FPSRussia is a popular YouTube channel consisting of videos involving firearms and explosives.
The videos feature Kyle Myers, an American born in Lavonia, Georgia, playing the role
of Dmitri Potapoff, a heavily accented Russian.
Each video on the channel generally has Myers explaining the characteristics of the weapons
he will use in that video, before he demonstrates their abilities on targets such as fruits,
drink bottles, zombie targets and photos of Justin Bieber in his earlier videos.
The FPSRussia channel reached the 1 million subscriber mark in June 2011.
Myers has used largely varying pieces of equipment along with weapons that have been featured
in his videos such as a golden AK-47, an armored troop carrier, a .50BMG rifle and a quadrotor.
After an announcement video in December 2012 and a successful Kickstarter campaign, FPSRussia
released "FPS Russia: The Game" on the App Store for iOS devices in March 2013 with developer
Zaah.
History Before Myers started FPSRussia, he ran a channel
named "klm5986".
He also had a YouTube channel called "FPSKylesletsplays" under the name FPSKyle.
His YouTube channel often featured videos from other YouTube personalities, such as
xSocrates.
He later wanted to show how guns worked in real life and to compare them to how they
are portrayed in video games, films and television shows.
He got the idea for a Russian accent while working at a car dealership.
One of his co-workers was Russian and he took interest in impersonating his accent.
His uncle was also a prankster and used to use the accent while talking to Kyle while
he was five years of age.
He used the accent to create the character Dmitri and what followed was him filming himself
shooting guns on his family farm in Georgia.
But ultimately, the idea for FPSRussia originated from a prank on his co-founded podcast, Painkiller
Already.
Myers also runs a third channel known as FPSRussiaTV.
After a nine month hiatus, on January 10, 2014, FPSRussia returned to YouTube.
Appearances in other media Due to the success of FPSRussia, Myers opened
up a second channel, MoreFPSRussia.
Myers collaborated with Epic Meal Time in July 2011.
The collaboration has earned over 7.5 million video views on YouTube as of April 14th, 2014.
Myers' character hosts the live fire section of Machinima.com Prime's web series, The Controller:
Medal of Honor Warfighter.
On October 29, 2012, Myers had a cameo appearance as his character, Dmitri, in the Call of Duty:
Black Ops II live action trailer directed by Guy Ritchie.
Myers co-hosts the popular internet podcast Painkiller Already.
The podcast features him as well as fellow YouTube personalities, WoodysGamertag and
MurkaDurkah as the hosts.
The podcast began its life on Podbean and iTunes.
However, before long, they shifted to the YouTube platform because of the hosting fees
and upload times for the original sites.
The show has featured two other hosts, WingsOfRedemption and Lefty643, who left the show in April 2014
and July 2014, respectively.
In May 2013, Myers launched a gaming channel on YouTube under the username "FPS".
Other pseudonym's of Kyle Myers include FPSRussia, FPSKyle, FPSMcDuck, and Scrooge McDuck
Death of Keith Ratliff On January 6, 2013, it was reported that Keith
Ratliff, a member of the FPSRussia team, was found shot dead.
Since the shooting, several conspiracy theories have been stirred.
Ratliff was responsible for obtaining the firearms used in the videos.
The production of video was on hiatus until February 19, 2013.
In March 2013, it was announced by authorities that they are still investigating the death
of Ratliff.
ATF Raid On March 29, 2013, Myers' Georgia residence
was searched by upwards of 40 members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
alongside members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The investigators also searched Myers's father's nearby farm, a frequent filming location for
FPSRussia.
ATF spokesman Richard Coes stated to the local press that the justification for the search
was: "The claim is that [Myers] was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube."
Contradicting this was Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas who stated that the raids were
in connection with the investigation into the suspected murder of Keith Ratliff.
See also List of YouTube personalities
References
External links FPSRussia's channel on YouTube