The rise of Dropout's and Indie Streamers
May 5th, 2025
In 2016 the Netflix Original Stranger Things became an overnight success. Merch was
being made, interviews were booked, and the 80s set show given a new generation a lot of old
good music. However, the main characters were not your average 80s hero's, they were nerds.
The tweenaged cast loved Ghostbusters, comic books, and most of all Dungeons and Dragons.
Sure, they were picked on in the show, but the audience learned to love a group of geeks. It was
not the first time nerd culture has been on the rise; it has become increasingly socially acceptable
to “geek out” about hobbies and interests that may not be mainstream. And now in the 2020s
companies have not only taken notice but are profiting from niche fandom and even indie brands
have gotten in on it. Focusing on a market and an audience that has been looked over in the past.
Some brands, like the indie streaming service Dropout, have even gone against the model of
“mainstream accessibility” and made their content even more niche; resulting in growth from an
audience previously uncatered too.
Dungeons & Dragons was first released in 1974 created from the game “Chainmail”; it
slowly became part of many players lives but it was more widely known as a key player in the
“Satanic Panic” of the 80s. It is complicated and pedantic gameplay, aesthetic inspirations, and
association with Satanism lead DND to become a staple in nerd culture. In 1991 Dungeons and
Dragons were bought by Hasbro and in 2004 they reached $1 billion in sales. In the modern era,
Dungeons & Dragons has worked to become more inclusive and more profitable releasing new
material, books, and even a movie starring Chris Pine in 2023. “Actual play” is a genre in which
players play a game, like DND, for an audience either live or pre-recorded. In the past 10 years
shows like those have found success in this market, including Dropout. Dungeons & Dragons
have continued to advance and sales partially due to these actual play shows, and the audience
they draw in.
Dropout’s actual play RPG (role-playing game) show, Dimension 20 is a remarkably
simple concept: put a mix of professional improvisers, comedians, and RPG experts in front of a
camera and play. Created by Brennan Lee Mulligan, who sites other actual play shows like
Critical Role as his inspiration, the series has now completed 25 seasons over seven years. Most recently Dropout sold 15,000 tickets in four days for a live version of Dimension 20 at Madison
Square Garden. The cast and crew have also been featured in TIME, Rolling Stone, and Variety
for their work on the niche hit.
Dropout was not always a streaming service, originally it was CollegeHumor, the brand
known to create internet memes, raunchy sketch comedy, and viral videos. If you were on the
Internet anytime in the early 2000s the likelihood of running into something with the “CH”
watermark was high. CollegeHumor was by and for the young adults of the internet catering to
an audience that was overlooked before. However, due to a lack of ad revenue and a shifting in
the general culture of the internet, CollegeHumor had to pivot launching Dropout TV in 2018.
And in 2020 CollegeHumor was bought by current CEO Sam Reich and was rebranded to
Dropout. This rebranding, led by Reich, focused on unscripted, ad-free comedy to reflect the of
early Dropout show hits like Dimension 20 and Um, Actually.
In 2024 and 2025 the streamer has completely embraced niche nerd content. They now
host shows like Make Some Noise which is a competitive improv showcase reminiscent of Whose Line is it Anyways? Or Dirty Laundry, a late-night confessional show with a rotating cast including drag queens, podcast host, comedy writers, and internet celebrities. And sometimes
their niche shows get even niche-er, like the latest seasons of Dimension 20 where all four
players were WWE superstars. Dropout’s subscription based streaming platform creates a homefor content that could never be funded on a more mainstream streaming service. And their abilityto capitalize on whatever niche is currently trending harkens back to their days as
CollegeHumor. In 2023, Dropout nearly doubled their subscriber base and turned a profit,
proving to many their legitimacy as an up-and-coming streamer. All built on content that might
have caused a moral panic 50 years earlier.
The recent success and rebranding of companies like Dungeons & Dragons and Dropout
prove that there is a new market full of geeks, nerds, and weirdos. Being in touch with your
audience is more important than ever in this changing media environment. And niche groups arefinally being heard, and content is being made for them. So, in conclusion, being a nerd is not cool. But if you play your card right, it may be profitable.
Works Cited \
Vocos, Andrea. “Revenge of the Modern Geeks? How Nerd Culture Became Cool.” Medium,
Medium, 29 June 2020, medium.com/@andrea.vocos/revenge-of-the-modern-geeks-how-
nerd-culture-became-cool-1e4c86a0f920.
Francisco, Eric. “Inside the Biggest Live Game of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Ever Played.” Rolling
Stone, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2025, www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-gaming/dungeons-
and-dragons-dimension-20-madison-square-garden-1235258992/.
Knibbs, Kate. “CollegeHumor Helped Shape Online Comedy. What Went Wrong?” Wired,
Conde Nast, 28 Jan. 2020, www.wired.com/story/collegehumor/.
Squires, Bethy. “Dropout’s Playbook for Surviving an Unforgiving Internet.” Vulture, Vulture,
26 Sept. 2023, www.vulture.com/article/sam-reich-dropout-interview.html.
AI Note
- No AI program was used for the creation of this paper