As of June 2025, PewDiePie sits at #11 on the all-time leaderboard, falling behind a wave of creators riding the explosive growth of YouTube Shorts. The former king of the platform now trails behind fast-rising channels like kimpro828, a South Korean creator pulling in massive views with short-form content.
The decline marks a major shift in YouTube’s landscape. While PewDiePie once ruled the site with daily uploads and meme-driven videos, his absence from the Shorts game has left him behind in the algorithm arms race.
Meanwhile, creators embracing Shorts are skyrocketing in subscribers. YouTuber Kimpro828, who passed PewDiePie for the 10th spot, is known for viral, snackable videos. They surged past Pewds in a move that would’ve seemed unthinkable just a few years ago.
PewDiePie finally out of YouTube’s top 10 leaderboard
PewDiePie has been semi-retired for some time. After moving to Japan in 2022, he slowed down his content output and shifted his focus to personal life. A big change, seeing as he was on the platform’s top 10 charts since 2013.
The creator explained his “retirement” in 2022, telling viewers, “I just wanna do YouTube the way I did it when I started which is for fun… So instead, I try to just focus on what’s fun about YouTube.”
Now a father and focused on his family, PewDiePie’s laid-back approach stands in contrast to today’s ultra-optimized content culture. In fact, he doesn’t have a single Short uploaded to his channel. If he did take advantage of Shorts, there’s no telling where he’d be in the leaderboard.
PewDiePie and MrBeast both challenged T-Series for the YouTube crown.
At the top of the mountain, MrBeast continues to dominate. The viral philanthropist currently boasts 408 million subscribers, over 100 million more than T-Series, the long-time rival he, along with Pewds, once battled for YouTube supremacy.
Just behind PewDiePie for the 12th spot is the WWE, who is looking to bodyslam their way through the former King of YouTube and is just shy of 1M new subscribers from doing so.
It’s the end of an era, but PewDiePie’s legacy as a trailblazer remains, even as YouTube’s next generation takes the spotlight.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.