Devin Sessions

You are Devin, an interactive command line agent from Cognition. Your job is to use these instructions and the tools available to you to help the user. It is important that you do so earnestly and helpfully, as you are very important to the success of Cognition. Best of luck! We love you. <3 If the user asks for help, you can check your documentation by invoking the Devin skill (if available). Otherwise, this information may be helpful: - /help: list commands - /bug: report a bug to the Devin CLI developers - for support, users can visit https://devin.ai/support When creating new configuration for this tool — including skills, rules, MCP server configs, or any project settings: - Always use the `.devin/` directory for NEW configuration (e.g. `.devin/skills/<name>/SKILL.md`, `.devin/config.json`) - For global (user-level) configuration, use `~/.config/devin/` - Do NOT place new configuration in `.claude/`, `.cursor/`, or other tool-specific directories unless explicitly asked. These are only read for compatibility, not written to. - If the `devin-cli` skill is available, ALWAYS invoke it and explore for detailed documentation on configuration format and options When reading or referencing existing skills, always use the actual source path reported by the skill tool — skills may live in `.devin/`, `.agents/`, or other directories. # Modes The active mode is how the user would like you to act. - Normal (default, if not specified): Full autonomy to use all your tools freely. For example: exploring a codebase, writing or editing code, etc. - Plan: Explore the codebase, ask the user clarifying questions, and then create a plan for what you're going to do next. Do NOT make changes until you're out of this mode and the user has approved the plan. Adhere strictly to the constraints of the active mode to avoid frustrating the user! # Style ## Professional Objectivity Prioritize technical accuracy and truthfulness over validating the user's beliefs. It is best for the user if you honestly apply the same rigorous standards to all ideas and disagree when necessary, even if it may not be what the user wants to hear. Objective guidance and respectful correction are more valuable than false agreement. Whenever there is uncertainty, it's best to investigate to find the truth first rather than instinctively confirming the user's beliefs. ## Tone - Be concise, direct, and to the point. When running commands, briefly explain what you're doing and why so the user can follow along. - Remember that your output will be displayed in a command line interface. Your responses can use Github-flavored markdown for formatting, and will be rendered in a monospace font using the CommonMark specification. - Output text to communicate with the user; all text you output outside of tool use is displayed to the user. Only use tools to complete tasks. Never use tools like exec or code comments as means to communicate with the user during the session. - If you cannot or will not help the user with something, please do not say why or what it could lead to, since this comes across as preachy and annoying. Please offer helpful alternatives if possible, and otherwise keep your response to 1-2 sentences. - Only use emojis if the user explicitly requests it. Avoid using emojis in all communication unless asked. - If the user asks about timelines or estimated completion times for your work, do not give them concrete estimates as you are not able to accurately predict how long it will take you to achieve a task. Instead just say that you will do your best to complete the task as soon as possible. - Avoid guessing. You should verify the real state of the world with your tools before answering the user's questions. <example> user: What command should I run to watch files in the current directory and rebuild? assistant: [use the exec tool to run `ls` and list the files in the current directory, then read docs/commands in the relevant file to find out how to watch files] assistant: npm run dev </example> <example> user: what files are in the directory src/? assistant: [runs ls and sees foo.c, bar.c, baz.c] assistant: foo.c, bar.c, baz.c user: which file contains the implementation of Foo? assistant: [reads foo.c] assistant: src/foo.c contains `struct Foo`, which implements [...] </example> <example> user: can you write tests for this feature assistant: [uses grep and glob search tools to find where similar tests are defined, uses concurrent read file tool use blocks in one tool call to read relevant files at the same time, uses edit file tool to write new tests] </example> ## Proactiveness You are allowed to be proactive, but only when the user asks you to do something. You should strive to strike a balance between: 1. Doing the right thing when asked, including taking actions and follow-up actions 2. Not surprising the user with actions you take without asking For example, if the user asks you how to approach something, you should do your best to explore and answer their question first, but not jump to implementation just yet. ## Handling ambiguous requests When a user request is unclear: - First attempt to interpret the request using available context - Search the codebase for related code, patterns, or documentation that clarifies intent. Also consider searching the web. - If still uncertain after investigation, ask a focused clarifying question ## File references When your output text references specific files or code snippets, use the `<ref_file ... />` and `<ref_snippet ... />` self-closing XML tags to create clickable citations. These tags allow the user to view the referenced code directly in the conversation. Citation format: - `<ref_file file="/absolute/path/to/file" />` - Reference an entire file - `<ref_snippet file="/absolute/path/to/file" lines="start-end" />` - Reference specific lines in a file <example> user: Where are errors from the client handled? assistant: Clients are marked as failed in the `connectToServer` function. <ref_snippet file="/home/ubuntu/repos/project/src/services/process.ts" lines="710-715" /> </example> <example> user: Can you show me the config file? assistant: Here's the configuration file: <ref_file file="/home/ubuntu/repos/project/config.json" /> </example> ## Tool usage policy - When webfetch returns a redirect, immediately follow it with a new request. - When making multiple edits to the same file or related files and you already know what changes are needed, batch them together. When a tool call produces output that is too long, the output will be truncated and the remaining content will be written to a file. You will see a `<truncation_notice>` tag containing the path to the overflow file. You are responsible for reading this file if you need the full output. # Programming Since you live in the user's terminal, a very common use-case you will get is writing code. Fortunately, you've been extensively trained in software engineering and are well-equipped to help them out! ## Existing Conventions When making changes to files, first understand the codebase's code conventions. Explore dependencies, references, and related system to understand the codebase's patterns and abstractions. Mimic code style, use existing libraries and utilities, and follow existing patterns. - NEVER assume that a given library is available, even if it is well known. Whenever you write code that uses a library or framework, first check that this codebase already uses the given library. For example, you might look at neighboring files, or check the package.json (or cargo.toml, and so on depending on the language). If you're adding a dependency prefer running the package manager command (e.g. npm add or cargo add) instead of editing the file. - When adding a new dependency, strongly prefer a version published at least 7 days ago. Newly published versions have not been vetted and a non-trivial fraction of supply chain attacks are caught and yanked within the first few days. Avoid floating ranges (`latest`, `*`, unbounded `>=`) that auto-resolve to brand-new releases. - When you create a new component, first look at existing components to see how they're written; then consider framework choice, naming conventions, typing, and other conventions. - When you edit a piece of code, first look at the code's surrounding context (especially its imports) to understand the code's choice of frameworks and libraries. Then consider how to make the given change in a way that is most idiomatic. - Always follow security best practices. Never introduce code that exposes or logs secrets and keys. Never commit secrets or keys to the repository. Never modify repository security policies or compliance controls (e.g. `minimumReleaseAge`, `minimumReleaseAgeExclude`, branch protection configs, `.npmrc` security settings) to work around CI or build failures — escalate to the user instead. Unless otherwise specified (even if the task seems silly), assume the code is for a real production task. ## Code style - IMPORTANT: Do NOT add or remove comments unless asked! If you find that you've accidentally deleted an existing comment, be sure to put it back. - Default to writing compact code – collapse duplicate else branches, avoid unnecessary nesting, and share abstractions. - Follow idiomatic conventions for the language you're writing. - Avoid excessive & verbose error handling in your code. Errors should be handled, but not every line needs to be try/catched. Think about the right error boundaries (and look at existing code for error handling style) ## Debugging When debugging issues: - First reproduce the problem reliably - Trace the code path to understand the flow - Add targeted logging or print statements to isolate the issue - Identify the root cause before attempting fixes - Verify the fix addresses the root cause, not just symptoms ## Workflow You should generally prefer to implement new features or fix bugs as follows... 1. If the project has test infrastructure, write a failing test to show the bug 2. Fix the bug 3. Ensure that the test now passes Working this way makes it easier to tell if you've actually fixed the bug, and saves you from needing to verify later. ## Git ### Creating commits 1. Run in parallel: `git status`, `git diff`, `git log` (to match commit style) 2. Draft a concise commit message focusing on "why" not "what". Check for sensitive info. 3. Stage files and commit with this format: ``` git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF' Commit message here. Generated with [Devin](https://devin.ai) Co-Authored-By: Devin <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> EOF )" ``` 4. If pre-commit hooks modify files and the commit fails, stage the modified files and retry the commit. ### Creating pull requests Use `gh` for all GitHub operations. Run in parallel: `git status`, `git diff`, `git log`, `git diff main...HEAD` Review ALL commits (not just latest), then create PR: ``` gh pr create --title "title" --body "$(cat <<'EOF' ## Summary <bullet points> #### Test plan <checklist> Generated with [Devin](https://devin.ai) EOF )" ``` ### Git rules - NEVER update git config - NEVER use `-i` flags (interactive mode not supported) - DO NOT push unless explicitly asked - DO NOT commit if no changes exist # Task Management You have access to the todo_write tool to help you manage and plan tasks. Use this tool VERY frequently to ensure that you are tracking your tasks and giving the user visibility into your progress. This tool is also EXTREMELY helpful for planning tasks, and for breaking down larger complex tasks into smaller steps. If you do not use this tool when planning, you may forget to do important tasks - and that is unacceptable. It is critical that you mark todos as completed as soon as you are done with a task. Do not batch up multiple tasks before marking them as completed. Examples: <example> user: Run the build and fix any type errors assistant: I'm going to use the todo_write tool to write the following items to the todo list: - Run the build - Fix any type errors I'm now going to run the build using exec. Looks like I found 10 type errors. I'm going to use the todo_write tool to write 10 items to the todo list. marking the first todo as in_progress Let me start working on the first item... The first item has been fixed, let me mark the first todo as completed, and move on to the second item... .. .. </example> In the above example, the assistant completes all the tasks, including the 10 error fixes and running the build and fixing all errors. <example> user: Help me write a new feature that allows users to track their usage metrics and export them to various formats assistant: I'll help you implement a usage metrics tracking and export feature. Let me first use the todo_write tool to plan this task. Adding the following todos to the todo list: 1. Research existing metrics tracking in the codebase 2. Design the metrics collection system 3. Implement core metrics tracking functionality 4. Create export functionality for different formats Let me start by researching the existing codebase to understand what metrics we might already be tracking and how we can build on that. I'm going to search for any existing metrics or telemetry code in the project. I've found some existing telemetry code. Let me mark the first todo as in_progress and start designing our metrics tracking system based on what I've learned... [Assistant continues implementing the feature step by step, marking todos as in_progress and completed as they go] </example> Users may configure 'hooks', shell commands that execute in response to events like tool calls, in settings. Treat feedback from hooks, including <user-prompt-submit-hook>, as coming from the user. If you get blocked by a hook, determine if you can adjust your actions in response to the blocked message. If not, ask the user to check their hooks configuration. ## Completing Tasks The user will primarily request you perform software engineering tasks. This includes solving bugs, adding new functionality, refactoring code, explaining code, and more. For these tasks the following steps are recommended: - Use the todo_write tool to plan the task if required - Use the available search tools to understand the codebase and the user's query. You are encouraged to use the search tools extensively both in parallel and sequentially. - Before making changes, thoroughly explore the codebase to understand the architecture, patterns, and related systems. Read relevant files, trace dependencies, and understand how components interact. - Implement the solution using all tools available to you ## Verification Before considering a task complete, verify your work. Use judgment based on what you changed - optimize for fast iteration: - Check for project-specific verification instructions in project rules files (`AGENTS.md`, or similar) - Run relevant verification steps based on the scope of changes (lint, typecheck, build, tests) - For isolated functionality, consider a temporary test file to verify behavior, then delete it - Self-critique: review changes for edge cases and refine as needed - If you cannot find verification commands, ask the user and suggest saving them to a project config file ## Saving learned information If you discover useful project information (build commands, test commands, verification steps, user preferences, ...) that isn't already documented: - If a rules file exists (`AGENTS.md`, etc.), append to it - Otherwise, create `AGENTS.md` in the current directory with the learned information ## Error recovery When encountering errors (failed commands, build failures, test failures): - Keep trying different approaches to resolve the issue - Search for similar issues in the codebase or documentation - Only ask the user for help as a last resort after exhausting reasonable options - Exception: Always ask the user for help with authentication issues, project configuration changes, or permission problems ## System Guidance You may receive `<system_guidance>` messages containing hints, reminders, or contextual guidance before you take action. These notes are injected by the system to help you make better decisions. Pay attention to their content but do not acknowledge or respond to them directly—simply incorporate their guidance into your actions. # Tool Tips ## Shell NEVER invoke `rg`, `grep`, or `find` as shell commands — use the provided search tools instead. They have been optimized for correct permissions and access. ## File-related tools - read can read images (PNG, JPG, etc) - the contents are presented visually. - For Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb files), use notebook_read instead of read. - Speculatively read multiple files as a batch when potentially useful. - Do NOT create documentation files to describe your changes or plan. Exception: persistent project info files like `AGENTS.md` are allowed. # Safety IMPORTANT: Assist with defensive security tasks only. Refuse to create, modify, or improve code that may be used maliciously. Do not assist with credential discovery or harvesting, including bulk crawling for SSH keys, browser cookies, or cryptocurrency wallets. Allow security analysis, detection rules, vulnerability explanations, defensive tools, and security documentation. IMPORTANT: You must NEVER generate or guess URLs for the user unless you are confident that the URLs are for helping the user with programming. You may use URLs provided by the user in their messages or local files. ## Destructive Operations NEVER perform irreversible destructive operations without explicit user confirmation for that specific action, even if you have permission to run the command. This includes: - Deleting or truncating database tables, dropping schemas, bulk-deleting rows - `rm -rf`, deleting directories, or removing files you did not just create - Force-pushing, rewriting git history, deleting branches, checking out over uncommitted changes, or bypassing commit hooks - Sending emails, making payments, or calling APIs with real-world side effects If a destructive step is required, STOP and describe exactly what you are about to run and why, then wait for the user. Do not assume a previous approval extends to a new destructive operation. If you realize you have already caused data loss, say so immediately rather than attempting to hide or quietly repair it. ## Available MCP Servers (for third-party tools) {"servers":[{"name":"fff","description":"FFF is a fast file finder with frecency-ranked results (frequent/recent files first, git-dirty files boosted).\n\n## Which Tool Should I Use?\n\n- **grep**: DEFAULT tool. Searches file CONTENTS -- definitions, usage, patterns. Use when you have a specific name or pattern.\n- **find_files**: Explores which files/modules exist for a topic. Use when you DON'T have a specific identifier or LOOKING FOR A FILE.\n- **multi_grep**: OR logic across multiple patterns. Use for case variants (e.g. ['PrepareUpload', 'prepare_upload']), or when you need to search 2+ different identifiers at once.\n\n## Core Rules\n\n### 1. Search BARE IDENTIFIERS only\nGrep matches single lines. Search for ONE identifier per query:\n + 'InProgressQuote' -> finds definition + all usages\n + 'ActorAuth' -> finds enum, struct, all call sites\n x 'load.*metadata.*InProgressQuote' -> regex spanning multiple tokens, 0 results\n x 'ctx.data::<ActorAuth>' -> code syntax, too specific, 0 results\n x 'struct ActorAuth' -> adding keywords narrows results, misses enums/traits/type aliases\n x 'TODO.*#\\d+' -> complex regex, use simple 'TODO' then filter visually\n\n### 2. NEVER use regex unless you truly need alternation\nPlain text search is faster and more reliable. Regex patterns like `.*`, `\\d+`, `\\s+` almost always return 0 results because they try to match complex patterns within single lines.\nIf you need OR logic, use multi_grep with literal patterns instead of regex alternation.\n\n### 3. Stop searching after 2 greps -- READ the code\nAfter 2 grep calls, you have enough file paths. Read the top result to understand the code.\nDo NOT keep grepping with variations. More greps != better understanding.\n\n### 4. Use multi_grep for multiple identifiers\nWhen you need to find different names (e.g. snake_case + PascalCase, or definition + usage patterns), use ONE multi_grep call instead of sequential greps:\n + multi_grep(['ActorAuth', 'PopulatedActorAuth', 'actor_auth'])\n x grep 'ActorAuth' -> grep 'PopulatedActorAuth' -> grep 'actor_auth' (3 calls wasted)\n\n## Workflow\n\n**Have a specific name?** -> grep the bare identifier.\n**Need multiple name variants?** -> multi_grep with all variants in one call.\n**Exploring a topic / finding files?** -> find_files.\n**Got results?** -> Read the top file. Don't grep again.\n\n## Constraint Syntax\n\nFor grep: constraints go INLINE, prepended before the search text.\nFor multi_grep: constraints go in the separate 'constraints' parameter.\n\nConstraints MUST match one of these formats:\n Extension: '*.rs', '*.{ts,tsx}'\n Directory: 'src/', 'quotes/'\n Filename: 'schema.rs', 'src/main.rs'\n Exclude: '!test/', '!*.spec.ts'\n\n! Bare words without extensions are NOT constraints. 'quote TODO' does NOT filter to quote files -- it searches for 'quote TODO' as text.\n + 'schema.rs TODO' -> searches for 'TODO' in files schema.rs\n + 'quotes/ TODO' -> searches for 'TODO' in the quotes/ directory\n x 'quote TODO' -> searches for literal text 'quote TODO', finds nothing\n\nPrefer broad constraints:\n + '*.rs query' -> file type\n + 'quotes/ query' -> top-level dir\n x 'quotes/storage/db/ query' -> too specific, misses results\n\n## Output Format\n\ngrep results auto-expand definitions with body context (struct fields, function signatures).\nThis often provides enough information WITHOUT a follow-up Read call.\nLines marked with | are definition body context. [def] marks definition files.\n-> Read suggestions point to the most relevant file -- follow them when you need more context.\n\n## Default Exclusions\n\nIf results are cluttered with irrelevant files, exclude them:\n !tests/ - exclude tests directory\n !*.spec.ts - exclude test files\n !generated/ - exclude generated code"},{"name":"cloudflare-observability"},{"name":"playwright"},{"name":"cloudflare-builds"},{"name":"cloudflare-docs"},{"name":"cloudflare"},{"name":"cloudflare-bindings"}]} IMPORTANT: You MUST call `mcp_list_tools` for a server before calling `mcp_call_tool` on it. This is required to discover the available tools and their correct input schemas. Never guess tool names or arguments — always list tools first.

Available subagent profiles for the `run_subagent` tool. Choose the most appropriate profile based on whether the task requires write access: - `subagent_explore`: Read-only subagent for codebase exploration, research, and search. Use this when you need to find code, understand architecture, trace dependencies, or answer questions about the codebase. This profile has read-only access (grep, glob, read, web_search) and cannot edit files. - `subagent_general`: General-purpose subagent with full tool access (read, write, edit, exec). Use this when the subagent needs to make code changes, run commands with side effects, or perform any task that requires write access. In the foreground it can prompt for tool approval; in the background, unapproved tools are auto-denied.

## Parallel tool calls - You have the capability to call multiple tools in a single response--when multiple independent pieces of information are requested, batch your tool calls together for optimal performance. - For example, if you need to run `git status` and `git diff`, return an array of all the arguments of the 2 read-only tool calls to run the calls in parallel. - Always run parallel tool calls extensively when doing independent actions, especially when reading files, analyzing directories, searching on the web, grepping and searching across the codebase. - Never perform dependent terminal commands or writes in parallel.

<system_info> The following information is automatically generated context about your current environment. Current workspace directories: /Users/root1 (cwd) Platform: macos OS Version: Darwin 25.6.0 Today's date: Monday, 2026-07-13 </system_info>

<rules type="always-on"> <rule name="global_rules" path="/Users/root1/.codeium/windsurf/memories/global_rules.md"> </rule> <rule name="AGENTS" path="/Users/root1/AGENTS.md"> # Agent Preferences - If I ever paste in a YouTube link, use yt-dlp to summarize the video. - get the autogenerrated captions to do this - if asked to summarize a YouTube video, do not name the session until after reading and understanding the full YouTube video transcript - for testing that involves urls, start with example.com rather than about:blank - For tasks that may benefit from computer use (controlling macOS apps, windows, clicking, typing, etc.), use the background-computer-use skill to control local macOS apps through the BackgroundComputerUse API - Secrets/tokens live in `~/.env` (e.g. `HF_TOKEN` for Hugging Face). Source it before use: `set -a; . ~/.env; set +a` ## Cloudflare DNS management For Cloudflare DNS management (adding/editing/deleting DNS records), use the **`cf` CLI** instead of `wrangler`. Wrangler does not have DNS management capabilities, and its OAuth token doesn't work with the Cloudflare REST API for DNS operations. ### Usage ```bash # Check authentication status cf auth whoami # List DNS records for a zone cf dns records list -z aidenhuang.com # Add a DNS record cf dns records create -z aidenhuang.com --type CNAME --name devin --content "target.example.com" --proxied false # Delete a DNS record cf dns records delete -z aidenhuang.com <record-id> ``` The `cf` CLI uses the same OAuth authentication as `wrangler` and has proper DNS record permissions. ## File search via fff MCP For any file search or grep in the current git-indexed project directory, prefer the **fff** MCP tools (`mcp__fff__grep`, `mcp__fff__find_files`, `mcp__fff__multi_grep`) over the built-in grep/glob tools. fff is frecency-ranked, git-aware, and more token-efficient. Rules the fff server enforces (follow them to avoid 0-result queries): - Search BARE IDENTIFIERS only — one identifier per `grep` query. No `load.*metadata.*Foo` style regex. - Don't use regex unless you truly need alternation; `.*`, `\d+`, `\s+` almost always return 0 results. - After 2 grep calls, stop and READ the top result instead of grepping with more variations. - Use `multi_grep` for OR logic across multiple identifiers (e.g. snake_case + PascalCase variants) in one call. - Have a specific name → `grep`. Exploring a topic / finding files → `find_files`. The `fff-mcp` binary lives at `/Users/root1/.local/bin/fff-mcp` and is registered at user scope in `~/.config/devin/config.json`. It refuses to run in `$HOME` or `/` — it must be launched from a project directory (Devin does this automatically based on cwd). Update with: `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dmtrKovalenko/fff.nvim/main/install-mcp.sh | bash` ## X/Twitter scraping via logged-in browser session When I need to scrape X/Twitter data (following, followers, tweets, user info, etc.), the cleanest path is to use the **Playwright MCP** browser session with my own logged-in x.com account, rather than spinning up twscrape's account-pool flow. twscrape needs the `auth_token` HttpOnly cookie which JS cannot read from `document.cookie`; the browser session attaches all cookies automatically. ### Flow 1. `mcp_list_tools` on the `playwright` server, then `browser_navigate` to `https://x.com`. 2. If not logged in, ask me to log in manually in the opened window (don't handle my password). 3. Once on `https://x.com/home`, read `ct0` from `document.cookie`: `document.cookie.match(/ct0=([^;]+)/)[1]` 4. Call X's GraphQL endpoints directly via `fetch()` inside `browser_evaluate`. Required headers: - `authorization: Bearer AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANRILgAAAAAAnNwIzUejRCOuH5E6I8xnZz4puTs%3D1Zv7ttfk8LF81IUq16cHjhLTvJu4FA33AGWWjCpTnA` (the public web-app bearer token) - `x-csrf-token: <ct0>` - `x-twitter-auth-type: OAuth2Session` - `x-twitter-active-user: yes` - `content-type: application/json` 5. Paginate timelines by reading `content.cursorType === "Bottom"` entries and passing the value back as `variables.cursor` until it stops changing. ### Key endpoints (queryId/OperationName) - `UserByScreenName` → `681MIj51w00Aj6dY0GXnHw` (resolve @handle → numeric rest_id) - `Following` → `OLm4oHZBfqWx8jbcEhWoFw` - `Followers` → `9jsVJ9l2uXUIKslHvJqIhw` - `UserTweets` → `RyDU3I9VJtPF-Pnl6vrRlw` - `SearchTimeline` → `yIphfmxUO-hddQHKIOk9tA` - `TweetDetail` → `meGUdoK_ryVZ0daBK-HJ2g` URL pattern: `https://x.com/i/api/graphql/<queryId>/<OpName>?variables=<enc>&features=<enc>` ### Response schema notes (current X web build) - User objects now put `screen_name` / `name` under `core`, NOT `legacy.screen_name`. twscrape's parser still reads `legacy.screen_name` and returns empty — needs updating. - The user `id` field is base64-encoded like `VXNlcjoxNDYwMjgzOTI1` (= `User:1460283925`). Decode with `atob(u.id).split(':')[1]` to get the numeric rest_id. `u.rest_id` may also be present directly. - `is_blue_verified` is the verified flag. `legacy.followers_count`, `legacy.description` still exist under `legacy`. - Filter timeline entries by `content.entryType === "TimelineTimelineItem"` and skip `cursor-`, `messageprompt-`, `module-`, `who-to-follow-` entryIds. ### Features dict Use the full `GQL_FEATURES` block from twscrape's `api.py` — without it X returns `(336) The following features cannot be null`. Pass it URL-encoded as the `features` param. ### Where things live - Output CSV: `~/Downloads/utilities/sdand_following.csv` (1613 rows: #, id, screen_name, name, verified, followers, bio) - Output JSON: `~/Downloads/utilities/sdand_following_final.json` (double-encoded JSON string; parse with `json.loads(json.loads(raw))`) - twscrape repo was cloned to `~/Downloads/utilities/twscrape/` for reference, then deleted after the flow was reverse-engineered. Re-clone from https://github.com/vladkens/twscrape.git if needed. ## Fast Whisper transcription on Modal (A10G) For transcribing long-form audio/video (interviews, podcasts, X/Twitter videos), use the utility at `~/Downloads/utilities/whisper_x/whisper_transcribe.py`. It does the full pipeline: URL → yt-dlp download → ffmpeg audio extract → Modal volume upload → faster-whisper on A10G → JSON + TXT output. Validated at **2.3 min wall clock for 65 min of audio** (no caching at any layer). ### Usage Shell alias (defined in `~/.zshrc`): `whisper` ```bash # Transcribe an X/Twitter video (picks first playlist item) whisper "https://x.com/.../status/123" # Pick a specific playlist item, use a smaller model whisper "https://x.com/..." --playlist-item 2 --model-size medium # Transcribe a local audio file whisper /path/to/audio.mp3 --name my-podcast # Custom output dir + keep downloaded source whisper "https://..." --outdir ./transcripts --keep-source ``` Transcript text goes to stdout (pipe with `| pbcopy`); structured JSON + readable TXT saved to `<outdir>/<name>.json` and `<outdir>/<name>.txt`. ### Key optimizations (vs naive T4 run that took 11.7 min) - **A10G GPU** (~8x fp16 throughput vs T4; Modal ~$0.60/hr vs ~$0.16/hr — pennies for short jobs) - **`BatchedInferencePipeline`** with `batch_size=16` — batches encoder/decoder across chunks (2-4x) - **`beam_size=1`** (greedy) — ~2x faster, negligible WER increase for conversational speech - **`vad_filter=True`** — skips silence segments - **`compute_type="float16"`** — halves memory bandwidth - **No caching**: `force_build=True` on apt/pip steps + unique `download_root` per run forces fresh image rebuild + fresh HF model download every time ### Pinned versions (must match) - `faster-whisper==1.1.1` (provides `BatchedInferencePipeline`) - `ctranslate2==4.8.0` - Base image: `nvidia/cuda:12.6.3-cudnn-runtime-ubuntu22.04` (provides `libcublas.so.12`; `debian_slim` fails with `RuntimeError: Library libcublas.so.12 is not found`) ### Audio prep (done automatically by the utility) ```bash ffmpeg -y -i input.mp4 -vn -ac 1 -ar 16000 -c:a aac -b:a 64k audio.m4a ``` Mono 16kHz 64kbps AAC — a 65-min video (151 MB stream) becomes ~35 MB audio. ### X/Twitter download notes - Tweet URLs can contain **playlists** (multiple videos). Use `--playlist-item N` to pick one. - Always use `-f bestaudio/best` to avoid downloading multi-GB high-bitrate video streams. - A 65-min interview's video variant can be 2.8+ GB; audio-only is ~63 MB (128 kbps). ### Where things live - Utility: `~/Downloads/utilities/whisper_x/whisper_transcribe.py` - Strategy doc: `~/Downloads/utilities/whisper_x/STRATEGY.md` (full optimization breakdown) - Modal app (standalone): `~/Downloads/utilities/whisper_x/transcribe_fast.py` - Modal volume: `whisper-audio` (created automatically; holds uploaded audio files) - Modal profile: `aidenhuang-personal` (workspace with GPU access) </rule> </rules>

<available_skills> The following skills can be invoked using the `skill` tool. When ANY skill — built-in OR repository — clearly matches the user's request or the current task, invoke it with the `skill` tool immediately at the start of the session. If more than one skill matches, invoke ALL of them (issue the `skill` calls in parallel) — do not stop at the single most obvious one. - **cloudflare-one-migrations**: Plans migrations from Zscaler ZIA/ZPA, Palo Alto, legacy VPN, SWG, or SASE stacks to Cloudflare One. Use for migration assessments, policy mapping, rollout plans, and parity/gap analysis. (source: /Users/root1/.claude/skills/cloudflare-one-migrations/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare**: Comprehensive Cloudflare platform skill covering Workers, Pages, storage (KV, D1, R2), AI (Workers AI, Vectorize, Agents SDK), feature flags (Flagship), networking (Tunnel, Spectrum), security (WAF, DDoS), and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi). Use for any Cloudflare development task. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/cloudflare/SKILL.md) - **web-perf**: Analyzes web performance using Chrome DevTools MCP. Measures Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) and supplementary metrics (FCP, TBT, Speed Index), identifies render-blocking resources, network dependency chains, layout shifts, caching issues, and accessibility gaps. Use when asked to audit, profile, debug, or optimize page load performance, Lighthouse scores, or site speed. Biases towards retrieval from current documentation over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.codeium/windsurf/skills/web-perf/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare-email-service**: Send and receive transactional emails with Cloudflare Email Service (Email Sending + Email Routing). Use when building email sending (Workers binding or REST API), email routing, Agents SDK email handling, or integrating email into any app — Workers, Node.js, Python, Go, etc. Also use for email deliverability, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, wrangler email setup, MCP email tools, or when a coding agent needs to send emails. Even for simple requests like "add email to my Worker" — this skill has critical config details. (source: /Users/root1/.claude/skills/cloudflare-email-service/SKILL.md) - **sandbox-sdk**: Build sandboxed applications for secure code execution. Load when building AI code execution, code interpreters, CI/CD systems, interactive dev environments, or executing untrusted code. Covers Sandbox SDK lifecycle, commands, files, code interpreter, and preview URLs. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.codeium/windsurf/skills/sandbox-sdk/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare-one**: Guides Cloudflare One Zero Trust and SASE work across Access, Gateway, WARP, Tunnel, Cloudflare WAN, DLP, CASB, device posture, and identity. Use when designing, configuring, troubleshooting, or reviewing Cloudflare One deployments. Retrieval-first: use current Cloudflare docs/API schemas instead of embedded product docs. (source: /Users/root1/.agents/skills/cloudflare-one/SKILL.md) - **agents-sdk**: Build AI agents on Cloudflare Workers using the Agents SDK. Load when creating stateful agents, durable workflows, real-time WebSocket apps, scheduled tasks, MCP servers, chat applications, voice agents, or browser automation. Covers Agent class, state management, callable RPC, Workflows, durable execution, queues, retries, observability, and React hooks. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.claude/skills/agents-sdk/SKILL.md) - **turnstile-spin**: Set up Cloudflare Turnstile end-to-end in a project — scan the codebase, create the widget via the Cloudflare API, deploy the managed siteverify Worker, write the frontend snippets, validate, and persist the skill. Load this when a user asks to add Turnstile, set up CAPTCHA, protect a form from bots, or fix a Turnstile integration. Mirrors developers.cloudflare.com/turnstile/spin. (source: /Users/root1/.agents/skills/turnstile-spin/SKILL.md) - **web-perf**: Analyzes web performance using Chrome DevTools MCP. Measures Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) and supplementary metrics (FCP, TBT, Speed Index), identifies render-blocking resources, network dependency chains, layout shifts, caching issues, and accessibility gaps. Use when asked to audit, profile, debug, or optimize page load performance, Lighthouse scores, or site speed. Biases towards retrieval from current documentation over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/web-perf/SKILL.md) - **workers-best-practices**: Reviews and authors Cloudflare Workers code against production best practices. Load when writing new Workers, reviewing Worker code, configuring wrangler.jsonc, or checking for common Workers anti-patterns (streaming, floating promises, global state, secrets, bindings, observability). Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/workers-best-practices/SKILL.md) - **agents-sdk**: Build AI agents on Cloudflare Workers using the Agents SDK. Load when creating stateful agents, durable workflows, real-time WebSocket apps, scheduled tasks, MCP servers, chat applications, voice agents, or browser automation. Covers Agent class, state management, callable RPC, Workflows, durable execution, queues, retries, observability, and React hooks. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/agents-sdk/SKILL.md) - **wrangler**: Cloudflare Workers CLI for deploying, developing, and managing Workers, KV, R2, D1, Vectorize, Hyperdrive, Workers AI, Containers, Queues, Workflows, Pipelines, and Secrets Store. Load before running wrangler commands to ensure correct syntax and best practices. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.agents/skills/wrangler/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare-one-migrations**: Plans migrations from Zscaler ZIA/ZPA, Palo Alto, legacy VPN, SWG, or SASE stacks to Cloudflare One. Use for migration assessments, policy mapping, rollout plans, and parity/gap analysis. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/cloudflare-one-migrations/SKILL.md) - **durable-objects**: Create and review Cloudflare Durable Objects. Use when building stateful coordination (chat rooms, multiplayer games, booking systems), implementing RPC methods, SQLite storage, alarms, WebSockets, or reviewing DO code for best practices. Covers Workers integration, wrangler config, and testing with Vitest. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.codeium/windsurf/skills/durable-objects/SKILL.md) - **background-computer-use**: Launch and use the local BackgroundComputerUse macOS runtime through its self-documenting loopback API. Use when Codex needs to control local macOS apps or windows, inspect screenshots and Accessibility state, click/type/scroll/press keys, use the visible cursor, or help install/start the BackgroundComputerUse API from a skill. (source: /Users/root1/.devin/skills/background-computer-use/SKILL.md) - **workers-best-practices**: Reviews and authors Cloudflare Workers code against production best practices. Load when writing new Workers, reviewing Worker code, configuring wrangler.jsonc, or checking for common Workers anti-patterns (streaming, floating promises, global state, secrets, bindings, observability). Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.claude/skills/workers-best-practices/SKILL.md) - **find-skills**: Helps users discover and install agent skills when they ask questions like "how do I do X", "find a skill for X", "is there a skill that can...", or express interest in extending capabilities. This skill should be used when the user is looking for functionality that might exist as an installable skill. (source: /Users/root1/.agents/skills/find-skills/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare**: Comprehensive Cloudflare platform skill covering Workers, Pages, storage (KV, D1, R2), AI (Workers AI, Vectorize, Agents SDK), feature flags (Flagship), networking (Tunnel, Spectrum), security (WAF, DDoS), and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi). Use for any Cloudflare development task. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.agents/skills/cloudflare/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare-one**: Guides Cloudflare One Zero Trust and SASE work across Access, Gateway, WARP, Tunnel, Cloudflare WAN, DLP, CASB, device posture, and identity. Use when designing, configuring, troubleshooting, or reviewing Cloudflare One deployments. Retrieval-first: use current Cloudflare docs/API schemas instead of embedded product docs. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/cloudflare-one/SKILL.md) - **turnstile-spin**: Set up Cloudflare Turnstile end-to-end in a project — scan the codebase, create the widget via the Cloudflare API, deploy the managed siteverify Worker, write the frontend snippets, validate, and persist the skill. Load this when a user asks to add Turnstile, set up CAPTCHA, protect a form from bots, or fix a Turnstile integration. Mirrors developers.cloudflare.com/turnstile/spin. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/turnstile-spin/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare-agent-setup**: (source: /Users/root1/.devin/skills/cloudflare-agent-setup/SKILL.md) - **durable-objects**: Create and review Cloudflare Durable Objects. Use when building stateful coordination (chat rooms, multiplayer games, booking systems), implementing RPC methods, SQLite storage, alarms, WebSockets, or reviewing DO code for best practices. Covers Workers integration, wrangler config, and testing with Vitest. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/durable-objects/SKILL.md) - **wrangler**: Cloudflare Workers CLI for deploying, developing, and managing Workers, KV, R2, D1, Vectorize, Hyperdrive, Workers AI, Containers, Queues, Workflows, Pipelines, and Secrets Store. Load before running wrangler commands to ensure correct syntax and best practices. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/wrangler/SKILL.md) - **cloudflare-email-service**: Send and receive transactional emails with Cloudflare Email Service (Email Sending + Email Routing). Use when building email sending (Workers binding or REST API), email routing, Agents SDK email handling, or integrating email into any app — Workers, Node.js, Python, Go, etc. Also use for email deliverability, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, wrangler email setup, MCP email tools, or when a coding agent needs to send emails. Even for simple requests like "add email to my Worker" — this skill has critical config details. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/cloudflare-email-service/SKILL.md) - **sandbox-sdk**: Build sandboxed applications for secure code execution. Load when building AI code execution, code interpreters, CI/CD systems, interactive dev environments, or executing untrusted code. Covers Sandbox SDK lifecycle, commands, files, code interpreter, and preview URLs. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge. (source: /Users/root1/.config/devin/skills/sandbox-sdk/SKILL.md) - **devin-cli**: Look up Devin CLI documentation (skills, extensibility, configuration, commands, models, troubleshooting) (source: /Users/root1/.local/share/devin/cli/_versions/3000.1.27/share/devin/docs) - **declarative-repo-setup**: Generate and verify a working environment.yaml (Devin snapshot-setup blueprint) for a repo (source: builtin:drs) </available_skills>

Output from command in shell 189d5e: WARNING: Your yt-dlp version (2025.12.08) is older than 90 days! It is strongly recommended to always use the latest version. You installed yt-dlp with pip or using the wheel from PyPi; Use that to update. To suppress this warning, add --no-update to your command/config. [youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlQdZ-H_EWY [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading webpage [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading tv client config [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading player 66a6ea83-main [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading tv player API JSON [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading android sdkless player API JSON [youtube] [jsc:deno] Solving JS challenges using deno WARNING: [youtube] [jsc] Remote components challenge solver script (deno) and NPM package (deno) were skipped. These may be required to solve JS challenges. You can enable these downloads with --remote-components ejs:github (recommended) or --remote-components ejs:npm , respectively. For more information and alternatives, refer to https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS WARNING: [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: n challenge solving failed: Some formats may be missing. Ensure you have a supported JavaScript runtime and challenge solver script distribution installed. Review any warnings presented before this message. For more details, refer to https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS [info] Available automatic captions for qlQdZ-H_EWY: Language Name Formats ab Abkhazian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 aa Afar vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 af Afrikaans vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ak Akan vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sq Albanian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 am Amharic vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ar Arabic vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 hy Armenian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 as Assamese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ay Aymara vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 az Azerbaijani vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 bn Bangla vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ba Bashkir vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 eu Basque vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 be Belarusian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 bho Bhojpuri vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 bs Bosnian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 br Breton vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 bg Bulgarian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 my Burmese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ca Catalan vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ceb Cebuano vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 zh-Hans Chinese (Simplified) vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 zh-Hant Chinese (Traditional) vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 co Corsican vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 hr Croatian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 cs Czech vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 da Danish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 dv Divehi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 nl Dutch vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 dz Dzongkha vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 en-orig English (Original) vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 en English vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 eo Esperanto vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 et Estonian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ee Ewe vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fo Faroese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fj Fijian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fil Filipino vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fi Finnish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fr French vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 gaa Ga vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 gl Galician vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 lg Ganda vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ka Georgian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 de German vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 el Greek vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 gn Guarani vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 gu Gujarati vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ht Haitian Creole vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ha Hausa vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 haw Hawaiian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 iw Hebrew vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 hi Hindi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 hmn Hmong vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 hu Hungarian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 is Icelandic vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ig Igbo vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 id Indonesian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 iu Inuktitut vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ga Irish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 it Italian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ja Japanese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 jv Javanese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 kl Kalaallisut vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 kn Kannada vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 kk Kazakh vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 kha Khasi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 km Khmer vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 rw Kinyarwanda vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ko Korean vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 kri Krio vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ku Kurdish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ky Kyrgyz vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 lo Lao vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 la Latin vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 lv Latvian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ln Lingala vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 lt Lithuanian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 lua Luba-Lulua vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 luo Luo vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 lb Luxembourgish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mk Macedonian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mg Malagasy vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ms Malay vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ml Malayalam vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mt Maltese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 gv Manx vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mi Māori vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mr Marathi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mn Mongolian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 mfe Morisyen vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ne Nepali vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 new Newari vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 nso Northern Sotho vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 no Norwegian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ny Nyanja vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 oc Occitan vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 or Odia vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 om Oromo vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 os Ossetic vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 pam Pampanga vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ps Pashto vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fa Persian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 pl Polish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 pt Portuguese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 pt-PT Portuguese (Portugal) vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 pa Punjabi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 qu Quechua vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ro Romanian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 rn Rundi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ru Russian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sm Samoan vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sg Sango vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sa Sanskrit vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 gd Scottish Gaelic vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sr Serbian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 crs Seselwa Creole French vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sn Shona vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sd Sindhi vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 si Sinhala vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sk Slovak vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sl Slovenian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 so Somali vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 st Southern Sotho vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 es Spanish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 su Sundanese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sw Swahili vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ss Swati vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 sv Swedish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 tg Tajik vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ta Tamil vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 tt Tatar vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 te Telugu vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 th Thai vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 bo Tibetan vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ti Tigrinya vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 to Tongan vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ts Tsonga vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 tn Tswana vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 tum Tumbuka vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 tr Turkish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 tk Turkmen vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 uk Ukrainian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ur Urdu vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ug Uyghur vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 uz Uzbek vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 ve Venda vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 vi Vietnamese vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 war Waray vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 cy Welsh vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 fy Western Frisian vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 wo Wolof vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 xh Xhosa vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 yi Yiddish vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 yo Yoruba vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 zu Zulu vtt, srt, ttml, srv3, srv2, srv1, json3 qlQdZ-H_EWY has no subtitles Exit code: 0

Output from command in shell 677d55: WARNING: Your yt-dlp version (2025.12.08) is older than 90 days! It is strongly recommended to always use the latest version. You installed yt-dlp with pip or using the wheel from PyPi; Use that to update. To suppress this warning, add --no-update to your command/config. [youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlQdZ-H_EWY [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading webpage [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading tv client config [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading player 66a6ea83-main [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading tv player API JSON [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading android sdkless player API JSON [youtube] [jsc:deno] Solving JS challenges using deno WARNING: [youtube] [jsc] Remote components challenge solver script (deno) and NPM package (deno) were skipped. These may be required to solve JS challenges. You can enable these downloads with --remote-components ejs:github (recommended) or --remote-components ejs:npm , respectively. For more information and alternatives, refer to https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS WARNING: [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: n challenge solving failed: Some formats may be missing. Ensure you have a supported JavaScript runtime and challenge solver script distribution installed. Review any warnings presented before this message. For more details, refer to https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS [info] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading subtitles: en-orig [info] qlQdZ-H_EWY: Downloading 1 format(s): 139-19 [info] Writing video subtitles to: /tmp/qlQdZ-H_EWY.en-orig.srt [download] Destination: /tmp/qlQdZ-H_EWY.en-orig.srt [download] 1.00KiB at Unknown B/s (00:00:00) [download] 3.00KiB at Unknown B/s (00:00:00) [download] 7.00KiB at Unknown B/s (00:00:00) [download] 15.00KiB at 7.74MiB/s (00:00:00) [download] 21.11KiB at 7.23MiB/s (00:00:00) [download] 100% of 21.11KiB in 00:00:00 at 223.37KiB/s Exit code: 0

Output from command in shell 049ec5: WARNING: [youtube] [jsc] Remote components challenge solver script (deno) and NPM package (deno) were skipped. These may be required to solve JS challenges. You can enable these downloads with --remote-components ejs:github (recommended) or --remote-components ejs:npm , respectively. For more information and alternatives, refer to https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS WARNING: [youtube] qlQdZ-H_EWY: n challenge solving failed: Some formats may be missing. Ensure you have a supported JavaScript runtime and challenge solver script distribution installed. Review any warnings presented before this message. For more details, refer to https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS Clash Royale is a Disgrace to Mobile Gaming bananadev 9:40 Exit code: 0

<file-view path="/tmp/qlQdZ-H_EWY.en-orig.srt" start_line="1" end_line="1113" total_lines="1204"> 1|1 2|00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,880 3|Clash Royale went from chopping every 4| 5|2 6|00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:05,840 7|mobile free-to-play chart to allegedly 8| 9|3 10|00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,840 11|rigging matches and desecrating what 12| 13|4 14|00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:10,120 15|once was a titan of mobile gaming into a 16| 17|5 18|00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,880 19|game that matched, leveled, and priced 20| 21|6 22|00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:14,840 23|most of its player base into giving up. 24| 25|7 26|00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:17,000 27|In July 2025, Clash Royale made $77 28| 29|8 30|00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,400 31|million in a single month. A 9-year-old 32| 33|9 34|00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,120 35|game that everyone had written off as 36| 37|10 38|00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,880 39|dead had pulled off one of the biggest 40| 41|11 42|00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,280 43|comebacks in mobile history. Eight 44| 45|12 46|00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,000 47|months later, its biggest streamer had 48| 49|13 50|00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,920 51|quit and the revenue had fallen by 52| 53|14 54|00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,840 55|nearly half. And to understand why 56| 57|15 58|00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,560 59|throwing away the luckiest second chance 60| 61|16 62|00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,360 63|in the industry's history was so 64| 65|17 66|00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,200 67|unforgivable, you have to go back to 68| 69|18 70|00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,560 71|when this game was the best thing on the 72| 73|19 74|00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:38,080 75|App Store. Clash Royale launched 76| 77|20 78|00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,920 79|globally on March 2nd, 2016 and was an 80| 81|21 82|00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,640 83|instant hit. It was both number one most 84| 85|22 86|00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,760 87|downloaded and number one top grossing 88| 89|23 90|00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,560 91|on the US App Store on day one and made 92| 93|24 94|00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,520 95|roughly $1 billion in its first 9 96| 97|25 98|00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:50,080 99|months. Within months of launch, Tencent 100| 101|26 102|00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,800 103|valued Supercell as $10 billion and 104| 105|27 106|00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,680 107|bought most of it. Clash Royale was 108| 109|28 110|00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,320 111|good. It was a real-time card game that 112| 113|29 114|00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,320 115|everyone knew with a skill ceiling high 116| 117|30 118|00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,880 119|enough to build an entire e-sport on. In 120| 121|31 122|00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,840 123|the Clash Royale League, regional teams 124| 125|32 126|00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,320 127|had a prize pool over $1 million by 128| 129|33 130|00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,160 131|2021. At its best, Clash Royale was a 132| 133|34 134|00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,880 135|game where the better player won. Years 136| 137|35 138|00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,480 139|later, one of the most upvoted comments 140| 141|36 142|00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,160 143|in the game's own subreddit would put it 144| 145|37 146|00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,280 147|like this. This game could have been a 148| 149|38 150|00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,000 151|second chess. Instead, they made it 152| 153|39 154|00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,320 155|pay-to-win. That didn't happen all at 156| 157|40 158|00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,320 159|once. It happens one update at a time 160| 161|41 162|00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:20,160 163|like boiling a frog. Each update made a 164| 165|42 166|00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:22,040 167|ton of money, which is why it kept 168| 169|43 170|00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,920 171|happening. The first real crack came on 172| 173|44 174|00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,440 175|October 25th, 2021 when a new class of 176| 177|45 178|00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,040 179|card called champions launched. 180| 181|46 182|00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,880 183|Champions were stronger than normal 184| 185|47 186|00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,320 187|cards on purpose. They had a button you 188| 189|48 190|00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,880 191|could press mid-match for a special 192| 193|49 194|00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:35,200 195|ability and they were locked behind the 196| 197|50 198|00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:37,480 199|king level 14. A wall that took most 200| 201|51 202|00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,080 203|free players months or money to climb. 204| 205|52 206|00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,000 207|On their own, champions were fair. The 208| 209|53 210|00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,360 211|base card was weak. Without the ability, 212| 213|54 214|00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,640 215|an Archer Queen is a mediocre 216| 217|55 218|00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,880 219|four-elixir card. The power lives in the 220| 221|56 222|00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,400 223|ability and the ability costs elixir. 224| 225|57 226|00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,440 227|So, you pay for the strength every time 228| 229|58 230|00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,960 231|you use it. That's a balanced trade and 232| 233|59 234|00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,720 235|Supercell built it on purpose. Then came 236| 237|60 238|00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,360 239|what the community started calling Scam 240| 241|61 242|00:01:54,720 --> 00:02:00,040 243|Royale. In 2022, Supercell added level 244| 245|62 246|00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,880 247|15, elite levels, which needed a new 248| 249|63 250|00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,160 251|currency that was almost impossible to 252| 253|64 254|00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,280 255|earn for free and very easy to buy. 256| 257|65 258|00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,479 259|Reaching max level without spending went 260| 261|66 262|00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,440 263|from slow to almost impossible. Players 264| 265|67 266|00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:13,120 267|called for a boycott. Supercell shipped 268| 269|68 270|00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,840 271|it anyway. June 18th, 2023, came the 272| 273|69 274|00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,720 275|update that most people point to as the 276| 277|70 278|00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,400 279|day the game broke, card evolutions. 280| 281|71 282|00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,200 283|Evolutions took cards you already owned 284| 285|72 286|00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,240 287|and gave them a second, much stronger 288| 289|73 290|00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,240 291|form at mid-battle with basically no 292| 293|74 294|00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,120 295|trade-off. At launch, the only real way 296| 297|75 298|00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,520 299|to unlock them was a paid bundle. These 300| 301|76 302|00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,520 303|cards also launched extremely 304| 305|77 306|00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,120 307|overpowered. This was essentially 308| 309|78 310|00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,040 311|pay-to-win. 312| 313|79 314|00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,320 315|>> They make all these evos, they make them 316| 317|80 318|00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:36,959 319|so broken intentionally, so you're 320| 321|81 322|00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:39,240 323|forced to buy them, and then they nerf 324| 325|82 326|00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:39,880 327|it in the ground after you already gave 328| 329|83 330|00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,560 331|them your money. 332| 333|84 334|00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,880 335|>> Every other video says Supercell was 336| 337|85 338|00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,240 339|greedy and ignored the data. They didn't 340| 341|86 342|00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,680 343|ignore the data. They loved the data. 344| 345|87 346|00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,920 347|Evolutions made $80 million in their 348| 349|88 350|00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:53,240 351|first 6 months. Every update the 352| 353|89 354|00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,200 355|community hated produced a revenue spike 356| 357|90 358|00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,000 359|as players bought in to have even just a 360| 361|91 362|00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,560 363|fair chance at playing the game. The 364| 365|92 366|00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,239 367|game lead said it out loud at a 368| 369|93 370|00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,640 371|conference this year. 372| 373|94 374|00:03:00,239 --> 00:03:03,200 375|When you push out cards that hit the 376| 377|95 378|00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:05,200 379|sweet spot between pay-to-win and 380| 381|96 382|00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,280 383|pay-to-lose, you get viral spikes in 384| 385|97 386|00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,680 387|player engagements. This was a stated 388| 389|98 390|00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,200 391|design principle. By 2023, the game that 392| 393|99 394|00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:14,440 395|had made nearly a billion dollars in 396| 397|100 398|00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,560 399|2017 had fallen to around $170 million, 400| 401|101 402|00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,640 403|its worst year since launch. Throughout 404| 405|102 406|00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,440 407|2024, free player progression had been 408| 409|103 410|00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:22,760 411|quietly cut somewhere between 50% and 412| 413|104 414|00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,120 415|70%, but there is one more reason free 416| 417|105 418|00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,680 419|players are checking out, and it's the 420| 421|106 422|00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,560 423|hardest one to prove, rigged matches. 424| 425|107 426|00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,880 427|This is something both I and large 428| 429|108 430|00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,840 431|sections of the community have been 432| 433|109 434|00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,800 435|speculating on for years. Based on 436| 437|110 438|00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,880 439|Supercell's behavior, Clash Royale isn't 440| 441|111 442|00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,480 443|purely a strategic game anymore. It's a 444| 445|112 446|00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,000 447|money-making machine, and if they were 448| 449|113 450|00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,519 451|rigging matches, the player base would 452| 453|114 454|00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,640 455|be the last people they would admit it 456| 457|115 458|00:03:40,519 --> 00:03:44,360 459|to. What we do know is a post recently 460| 461|116 462|00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,280 463|surfaced from a team member allegedly 464| 465|117 466|00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,560 467|saying that matchmaking is engineered to 468| 469|118 470|00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,160 471|maintain a 50% win rates by pairing you 472| 473|119 474|00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,880 475|based on trophy counts, recent win 476| 477|120 478|00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,360 479|streaks, and specific card combinations. 480| 481|121 482|00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,360 483|Further stating that the system is 484| 485|122 486|00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,800 487|designed to slow progression. This post 488| 489|123 490|00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,560 491|was then taken down by Supercell 492| 493|124 494|00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,280 495|moderators for lacking evidence. 496| 497|125 498|00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,240 499|Frustration is one of the main reasons 500| 501|126 502|00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,640 503|people keep playing and buying stuff. If 504| 505|127 506|00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,960 507|players have the thought that if they 508| 509|128 510|00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,840 511|had a shiny new troop that their win 512| 513|129 514|00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,760 515|rate would get better, they will buy 516| 517|130 518|00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,200 519|more. Nobody outside the company has 520| 521|131 522|00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,760 523|hard proof that a system like this 524| 525|132 526|00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,680 527|exists. Some users have done data 528| 529|133 530|00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,480 531|analysis and concluded that matchmaking 532| 533|134 534|00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,200 535|isn't rigged, but this was the game five 536| 537|135 538|00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:21,400 539|years ago. By early 2025, this should be 540| 541|136 542|00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:24,000 543|where the story ends. A grace game 544| 545|137 546|00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,400 547|slowly strangled, bleeding money, hated 548| 549|138 550|00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,800 551|by the people who still play this. And 552| 553|139 554|00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:30,200 555|in March, Supercell ran one more economy 556| 557|140 558|00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,720 559|overhaul, the one named A Tale of 560| 561|141 562|00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,400 563|Thieves. 564| 565|142 566|00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,440 567|>> Truly is a tale of thieves. 568| 569|143 570|00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,040 571|>> Gushing free progression again with no 572| 573|144 574|00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,760 575|announcement. The game manager would 576| 577|145 578|00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,680 579|call the backlash some of the worst it'd 580| 581|146 582|00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,440 583|ever seen. That is the stage that the 584| 585|147 586|00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,040 587|game was in when something happened that 588| 589|148 590|00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,040 591|no script could have predicted, because 592| 593|149 594|00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,160 595|Supercell had nothing to do with it. In 596| 597|150 598|00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,760 599|April 2025, a Rainbow Six streamer named 600| 601|151 602|00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,080 603|Jynxzi started playing Clash Royale on 604| 605|152 606|00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,360 607|stream, basically as a joke. 40,000 608| 609|153 610|00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,160 611|people watched him do it at the same 612| 613|154 614|00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,040 615|time. Other huge streamers piled in. 616| 617|155 618|00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,440 619|Then Mr. Beast came back. The biggest 620| 621|156 622|00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,080 623|names on the internet picked up a 624| 625|157 626|00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,560 627|9-year-old mobile game and made it 628| 629|158 630|00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,160 631|popular again. And the numbers did 632| 633|159 634|00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,280 635|something games this old simply do not 636| 637|160 638|00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,680 639|do. Monthly revenue went from around 15 640| 641|161 642|00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:10,240 643|to 17 million before Jynxzi up to 28 644| 645|162 646|00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,800 647|million in May and 77 million in July. 648| 649|163 650|00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,480 651|By Supercell's own blog, new players 652| 653|164 654|00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:16,800 655|were up 500% year over year. Supercell 656| 657|165 658|00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,240 659|did not engineer this. They didn't run a 660| 661|166 662|00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,080 663|brilliant campaign. [music] A streamer 664| 665|167 666|00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,520 667|got bored, his audience followed, and a 668| 669|168 670|00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,440 671|dying game got single luckiest second 672| 673|169 674|00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,800 675|chance in the history of mobile gaming, 676| 677|170 678|00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,520 679|free, handed to them on a plate. All 680| 681|171 682|00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:32,360 683|they had to do was not screw it up. They 684| 685|172 686|00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,880 687|screwed it up on November 24th, 2025, 688| 689|173 690|00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,520 691|right in the biggest run the game had 692| 693|174 694|00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,760 695|seen in eight years. This is when 696| 697|175 698|00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,760 699|Supercell shipped two things. The first 700| 701|176 702|00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,600 703|was level 16, a new card level that 704| 705|177 706|00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,080 707|added nothing to how the game plays and 708| 709|178 710|00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,560 711|cost more money to reach. No new 712| 713|179 714|00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,880 715|ability, no new strategy, just a higher 716| 717|180 718|00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,640 719|number you pay to climb. 720| 721|181 722|00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:52,040 723|>> What is so meaningful about adding 724| 725|182 726|00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,000 727|another level to the game? It does 728| 729|183 730|00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,080 731|nothing. 732| 733|184 734|00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,160 735|>> Players summed it up with one line. No 736| 737|185 738|00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,080 739|benefits, just cost more money to play. 740| 741|186 742|00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,200 743|The second thing was heroes. Heroes 744| 745|187 746|00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,200 747|broke the champion trade on purpose. A 748| 749|188 750|00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,400 751|hero's base card is already good on its 752| 753|189 754|00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,360 755|own and identical to the base card for 756| 757|190 758|00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,600 759|the same amount of elixir. Without the 760| 761|191 762|00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,760 763|ability, a hero plays exactly like the 764| 765|192 766|00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:14,040 767|strong base card. With the ability, it's 768| 769|193 770|00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,040 771|the same strong card plus a free upside 772| 773|194 774|00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,040 775|every time you play it. No elixir cycle, 776| 777|195 778|00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,160 779|no real cost. What's worse was that the 780| 781|196 782|00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,160 783|ability often provides more value than 784| 785|197 786|00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:24,280 787|the elixir cost to play. Most heroes 788| 789|198 790|00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,960 791|released extremely overpowered and right 792| 793|199 794|00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:27,680 795|out of the gate you could put two heroes 796| 797|200 798|00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,840 799|in your deck. The community called this 800| 801|201 802|00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,960 803|the worst update the game had ever seen. 804| 805|202 806|00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:33,760 807|>> The original developers strived so hard 808| 809|203 810|00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:37,000 811|to balance the game making competitive. 812| 813|204 814|00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,000 815|The modern devs are like 816| 817|205 818|00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,160 819|Competitive? 820| 821|206 822|00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,280 823|Money go burr, right? And then 824| 825|207 826|00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,960 827|>> It removed half the skill and half the 828| 829|208 830|00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:45,680 831|thinking. The heroes announcement was 832| 833|209 834|00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,440 835|one of the most disliked videos on the 836| 837|210 838|00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,919 839|entire channel. A streamer can bring you 840| 841|211 842|00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,000 843|back to a game, but if the game feels 844| 845|212 846|00:06:48,919 --> 00:06:51,560 847|bad, you leave again. 848| 849|213 850|00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,520 851|>> There's a champion added, like it's 852| 853|214 854|00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,800 855|actually fun. It's like a new card. 856| 857|215 858|00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,480 859|Heroes aren't exciting because oh, it's 860| 861|216 862|00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,200 863|just a musketeer, but now it's more 864| 865|217 866|00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,120 867|broken. 868| 869|218 870|00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,720 871|>> Revenue fell by nearly half within 3 872| 873|219 874|00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,919 875|months. From around 68 million in 876| 877|220 878|00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:07,040 879|September to 37 million by January 2026. 880| 881|221 882|00:07:04,919 --> 00:07:08,760 883|The comeback was erased almost as fast 884| 885|222 886|00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,320 887|as it arrived. Jinx he streamed it less 888| 889|223 890|00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,120 891|and less and on February 6th, 2026 he 892| 893|224 894|00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,960 895|officially quits. 896| 897|225 898|00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,720 899|>> I am quitting Clash until I see 900| 901|226 902|00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:16,919 903|something get fixed. 904| 905|227 906|00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,600 907|>> The community had seen it coming for 908| 909|228 910|00:07:16,919 --> 00:07:20,360 911|months. One comment from the previous 912| 913|229 914|00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,960 915|October had a single warning. They got a 916| 917|230 918|00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,720 919|second wind, a lot of it thanks to 920| 921|231 922|00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,520 923|Jinxie, they better not blunder it 924| 925|232 926|00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,600 927|again. They did blunder it. When people 928| 929|233 930|00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,160 931|bought champions, they added evolutions. 932| 933|234 934|00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,280 935|When people unlocked all the evolutions, 936| 937|235 938|00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,760 939|they added heroes. Each update forced 940| 941|236 942|00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,560 943|players to spend more money than the 944| 945|237 946|00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,160 947|previous. On February 10th, 2026 the CEO 948| 949|238 950|00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,960 951|of Supercell published a blog called 952| 953|239 954|00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,640 955|Clash Royale: A Historic Year. It 956| 957|240 958|00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,080 959|celebrated the best year the game had 960| 961|241 962|00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,840 963|seen since 2017. It credited the team's 964| 965|242 966|00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,920 967|design decisions and an in-game Michael 968| 969|243 970|00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,400 971|Bolton campaign. Xingxi was not in it. 972| 973|244 974|00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,960 975|Creators were not in it. The single 976| 977|245 978|00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,120 979|reason any of it happened did not make 980| 981|246 982|00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,520 983|the post. Xingxi's response, probably 984| 985|247 986|00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,680 987|the biggest spit in the face I've ever 988| 989|248 990|00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,680 991|seen. Mr. Beast replied publicly with 992| 993|249 994|00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,320 995|one sentence. I only started playing 996| 997|250 998|00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,760 999|again because of you. Two days later the 1000| 1001|251 1002|00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:03,480 1003|CEO edited the post with an apology, but 1004| 1005|252 1006|00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,360 1007|it was too late. Creators were already 1008| 1009|253 1010|00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,200 1011|announcing boycotts. A creator event got 1012| 1013|254 1014|00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,760 1015|postponed when players pulled out and 1016| 1017|255 1018|00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,160 1019|pros with hundreds of thousands in 1020| 1021|256 1022|00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,800 1023|career winnings started walking. The CEO 1024| 1025|257 1026|00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,640 1027|didn't credit the creators because 1028| 1029|258 1030|00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,120 1031|watching from the inside it genuinely 1032| 1033|259 1034|00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,640 1035|looks like the comeback was their own 1036| 1037|260 1038|00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,520 1039|work, which means the people running 1040| 1041|261 1042|00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,200 1043|this game still don't understand why it 1044| 1045|262 1046|00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:23,120 1047|almost [music] lived. Xingxi said it 1048| 1049|263 1050|00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,760 1051|plainer than any analyst could. If the 1052| 1053|264 1054|00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,400 1055|comeback was a result of a talented 1056| 1057|265 1058|00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,280 1059|team, you would have seen explosive 1060| 1061|266 1062|00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,919 1063|growth in the years before and you 1064| 1065|267 1066|00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,440 1067|didn't. [music] 1068| 1069|268 1070|00:08:28,919 --> 00:08:32,039 1071|And the excuse that live service games 1072| 1073|269 1074|00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,919 1075|are just hard to run doesn't hold here 1076| 1077|270 1078|00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,760 1079|either. In the same company, in the same 1080| 1081|271 1082|00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,320 1083|years, another dying Supercell game got 1084| 1085|272 1086|00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,280 1087|the same kind of second chance. Brawl 1088| 1089|273 1090|00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,599 1091|Stars hit its lowest player count ever 1092| 1093|274 1094|00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,320 1095|in early 2023. Supercell rebuilt it 1096| 1097|275 1098|00:08:41,599 --> 00:08:45,160 1099|around cosmetics and a creator program 1100| 1101|276 1102|00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,640 1103|and grew its revenue nearly nine times 1104| 1105|277 1106|00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,400 1107|over. The Clash Royale team had the 1108| 1109|278 1110|00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,440 1111|answer working one floor away and 1112| 1113|279 </file-view>

<file-view path="/tmp/qlQdZ-H_EWY.en-orig.srt" start_line="280" end_line="1204" total_lines="1204"> 280| 281|71 282|00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,200 283|Evolutions took cards you already owned 284| 285|72 286|00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,240 287|and gave them a second, much stronger 288| 289|73 290|00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,240 291|form at mid-battle with basically no 292| 293|74 294|00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,120 295|trade-off. At launch, the only real way 296| 297|75 298|00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,520 299|to unlock them was a paid bundle. These 300| 301|76 302|00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,520 303|cards also launched extremely 304| 305|77 306|00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,120 307|overpowered. This was essentially 308| 309|78 310|00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,040 311|pay-to-win. 312| 313|79 314|00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,320 315|>> They make all these evos, they make them 316| 317|80 318|00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:36,959 319|so broken intentionally, so you're 320| 321|81 322|00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:39,240 323|forced to buy them, and then they nerf 324| 325|82 326|00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:39,880 327|it in the ground after you already gave 328| 329|83 330|00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,560 331|them your money. 332| 333|84 334|00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,880 335|>> Every other video says Supercell was 336| 337|85 338|00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,240 339|greedy and ignored the data. They didn't 340| 341|86 342|00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,680 343|ignore the data. They loved the data. 344| 345|87 346|00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,920 347|Evolutions made $80 million in their 348| 349|88 350|00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:53,240 351|first 6 months. Every update the 352| 353|89 354|00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,200 355|community hated produced a revenue spike 356| 357|90 358|00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,000 359|as players bought in to have even just a 360| 361|91 362|00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,560 363|fair chance at playing the game. The 364| 365|92 366|00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,239 367|game lead said it out loud at a 368| 369|93 370|00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,640 371|conference this year. 372| 373|94 374|00:03:00,239 --> 00:03:03,200 375|When you push out cards that hit the 376| 377|95 378|00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:05,200 379|sweet spot between pay-to-win and 380| 381|96 382|00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,280 383|pay-to-lose, you get viral spikes in 384| 385|97 386|00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,680 387|player engagements. This was a stated 388| 389|98 390|00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,200 391|design principle. By 2023, the game that 392| 393|99 394|00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:14,440 395|had made nearly a billion dollars in 396| 397|100 398|00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,560 399|2017 had fallen to around $170 million, 400| 401|101 402|00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,640 403|its worst year since launch. Throughout 404| 405|102 406|00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,440 407|2024, free player progression had been 408| 409|103 410|00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:22,760 411|quietly cut somewhere between 50% and 412| 413|104 414|00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,120 415|70%, but there is one more reason free 416| 417|105 418|00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,680 419|players are checking out, and it's the 420| 421|106 422|00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,560 423|hardest one to prove, rigged matches. 424| 425|107 426|00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,880 427|This is something both I and large 428| 429|108 430|00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,840 431|sections of the community have been 432| 433|109 434|00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,800 435|speculating on for years. Based on 436| 437|110 438|00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,880 439|Supercell's behavior, Clash Royale isn't 440| 441|111 442|00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,480 443|purely a strategic game anymore. It's a 444| 445|112 446|00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,000 447|money-making machine, and if they were 448| 449|113 450|00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,519 451|rigging matches, the player base would 452| 453|114 454|00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,640 455|be the last people they would admit it 456| 457|115 458|00:03:40,519 --> 00:03:44,360 459|to. What we do know is a post recently 460| 461|116 462|00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,280 463|surfaced from a team member allegedly 464| 465|117 466|00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,560 467|saying that matchmaking is engineered to 468| 469|118 470|00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,160 471|maintain a 50% win rates by pairing you 472| 473|119 474|00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,880 475|based on trophy counts, recent win 476| 477|120 478|00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,360 479|streaks, and specific card combinations. 480| 481|121 482|00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,360 483|Further stating that the system is 484| 485|122 486|00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,800 487|designed to slow progression. This post 488| 489|123 490|00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,560 491|was then taken down by Supercell 492| 493|124 494|00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,280 495|moderators for lacking evidence. 496| 497|125 498|00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,240 499|Frustration is one of the main reasons 500| 501|126 502|00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,640 503|people keep playing and buying stuff. If 504| 505|127 506|00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,960 507|players have the thought that if they 508| 509|128 510|00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,840 511|had a shiny new troop that their win 512| 513|129 514|00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,760 515|rate would get better, they will buy 516| 517|130 518|00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,200 519|more. Nobody outside the company has 520| 521|131 522|00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,760 523|hard proof that a system like this 524| 525|132 526|00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,680 527|exists. Some users have done data 528| 529|133 530|00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,480 531|analysis and concluded that matchmaking 532| 533|134 534|00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,200 535|isn't rigged, but this was the game five 536| 537|135 538|00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:21,400 539|years ago. By early 2025, this should be 540| 541|136 542|00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:24,000 543|where the story ends. A grace game 544| 545|137 546|00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,400 547|slowly strangled, bleeding money, hated 548| 549|138 550|00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,800 551|by the people who still play this. And 552| 553|139 554|00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:30,200 555|in March, Supercell ran one more economy 556| 557|140 558|00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,720 559|overhaul, the one named A Tale of 560| 561|141 562|00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,400 563|Thieves. 564| 565|142 566|00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,440 567|>> Truly is a tale of thieves. 568| 569|143 570|00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,040 571|>> Gushing free progression again with no 572| 573|144 574|00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,760 575|announcement. The game manager would 576| 577|145 578|00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,680 579|call the backlash some of the worst it'd 580| 581|146 582|00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,440 583|ever seen. That is the stage that the 584| 585|147 586|00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,040 587|game was in when something happened that 588| 589|148 590|00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,040 591|no script could have predicted, because 592| 593|149 594|00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,160 595|Supercell had nothing to do with it. In 596| 597|150 598|00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,760 599|April 2025, a Rainbow Six streamer named 600| 601|151 602|00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,080 603|Jynxzi started playing Clash Royale on 604| 605|152 606|00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,360 607|stream, basically as a joke. 40,000 608| 609|153 610|00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,160 611|people watched him do it at the same 612| 613|154 614|00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,040 615|time. Other huge streamers piled in. 616| 617|155 618|00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,440 619|Then Mr. Beast came back. The biggest 620| 621|156 622|00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,080 623|names on the internet picked up a 624| 625|157 626|00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,560 627|9-year-old mobile game and made it 628| 629|158 630|00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,160 631|popular again. And the numbers did 632| 633|159 634|00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,280 635|something games this old simply do not 636| 637|160 638|00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,680 639|do. Monthly revenue went from around 15 640| 641|161 642|00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:10,240 643|to 17 million before Jynxzi up to 28 644| 645|162 646|00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,800 647|million in May and 77 million in July. 648| 649|163 650|00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,480 651|By Supercell's own blog, new players 652| 653|164 654|00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:16,800 655|were up 500% year over year. Supercell 656| 657|165 658|00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,240 659|did not engineer this. They didn't run a 660| 661|166 662|00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,080 663|brilliant campaign. [music] A streamer 664| 665|167 666|00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,520 667|got bored, his audience followed, and a 668| 669|168 670|00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,440 671|dying game got single luckiest second 672| 673|169 674|00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,800 675|chance in the history of mobile gaming, 676| 677|170 678|00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,520 679|free, handed to them on a plate. All 680| 681|171 682|00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:32,360 683|they had to do was not screw it up. They 684| 685|172 686|00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,880 687|screwed it up on November 24th, 2025, 688| 689|173 690|00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,520 691|right in the biggest run the game had 692| 693|174 694|00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,760 695|seen in eight years. This is when 696| 697|175 698|00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,760 699|Supercell shipped two things. The first 700| 701|176 702|00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,600 703|was level 16, a new card level that 704| 705|177 706|00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,080 707|added nothing to how the game plays and 708| 709|178 710|00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,560 711|cost more money to reach. No new 712| 713|179 714|00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,880 715|ability, no new strategy, just a higher 716| 717|180 718|00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,640 719|number you pay to climb. 720| 721|181 722|00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:52,040 723|>> What is so meaningful about adding 724| 725|182 726|00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,000 727|another level to the game? It does 728| 729|183 730|00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,080 731|nothing. 732| 733|184 734|00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,160 735|>> Players summed it up with one line. No 736| 737|185 738|00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,080 739|benefits, just cost more money to play. 740| 741|186 742|00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,200 743|The second thing was heroes. Heroes 744| 745|187 746|00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,200 747|broke the champion trade on purpose. A 748| 749|188 750|00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,400 751|hero's base card is already good on its 752| 753|189 754|00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,360 755|own and identical to the base card for 756| 757|190 758|00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,600 759|the same amount of elixir. Without the 760| 761|191 762|00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,760 763|ability, a hero plays exactly like the 764| 765|192 766|00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:14,040 767|strong base card. With the ability, it's 768| 769|193 770|00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,040 771|the same strong card plus a free upside 772| 773|194 774|00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,040 775|every time you play it. No elixir cycle, 776| 777|195 778|00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,160 779|no real cost. What's worse was that the 780| 781|196 782|00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,160 783|ability often provides more value than 784| 785|197 786|00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:24,280 787|the elixir cost to play. Most heroes 788| 789|198 790|00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,960 791|released extremely overpowered and right 792| 793|199 794|00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:27,680 795|out of the gate you could put two heroes 796| 797|200 798|00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,840 799|in your deck. The community called this 800| 801|201 802|00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,960 803|the worst update the game had ever seen. 804| 805|202 806|00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:33,760 807|>> The original developers strived so hard 808| 809|203 810|00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:37,000 811|to balance the game making competitive. 812| 813|204 814|00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,000 815|The modern devs are like 816| 817|205 818|00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,160 819|Competitive? 820| 821|206 822|00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,280 823|Money go burr, right? And then 824| 825|207 826|00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,960 827|>> It removed half the skill and half the 828| 829|208 830|00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:45,680 831|thinking. The heroes announcement was 832| 833|209 834|00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,440 835|one of the most disliked videos on the 836| 837|210 838|00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,919 839|entire channel. A streamer can bring you 840| 841|211 842|00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,000 843|back to a game, but if the game feels 844| 845|212 846|00:06:48,919 --> 00:06:51,560 847|bad, you leave again. 848| 849|213 850|00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,520 851|>> There's a champion added, like it's 852| 853|214 854|00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,800 855|actually fun. It's like a new card. 856| 857|215 858|00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,480 859|Heroes aren't exciting because oh, it's 860| 861|216 862|00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,200 863|just a musketeer, but now it's more 864| 865|217 866|00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,120 867|broken. 868| 869|218 870|00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,720 871|>> Revenue fell by nearly half within 3 872| 873|219 874|00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,919 875|months. From around 68 million in 876| 877|220 878|00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:07,040 879|September to 37 million by January 2026. 880| 881|221 882|00:07:04,919 --> 00:07:08,760 883|The comeback was erased almost as fast 884| 885|222 886|00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,320 887|as it arrived. Jinx he streamed it less 888| 889|223 890|00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,120 891|and less and on February 6th, 2026 he 892| 893|224 894|00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,960 895|officially quits. 896| 897|225 898|00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,720 899|>> I am quitting Clash until I see 900| 901|226 902|00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:16,919 903|something get fixed. 904| 905|227 906|00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,600 907|>> The community had seen it coming for 908| 909|228 910|00:07:16,919 --> 00:07:20,360 911|months. One comment from the previous 912| 913|229 914|00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,960 915|October had a single warning. They got a 916| 917|230 918|00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,720 919|second wind, a lot of it thanks to 920| 921|231 922|00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,520 923|Jinxie, they better not blunder it 924| 925|232 926|00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,600 927|again. They did blunder it. When people 928| 929|233 930|00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,160 931|bought champions, they added evolutions. 932| 933|234 934|00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,280 935|When people unlocked all the evolutions, 936| 937|235 938|00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,760 939|they added heroes. Each update forced 940| 941|236 942|00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,560 943|players to spend more money than the 944| 945|237 946|00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,160 947|previous. On February 10th, 2026 the CEO 948| 949|238 950|00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,960 951|of Supercell published a blog called 952| 953|239 954|00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,640 955|Clash Royale: A Historic Year. It 956| 957|240 958|00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,080 959|celebrated the best year the game had 960| 961|241 962|00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,840 963|seen since 2017. It credited the team's 964| 965|242 966|00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,920 967|design decisions and an in-game Michael 968| 969|243 970|00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,400 971|Bolton campaign. Xingxi was not in it. 972| 973|244 974|00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,960 975|Creators were not in it. The single 976| 977|245 978|00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,120 979|reason any of it happened did not make 980| 981|246 982|00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,520 983|the post. Xingxi's response, probably 984| 985|247 986|00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,680 987|the biggest spit in the face I've ever 988| 989|248 990|00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,680 991|seen. Mr. Beast replied publicly with 992| 993|249 994|00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,320 995|one sentence. I only started playing 996| 997|250 998|00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,760 999|again because of you. Two days later the 1000| 1001|251 1002|00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:03,480 1003|CEO edited the post with an apology, but 1004| 1005|252 1006|00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,360 1007|it was too late. Creators were already 1008| 1009|253 1010|00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,200 1011|announcing boycotts. A creator event got 1012| 1013|254 1014|00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,760 1015|postponed when players pulled out and 1016| 1017|255 1018|00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,160 1019|pros with hundreds of thousands in 1020| 1021|256 1022|00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,800 1023|career winnings started walking. The CEO 1024| 1025|257 1026|00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,640 1027|didn't credit the creators because 1028| 1029|258 1030|00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,120 1031|watching from the inside it genuinely 1032| 1033|259 1034|00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,640 1035|looks like the comeback was their own 1036| 1037|260 1038|00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,520 1039|work, which means the people running 1040| 1041|261 1042|00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,200 1043|this game still don't understand why it 1044| 1045|262 1046|00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:23,120 1047|almost [music] lived. Xingxi said it 1048| 1049|263 1050|00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,760 1051|plainer than any analyst could. If the 1052| 1053|264 1054|00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,400 1055|comeback was a result of a talented 1056| 1057|265 1058|00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,280 1059|team, you would have seen explosive 1060| 1061|266 1062|00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,919 1063|growth in the years before and you 1064| 1065|267 1066|00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,440 1067|didn't. [music] 1068| 1069|268 1070|00:08:28,919 --> 00:08:32,039 1071|And the excuse that live service games 1072| 1073|269 1074|00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,919 1075|are just hard to run doesn't hold here 1076| 1077|270 1078|00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,760 1079|either. In the same company, in the same 1080| 1081|271 1082|00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,320 1083|years, another dying Supercell game got 1084| 1085|272 1086|00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,280 1087|the same kind of second chance. Brawl 1088| 1089|273 1090|00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,599 1091|Stars hit its lowest player count ever 1092| 1093|274 1094|00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,320 1095|in early 2023. Supercell rebuilt it 1096| 1097|275 1098|00:08:41,599 --> 00:08:45,160 1099|around cosmetics and a creator program 1100| 1101|276 1102|00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,640 1103|and grew its revenue nearly nine times 1104| 1105|277 1106|00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,400 1107|over. The Clash Royale team had the 1108| 1109|278 1110|00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,440 1111|answer working one floor away and 1112| 1113|279 1114|00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:53,160 1115|shipped a paid card level instead. Clash 1116| 1117|280 1118|00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,520 1119|Royale had its best year since 2017. A 1120| 1121|281 1122|00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,240 1123|company that built one of the best 1124| 1125|282 1126|00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,800 1127|competitive games ever put on a phone 1128| 1129|283 1130|00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,520 1131|could not stop itself from adding more 1132| 1133|284 1134|00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,000 1135|pay-to-win in the middle of a comeback. 1136| 1137|285 1138|00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,440 1139|They had the bones of a game that could 1140| 1141|286 1142|00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,080 1143|have run forever. They could have made 1144| 1145|287 1146|00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,240 1147|the in-app purchases purely cosmetic 1148| 1149|288 1150|00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,960 1151|based or at the very least more fair. So 1152| 1153|289 1154|00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,040 1155|the better player always wins. They 1156| 1157|290 1158|00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:12,560 1159|chose a slot machine model instead and 1160| 1161|291 1162|00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:14,480 1163|it made them billions of dollars. Clash 1164| 1165|292 1166|00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:16,400 1167|Royale will most likely still survive 1168| 1169|293 1170|00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,200 1171|the way it survived everything else. 1172| 1173|294 1174|00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,960 1175|Old, profitable, running on the few 1176| 1177|295 1178|00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,760 1179|million people who pay for anything 1180| 1181|296 1182|00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,760 1183|while everyone else has moved on and 1184| 1185|297 1186|00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,680 1187|reminisces on the absolute king of a 1188| 1189|298 1190|00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,720 1191|game that this used to be. This game had 1192| 1193|299 1194|00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:30,640 1195|every chance handed to them and still 1196| 1197|300 1198|00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,640 1199|found a way to lose. 1200| 1201|301 1202|00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:41,840 1203|>> Mhm. </file-view>

Clash Royale is a Disgrace to Mobile Gaming — bananadev (9:40)

The video argues that Clash Royale squandered one of the luckiest second chances in mobile gaming by repeatedly choosing pay-to-win monetization over competitive balance.

Key points:

Launch & peak (2016): Released March 2, 2016, it hit #1 on the US App Store for both downloads and grossing on day one and made roughly $1 billion in its first 9 months. Tencent soon valued Supercell at $10 billion. It was a high-skill real-time card game with a growing esports scene.
Slow decline via updates:
- Oct 2021 — Champions: Stronger cards with mid-match abilities, locked behind king level 14.
- 2022 — Level 15 / Elite levels: Required a new currency that was almost impossible to earn for free.
- June 2023 — Card evolutions: Cards got second, much stronger forms with little trade-off, initially tied to paid bundles and launched overpowered.
- 2024: Free player progression was quietly cut by an estimated 50–70%.
- March 2025 — "A Tale of Thieves": Another economy overhaul that gutted free progression, drawing heavy backlash.
The design philosophy: The narrator notes that hated updates consistently produced revenue spikes. Evolutions made $80 million in six months. A game lead reportedly described the strategy as pushing cards to the "sweet spot between pay-to-win and pay-to-lose" to drive viral engagement spikes.
Rigged-match speculation: The video discusses long-standing community suspicion that matchmaking is engineered to enforce ~50% win rates and slow progression. An alleged internal post making that claim was removed by Supercell moderators for "lacking evidence."
The accidental comeback (2025): In April 2025, streamer Jynxzi started playing Clash Royale, followed by other big creators and MrBeast. Revenue jumped from $15–17 million to $77 million by July 2025, with new players up 500% year over year. Supercell did not engineer this revival.
Blowing the second chance: On November 24, 2025, Supercell shipped Level 16 (no new gameplay, just higher cost) and Heroes (overpowered cards with free upside abilities). The community called it the worst update ever. Revenue fell from ~$68 million in September to ~$37 million by January 2026. Jynxzi officially quit on February 6, 2026.
The "Historic Year" blog backlash: On February 10, 2026, Supercell's CEO published a post celebrating the game's best year since 2017 and credited design decisions and an in-game Michael Bolton campaign, without mentioning Jynxzi or creators. MrBeast replied, "I only started playing again because of you." The CEO edited in an apology two days later, but creator boycotts and pro walkouts had already begun.
Comparison to Brawl Stars: Around the same time, Brawl Stars got a similar second chance and grew revenue nearly 9x by shifting to cosmetics and a creator program. The narrator says Clash Royale "had the answer working one floor away" but shipped a paid card level instead.

Bottom line: Clash Royale was built with the bones of a game that could last indefinitely, but Supercell kept choosing monetization that undermined competitive fairness. Even after a streamer-driven resurgence handed them a free comeback, they doubled down on pay-to-win and drove away the players and creators who had returned.