Achievement Hunter

2008–10: Inception and growth

In 2008, Geoff Ramsey's interest in gaming achievements resulted in the realization that no community-based website related to achievements existed.

Burnie and I were both huge achievement fans ... and we were constantly racing each other to get more achievements – trying to outdo each other for gamerscore – and to that end we were playing at ton of games in our free time and trying to find information about how to get certain achievements online and it was a bit of a crapshoot… there were a few site you could go and look at… but I'm kind of a visual dude, and it really helps me if I can sit down and watch a video… So we were talking about how great it would be if a site like that existed one day and how helpful it would be for us and I said "Fuck it, I'll just make that site" and decided to do that^[5]

As a result, Ramsey approached Burnie Burns, then CEO of Rooster Teeth, about creating a website based on achievements; Burns agreed, and Ramsey created Achievement Hunter, which shares a similar design to the main Rooster Teeth website.^[6] Ramsey later elaborated, saying he had grown tired of making Red vs. Blue and enjoyed working on this new, creative outlet in his spare time.^[7] Alongside employee Jack Pattillo, Ramsey regularly released achievement guides and Easter egg videos, often receiving assistance from select volunteers from the Rooster Teeth community. David Dreger also assisted in the founding of the site.^[8][9]

Geoff Ramsey's interest in gaming achievements led to the creation of Achievement Hunter.

Shortly following his employment at Rooster Teeth, Jack Pattillo largely assisted Ramsey in the founding of Achievement Hunter.

2011–12: Employment growth

In 2011, Achievement Hunter hired Ryan Haywood as an editor and manager; Haywood later began being featured in videos as a host in March 2012, becoming one of the main crew members. Four new shows were introduced to Achievement Hunter in 2011. One of them, Rage Quit, led to the official hiring of Michael Jones as a full-time staff member in August 2011.^[10]

In December 2011, Achievement Hunter also began creating Let's Play videos. The success of the videos resulted in a weekly sub-series in 2012, in which the main hosts play Minecraft. Weekly Let's Play videos focusing on Grand Theft Auto games are also released.^[11][12]

Achievement Hunter hired Gavin Free in 2012, after he had assisted with the company for many years. In March 2012, Achievement Hunter debuted Game Night, in which Ramsey and Caleb Denecour play games with community members; the series switched to a live stream format in 2014. Community member Ray Narvaez, Jr. was hired in April 2012, having worked as a contract host for multiple years. Later, in September 2012, contract editor Franco Scarcello created Five Facts, which was generally hosted by Pattillo and Ramsey and focused on little-known facts about various video games; it was not renewed for a sixth season in May 2016.^[13]

2013–present: Popularization

In early 2013, Achievement Hunter introduced a competition series titled VS, in which the employees challenge each other to compete in games. In April 2013, Achievement Hunter launched their own channel on YouTube, which hosts a variety of their videos.^[1] Later in 2013, the company retired Achievement HORSE, replacing it with Achievement HUNT, in which a variety of employees challenge each other until the word "HUNT" has been spelled.

In October 2013, Pattillo hosted a 24-hour live stream benefiting Extra Life, a charity benefiting hospitalized children. With appearances from other Achievement Hunter members and various Rooster Teeth employees, the live stream managed to raise $340,000. This charity live stream has become an annual event, with 2014's Extra Life live stream raising over $442,000 for Children's Miracle Network.^[14] At RTX in July 2014, community members Matt Bragg and Jeremy Dooley were hired as editors and secondary hosts at Achievement Hunter.^[15]

In early 2015, Achievement Hunter hosted the first Let's Play Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. In April 2015, Narvaez departed from the company as a full-time employee to focus on Twitch live-streaming, although he continued to voice his character for the company's X-Ray and Vav animated series until its eventual cancellation.^[16] In mid-2015, Achievement Hunter launched a new YouTube channel, named after themselves, thereon they upload series of videos that were previously uploaded to the Rooster Teeth channel. Additionally, they moved out of Rooster Teeth's Stage 5, Austin Studios office into their own office nearby.^[17]

Dooley was promoted to a main host in October 2015, during an episode of Let's Play Minecraft.^[18] A weekly podcast titled Off Topic was announced in early October, hosted by Michael Jones. Four test episodes aired live and were only available to "First Members" on their website. The first official episode aired to the public after the initial tests. Jones serves as the main host of the show and makes the most frequent appearances alongside other Achievement Hunter employees and special guests.^[19]

From 2015, Achievement Hunter would feature celebrities as guest collaborators in some of their Let's Play videos such as Rahul Kohli,^[20] Dan Campbell from The Wonder Years,^[21] Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham,^[22][23] Dante Basco,^[24][25] James Buckley,^[26] Lannan Eacott, and pop punk band Neck Deep. ^[27]

Event Dates