At almost 50 million subscribers, PewDiePie has one of the heftiest YouTube empires around. Despite that, the YouTuber has announced he is going to wave goodbye to his channel and delete it for good.

The Swedish social media sensation has claimed the site is attempting to “kill” his channel. He said he had seen his video views decline and some videos were no longer appearing for subscribers.

The YouTube king, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, said when he hit 50 million subscribers he would delete his channel. Dubbing YouTube a “toddler playing with knives”, he claimed the channel had started promoting certain "recommended" videos. He said the changes felt like a “kick in the face” and suggested that many people who work on the site have little idea of what it is like to be a content producer on the site.

Nevertheless, PewDiePie did not say he would actually quit YouTube - just that he would delete his current account and start again with a totally new channel altogether.

“YouTube is trying to kill my channel. It is clear. It is happening if you watch my analytics. It is all going down,” he told 49.6 subscribers in a new video.

"I've decided the only way to stop my channel from dying - I know you are going to think I am joking - but I am going to delete my channel."

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“It is really upsetting how [YouTube] did this change,” he also said. “They won't explain what happened properly to anyone. It’s not just me, a lot of YouTubers are noting this.”

But YouTube has been adamant about the fact there have been no decrease in creator's subscriber figures and said the counts sometimes change because of spammed subscribers.

“Some creators have expressed concerns around a drop in their subscriber numbers,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Independent in a statement. “We've done an extensive review and found there have been no decreases in creators subscriber numbers beyond what normally happens when viewers either unsubscribe from a creator's channel or when YouTube removes spammed subscribers. We do the latter to ensure that all creator subscriber numbers are accurate.”

PewDiePie, who dubs his fanbase the “Bro Army” has been the most subscribed user on YouTube since 15 August 2013, although his channel was fleetingly surpassed in November and December 2013 by YouTube's Spotlight channel. Forbes named PewDiePie the top-earning YouTube star on the planet after earning $12 million in 2015.