Tom Cassell

Thomas George Cassell (born 23 June 1993), better known by his online alias Syndicate, is a British YouTuber, streamer and vlogger known for his YouTube video content and Twitch live streams.[2]

Tom Cassell
Cassell in 2014
Born
Thomas George Cassell

(1993-06-23) 23 June 1993[1]
Manchester, England United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Occupation
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2010–present
Genre
Subscribers
  • 9.83 million (TheSyndicateProject)
  • 2.61 million (Life of Tom)
  • 111K (Syndicate Royale)
Total views
  • 2.1 billion (TheSyndicateProject)
  • 595.8 million (Life of Tom)
  • 2.03 million (Syndicate Royale)
Network3BDNetwork
100,000 subscribers 2011
1,000,000 subscribers 2012
Updated: 3 November 2020
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2010–present
Followers3.1 million
Total views72.7 million
Follower and view counts updated as of 27 December 2020.
Websitesyndicateoriginal.com

In 2010, Cassell registered his YouTube channel TheSyndicateProject and rapidly built a following posting gaming–commentary videos. He later registered his Twitch channel and, on 17 August 2014, he became the first user on the site to reach 1 million followers.[3][4] Cassell also posts daily vlogs on his second YouTube channel, Life of Tom.

Early life

Cassell was educated at The Blue Coat school in Oldham, Greater Manchester and later Hyde Clarendon college where he sat his A-levels. After leaving, Cassell worked briefly at McDonald's, deciding against attending university in order to concentrate on his YouTube channel.[5][6]

Career

Cassell started his YouTube channel, TheSyndicateProject, on 3 September 2010.[7] The channel was originally built on Halo and Modern Warfare 2 let's play videos, but came to prominence with the release of the Call of Duty: Black Ops "zombies" mode and his subsequent videos featuring the gamemode on his channel, and further grew due to the series "The Minecraft Project".[7][8][5] Cassell also operates a second channel, "Life Of Tom" previously known as SyndicateCentral, which consists primarily of vlogs.[9]

Cassell runs a Twitch channel which, as of August 2017 had over 2.4 million followers, making it the most followed channel on the website at the time.[3][4]

In November 2014, Cassell, along with fellow YouTuber Adam Montoya (known online as SeaNanners) and in cooperation with media company 3BlackDot, launched a multi-channel network, Jetpak, aiming for a more fair payment model for the revenue made.[10][11][12]

In February 2016, Cassell announced that he will be the voice of Loki in the mobile app game Marvel Avengers Academy.[13][14]

Advertising violations

In late 2013, Cassell was paid $30,000, along with other influential YouTubers, to promote Microsoft's newly launched Xbox One console as part of a promotional campaign managed by Microsoft's advertising agency and operated by Machinima Inc. The endorsement ran afoul of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations because "influencers", including Cassell, had failed to disclose that they "were paid by Microsoft to say nice things about Xbox One and its games".[15]

In August 2015, Gamasutra reported that Cassell had again violated FTC guidelines on disclosures for YouTubers due to publishing multiple Let's Play videos of 3BlackDot's game Dead Realm without disclosing their financial ties to the product.[16]

Cassell was heavily criticized and became a defendant in a class-action lawsuit in July 2016 when he promoted the gambling website CSGOLotto.com without disclosing a conflict of interest as vice-president of the company, again violating FTC regulations. After his role at the company was revealed by others, Cassell promised in a statement posted on Twitter that he would be more transparent in the future.[17][18][19]

Sexual assault allegations

In June 2020, two fellow streamers, Natalie Casanova and Cassell's former girlfriend, Kaitlin Witcher, made allegations of sexual assault and rape against Cassell, to which he responded calling the allegations "false" and "character assassination", saying he was "shocked and saddened" by the actions of "two women I once called friends".[20][21]

See also

References
  1. Tom Syndicate [@ProSyndicate] (23 June 2018). "Here's to starting @YouTube at 17! And heres to turning 25 today!" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. Manning, Sanchez (27 March 2012). "I'm Lovin' It: Teen who posted gaming commentaries on internet quits McDonalds job and school after becoming YouTube sensation". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  3. Hilliard, Kyle (6 October 2014). "Streaming Tips From Twitch's Most Followed User, Syndicate". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. Hern, Alex (26 August 2014). "Amazon's $1bn deal for video streaming site Twitch is latest battle with Google". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. Waugh, Rob (16 January 2014). "How I got six million viewers on YouTube – and turned it into a full-time job". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  6. "Tutor inspires YouTube sensation". Hyde Clarendon Sixth Form College. 3 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. Porter, Will (11 October 2012). "An audience with Syndicate". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  8. Dowling, Kevin (17 June 2012). "Got up, played, went to zoo, banked £60,000". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. "Life of Tom". YouTube. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  10. Bloom, David (22 July 2014). "3BlackDot Hybrid Firm Emerges From Stealth Mode With Ex-'Duck Dynasty', Machinima Execs, Top YouTubers". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. Yang, Melissah (6 November 2014). "3BlackDot Launches Multichannel Network". Los Angeles Business Journal. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  12. Ellingson, Annlee (6 November 2014). "Ex-Machinima execs launch boutique MCN Jetpak". L.A. Biz. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  13. "Loki". Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  14. Casell, Tom. "BIG NEWS!!!". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  15. Wesley Yin-Poole. FTC: Machinima "deceived" consumers with Xbox One videos Archived 7 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, eurogamer.net, 2 September 2015.
  16. Wawro, Alex (19 August 2015). "Dead Realm publisher disregards FTC disclosure guidelines for YouTubers". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  17. Phillips, Tom (4 July 2016). "Steam warns users against gambling site after YouTube stars discovered as owners". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  18. Crecente, Brian (7 July 2016). "CSGO Lotto and owners sued over 'illegal gambling' allegations". Polygon. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  19. "CS GO betting scandal: YouTubers ProSyndicate and TmarTn caught up in gambling controversy". 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 7 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  20. "YouTuber Syndicate denies sexual assault claims". BBC News. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  21. Phillips, Tom (25 June 2020). "YouTuber Syndicate denies claims of sexual assault". Eurogamer. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
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