An Update on Exclusives (Patreon)

Greetings,

Bloodworth here, and I wanted to let you know that we’re making changes to our exclusive content on Patreon. Finding the right balance for exclusive videos has always been a challenge, producing things that feel like worthwhile incentives to become a patron, without taking away from the excitement of our regular public content. When we first started doing exclusives in 2018, they proved to be one of the biggest catalysts for growth, and for Spoiler Mode in particular, every big episode also saw a clear jump in patronage.

While we’ve always been aware that some people simply wouldn’t be interested in paying, no matter what, over time, it feels like the effectiveness of exclusives has worn off. Rather than coming across as a bonus for contributors, there’s a stronger sentiment that they’re a barrier to sharing some of peoples’ favorite moments and getting viewers interested in Easy Allies as a whole.

So today we’re making some changes. Exclusives won’t be going away entirely, but they’ll be more focused on delivering extended cuts rather than locking away creative new shows. We’ll have a full list below, but for instance, new episodes of Trash Babies and Achieve it Yourself will be public now, with $5 patrons getting essentially the full uncut recording.

We don’t really want to cut anything out of Spoiler Mode so instead of doing extended cuts, Spoiler Modes for brand new content will be public, and we’ll be adding “Retro” episodes of Spoiler Mode to the $1 tier, about once a month. These games, movies, and shows don't necessarily have to be decades old, it’s just about us discussing things that we already know well and aren’t part of the current hype cycle.

As for past content, a lot of those episodes simply don’t make sense to publish as new in 2022. A lot’s changed at Easy Allies, we’ve changed, and it could be confusing to suddenly publish a video filmed in Brandon’s old garage or with staff who have since moved on. So we’ll keep past episodes as bonuses for patrons, with Spoiler Modes from the past few months moving to the $1 tier so they’ll be consistently available alongside the Retro episodes.

So to recap, here’s what’s happening with each show in our current exclusive roster:

Spoiler Mode (new releases) - public
Trash Babies - public, extended cuts at $5 tier
Achieve it Yourself - public, extended cuts at $5 tier
Fast & Loose - remaining at $1 tier
Spoiler Mode Retro - $1 tier

To be honest, there’s no perfect formula here, but we’re trying to listen and find a more positive balance. Our hope is to keep a great value for our Patreon while getting more of our shows in front of fresh eyes.

Thank you,
Daniel Bloodworth