Days later, multiple allegations of grooming underage fans came out against Haywood,[254][255][256] and he was subsequently fired.[257]
In June 2019, dozens of anonymous reviews fromGlassdoor gained exposure, highlighting a negativecrunch culture of long and unpaid hours, poor management, and over-reliance on temporary employees at Rooster Teeth Animation.[258] Gray Haddock, Rooster Teeth's Head of Animation, stepped down two days after the allegations.[259]
In October 2022, Kdin Jenzen, a former Achievement Hunter employee, posted online about her experiences working at the company. She accused the company of still having a "crunch" culture, not paying her fairly, and homophobic and transphobic abuse by upper management, to the extent that her nickname at the company was a slur.[260][261][262][263] Hours later, Achievement Hunter cast members, including Rooster Teeth co-founder Geoff Ramsey, responded to Jenzen's message apologizing for their prior behavior at the company, as well as announcing a reduced release schedule for the future.[260][261][262] The following day, Rooster Teeth released a statement addressing the situation, claiming that they were taking steps to improve their work culture and reviewing pay parity at the company.[262][264] Following Jenzen's message, numerous other former employees spoke up about their experiences working at Rooster Teeth, adding more accounts of unpaid work and discriminatory abuse while at the company.[263] Rooster Teeth then released a second statement apologizing for harmful behaviors, listing changes made since 2020 including the introduction of pay bands and the replacement of the entire Human Resources department.[265][264]
On November 20, 2019, Michael Quinn, Rooster Teeth's Vice President of Product Research and Engineering, was arrested for assaulting his wife.[266] Quinn was fired three days later.[267]
Hey everyone!
It's been a bit since we've had a larger announcement about where we are in terms of Rooster Teeth's shutdown. As announced in our previous announcement [LINK] we turned off new FIRST sign-ups and announced that the Rooster Teeth site and apps will be shutting down on May, 15, 2024. That's next week.
The end of this week will be the last day of employment for the majority of Rooster Teeth cast and crew. The work and shows that have been created and put together here over the last twenty-one years has been undeniably indescribable. We're so proud of what our team has accomplished, and are eager to see what these talented individuals do next. SPEAKING OF… Keep an eye out on social for news from the brands and people you love! There is so much more news to come, it just needs to be in a place where it's shareable. (Take a look at 100% Eat and Face Jam! 👀)
A small contingent of individuals will continue to work after this week. Turns out, there are a lot of pieces involved in shutting a company down and this crew will continue working on those final steps. This includes parts of the community and support team, who can still be reached at bit.ly/RT-Support.
We are currently working towards moving site-specific content from the Rooster Teeth site to live on some of the YouTube channels as a living archive. While we can't make guarantees about specific shows, our hope is to make as much of the archive available as possible. More information to come!
And finally, in terms of further communication and information from Rooster Teeth, even after May 15 when the site and apps shut down, that will still be coming from me. I may not be posting on the website anymore, but I'll still be posting here on the r/roosterteeth subreddit until my last day!
Thank you and much love,
Chelsea
mixed or average reviews
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[Amazon Studios Head of Marketing, Adam] Bersin said he was attracted toRooster Teeth after working with the company on custom-content partnerships for several ofAmazon Studios['] launches, like theDeath Battle for"The Boys" Season 2.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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