Popular YouTuber and streamer Ludwig and several other streamers recently played Smash or Pass together with all 898 Pokémon. The content creator achieved an amazing feat last year when he became the most-subscribed streamer on Twitch, reaching a total of 283,066 subscribers during a much-talked-about subathon event that lasted around a month. While Ludwig made over $1.4 million during the Twitch subathon, he didn’t keep all of the earnings, donating much of the money to charity. He’s also since signed an exclusive deal with YouTube Gaming, effectively making his Twitch channel inactive.
While Smash or Pass isn’t a new game and has been played or featured by people on multiple platforms such as TikTok with different real or fictional characters, another massively popular YouTube content creator recently made their own version of it featuring Pokémon. Markiplier, who is one of YouTube’s biggest stars and placed third in the platform’s highest-paid creators last year, played the unique Smash or Pass game with all 898 Pokémon in a recently published video. With Markiplier’s popularity, even having has his own Markiplier doll in Subnautica, it’s perhaps not surprising that Pokémon Smash or Pass would become its own trend.
The Pokémon Smash or Pass video by Ludwig also includes several other famous steamers such as Alexandra and Andrea Botez, QTCinderella, Myth, and more. At the beginning of the video, Ludwig mentions Markiplier’s aforementioned video as the inspiration for his own. While Ludwig went through the entire list of 898 Pokémon, his friends’ were each part of only one or two sections of the video, which were divided into the different generations of Pokémon. By the end of it, Ludwig had chosen Smash for 41 different Pokémon while his friends had a total of 133.
It’s unclear what the inspiration for Markiplier’s video was other than it was released a few days before Valentine’s Day. However, it is possible that the recent release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus and its 242 Pokémon, which brought the franchise back into many people’s minds, could have been a factor. The latest game in the Pokémon franchise was released on January 28, and sold 6.5 million copies in its first week.
While Pokémon Smash or Pass is a pretty unusual version of the game, it’s certainly a funnier take on it as can be seen in both Markiplier’s and Ludwig’s videos. It wouldn’t be surprising if more content creators end up joining the trend and make their own Pokémon Smash or Pass video, or think up their own unique version of the hilarious game.
