YouTube theory celebrity Matthew “MatPat” Patrick was met with an enthusiastic and passionate crowd during his Iowa State University AfterDark talk on Saturday.
With lines wrapping around the Memorial Union hours before MatPat was even supposed to take the stage, it is safe to say theory fans of all kinds were ecstatic to hear from MatPat.
Though the conversation was only an hour long, MatPat answered many fan questions about his journey on YouTube, his theories, his role in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies and more.
The conversation started with a question about what brought MatPat to YouTube originally, which he answered, “desperation.”
Having a job in the theatre was not a stable place to be in. Since companies couldn’t just look up a production he had worked on to see his skills in action, MatPat launched his YouTube channel, “The Game Theorist,” as an online profile for companies to see his analytical and creative skills.
From there, the conversation shifted to the specific theories MatPat had covered over the years.
When asked what his all-time favorite theory was, he said “Princess Peach is dead,” as it contained so many different theory elements.
At some point during the process of putting together theories, there was a shift away from science-based theories toward lore-based ones.
MatPat retired from his channels in 2024, and though he said he doesn’t miss the work of running all the channels, he said, “What I do miss is you guys,” referring to the fans.
Outside of the theory videos MatPat became known for, he also worked on the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies.
“It’s wild,” MatPat said when asked about what it was like to be on set. “Because you think you’ve done big productions before. It was wild to see how big a jump there is between some of the biggest YouTube videos and a movie.”
Despite working on the movie, many aspects of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’s final result surprised him.
The final question of the night for MatPat was, “What advice would you give to Iowa State students?”
“Live intentionally,” MatPat said. “Everything you engage with has the opportunity to enrich you.”
As the curtain closed, the audience yelled out his iconic line with him: “But hey! That’s just a theory, a game theory!”
MatPat’s theories can be found on YouTube under The Game Theorists, The Food Theorists, The Style Theorists and GTLive.
