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Northernlion
Born (1988-11-28) November 28, 1988 (age 36)
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
EducationQueen's University (BS)
Occupations
Spouse
Kate Letourneau
​
(m. 2014)​
Children1
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2010–present
GenreVideo gaming
Followers721,000
Associated acts
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2006–present
Genres
Subscribers1.14 million[1]
Total views1.38 billion[1]
Last updated: September 10, 2024

Ryan Letourneau (born November 28, 1988),[2][3] better known as Northernlion, NL, or Northern, is a Canadian Twitch streamer and YouTuber.[4] He is a full-time gaming streamer on Twitch and uploads parts of his streams to YouTube, while also creating content exclusively for YouTube.

Career

[edit]

YouTube

[edit]

Letourneau created his YouTube channel "Northernlion" on May 30, 2006.[5][non-primary source needed] In 2011 he began regularly posting content to YouTube full-time, mainly consisting of Let's Play videos of various indie games.[4] In 2011, Letourneau began uploading gaming videos of The Binding of Isaac, which became one of his most popular Let's Play series and helped garner him an online following.[4][6] Alongside other Let's Play videos, Letourneau's videos of The Binding of Isaac were credited with bringing the game popularity; game creator Edmund McMillen stated that Let's Play videos boosted sales of the game.[4] In 2013, Letourneau interviewed McMillen about The Binding of Isaac, where he stated that the popularity of the game convinced him to make Rebirth.[7] One year later, he attended the Game Developers Conference to discuss the impact of Let's Play videos on the sales of various video games, also referencing how the popularity of his Binding of Isaac videos led to increased exposure of the game.[4][8]

Letourneau has also been credited for popularizing other video games with his gaming videos, such as Enter the Gungeon,[9] Slay the Spire[10] and Monster Train.[11] Bob McCann of TechRadar described Letourneau as "[managing] to be both informative and talk through his tactical choices during games, which many viewers find useful."[6] Jonathan Lee of Yahoo! News has also noted Letourneau for his "quick wit."[12]

Twitch

[edit]

Letourneau created his Twitch channel "Northernlion" on August 5, 2010.[13] On February 25, 2013,[14] Letourneau uploaded the first "Northernlion Live Super Show" (NLSS), a three-hour stream in which he and his co-hosts would play a variety of videogames, usually divided into three one-hour-long segments.[15] He alongside other members of the show were included in the indie game Spelunky 2 as an easter egg.[16] The final episode of the NLSS aired on January 21, 2021.[17][non-primary source needed]

In 2016 Letourneau participated in an esports tournament sponsored by Amazon where he competed against Twitch streamer Adam "B0aty" Lyne in Pac-Man 256 where he won the match.[18] In 2020, Letourneau was invited to stream the video game Among Us with United States congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Canadian member of Parliament Jagmeet Singh; the stream also featured internet personalities Hasan Piker, ContraPoints, Corpse Husband, Sykkuno and xQc.[19] In 2022, Letourneau received a nomination in the 2022 Streamer Awards for the category of "Best Strategy Game Streamer."[20] A 2023 livestream where Letourneau played Luck Be a Landlord was the initial inspiration for developer LocalThunk to create Balatro, which would go on to win multiple awards including Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2024.[21][22]

Personal life

[edit]
Letourneau riding a bicycle near his childhood home in Ontario

Letourneau was born on November 28, 1988[23][24] and grew up in Greater Napanee, Ontario, Canada, forty-five kilometres outside of Kingston, Ontario. He often says he is from Kingston because "none of you . . . know where Greater Napanee is."[25][26]

Letourneau married Kate Letourneau in May 2014.[27] On September 28, 2020 their daughter was born.[12] The Letourneaus use the alias “Luna” to refer to her online, in order to protect her privacy. [28]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2022 The Streamer Awards Best Strategy Game Streamer Nominated [29]
Dec 2024 Nominated [30][31]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "About Northernlion". YouTube.
  2. ^ Letourneau, Ryan (October 31, 2024). "OK smart guy, let's see you take a crack at it (Silent Hill 2)". Event occurs at 19:47. Archived from the original on November 6, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024 – via YouTube. You're aware that I'm nearly 36 years old, right?
  3. ^ Letourneau, Ryan (December 3, 2024). "How could this lose to a little robot (The Bazaar)". Event occurs at 5:01. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024 – via YouTube. 'How'd your daughter react to it being your birthday?' ... And then I said 'you can't whine today, it's Daddy's birthday.'
  4. ^ a b c d e Kollar, Philip (March 21, 2014). "YouTube star Northernlion gives advice on how indie devs can succeed on video". Polygon. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  5. ^ Northernlion. "Channel description". YouTube. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  6. ^ a b McCann, Bob (July 8, 2016). "Gaming on YouTube: Why and who to watch". TechRadar. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  7. ^ Nunneley, Stephany (April 19, 2013). "The Binding of Isaac has passed the two million sales mark". VG247. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  8. ^ Gutelle, Sam (March 21, 2014). "Indie Game Developer Claims YouTubers Helped Boost Sales Tenfold". Tubefilter. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  9. ^ Wright, Steven T. (September 28, 2018). "There are too many video games. What now?". Polygon. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  10. ^ Chan, Stephanie (April 15, 2018). "Slay the Spire has China to thank for launching its 700,000 sales in Steam Early Access". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 25, 2022. Popular streamers like Northernlion helped boost the game's visibility, and as more players picked it up, it became the second most-downloaded Steam game at the end of January.
  11. ^ Linken, Andre (May 26, 2020). "Monster Train: Huge hit of roguelike card game mix on Steam". PC Games (in German). Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Lee, Jonathan (April 8, 2021). "Streamer shares 'genius' response to troll who shamed him for being bald: 'Here's what you do'". Yahoo! News. Retrieved December 2, 2022. Ryan "Northernlion" Letourneau is a YouTuber and Twitch streamer well known for his quick wit... The Canadian streamer has also recently become a father. He and fellow streamer Kate Letourneau announced the birth of their daughter Luna in September 2020.
  13. ^ "NORTHERNLION". TwitchTracker. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  14. ^ Northernlion. "Northernlion Live Super Show! [February 25th, 2013]". YouTube. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  15. ^ Linhares, Nádia (November 17, 2020). "New Fall Guys mode, the Star Show, available today for limited time". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  16. ^ Shaw, Luke (November 11, 2020). "Spelunky 2 and Hades use chaos to spark conversation, making them the perfect lockdown games". GamesRadar+. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Spelunky had a healthy streaming community that built up around it, from the Spelunky Showlike, to the NorthernLion Super Show – the members of which are even referenced in an easter egg in the Dwelling's Udjat Eye room.
  17. ^ Northernlion (January 23, 2021). "The Northernlion Live Super Show! (January 21st, 2021)". YouTube.
  18. ^ Johnson, Leif (December 16, 2016). "The Unexpected Drama of Amazon's Casual E-Sports Tournament". Paste. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  19. ^ Shaw, Luke (November 28, 2020). "'Among Us' stream sees Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jagmeet Singh raise $200k". NME. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  20. ^ Alford, Aaron (March 14, 2022). "All the award winners at The Streamer Awards 2022". Inven Global. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  21. ^ "Balatro was largely inspired by slot machine roguelike Luck Be a Landlord". ShackNews. March 14, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  22. ^ Moore, Bo (December 12, 2024). "The Game Award 2024 Winners: The Full List". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  23. ^ Bachhuber, Robert (December 1, 2022). "Streamer Gets Emotionally Blackmailed By Twitch To Stream More". EarlyGame. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  24. ^ @Northernlion (November 28, 2019). "thanks for the birthday wishes y'all" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Northernlion (May 4, 2022). "I was actually robbed? (Peglin)". YouTube. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  26. ^ The Library of Letourneau (November 4, 2024). "the map guy - Bits and Banter [11/04/2024]". YouTube. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  27. ^ Kate LovelyMomo (November 30, 2014). "20,000 Subscribers! Thank you! Q&A Time! Cat cam & face cam". YouTube. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  28. ^ Kate LovelyMomo (October 27, 2020). "Luna Diary - 1 month old!". YouTube. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  29. ^ Miceli, Max (February 22, 2022). "All nominees for QTCinderella's Streamer Awards". Dot Esports. GAMURS Group. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  30. ^ "The 2024 Streamer Awards: All Nominations". Esports Illustrated On SI. November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  31. ^ DeSena, Gabby (December 8, 2024). "Recap: All 2024 Streamer Awards Winners". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
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