Article content continued

“I was crazy in debt, like bad in debt, and I had a bad job. The fact that I am calling this a job is surreal ,”

Together, Matt and Pat are part of a growing movement of YouTube users who create “Let’s Plays” of video games. It’s only after hours spent playing, recording, and editing can these video makers produce content that sticks with a game from start to finish.

With the launch of next generation consoles, namely Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One, sharing gaming videos is becoming more than just a cottage industry for YouTube veterans.

Both new consoles feature technologies designed to capture, share and publish gameplay footage to social networks like Facebook and YouTube, which means there could be many more young gamers looking to create their own version of “Two Best Friends Play” soon enough.

Before starting Two Best Friends Play, Mr. Kowalewski, 31, and Mr. Boivin, 27, both worked long hours at what they called dead end jobs. Mr. Boivin, who has a university degree in psychology, worked as a bagger at a grocery store and Mr. Kowalewski was a game tester working at various video game studios in Montreal.

“My last job was at Eidos Montreal,” Mr. Kowalewski said. “During a job like that you can get a lot of over time and a lot of it is forced overtime. As soon as I realized we were doing well enough just with the show, there was no reason for me to continue.”

Creating several videos a week including full ‘Let’s Plays’ of games and special video series like their “Sh**storm of Scariness” for Halloween is part and parcel of the service they provide for their audience of more than 400,000 YouTube subscribers.