Introducing The Escapist +, an Ad-free Viewing Experience and Other Perks

Hi folks,

It’s been an eventful last few weeks for The Escapist. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes on a lot of different things, and over the past month we’ve been drip-feeding new content for you to check out. We started the month with brand new forums, then launched a couple new YouTube shows called Slightly Civil War and The Escapist Show, and by now you’ve noticed the site has gotten a notable facelift both in design and branding.

We’ve brought back the iconic “e” from the original logo to reflect a slight change in direction for the site. We’re dropping the “Magazine” part of our logo to move away from the space you would consider traditional “entertainment journalism” to focusing more on three core concepts that will define our direction going forward.

Storytelling, critique, and commentary.

You’ve already seen this reflected in our content over the past year across both our written work via columns and our content on YouTube via new video series.

We’ve spent the last year building new content, working with the community, and finding a direction that fits this new era of The Escapist. 

 The Escapist +

Today we’re excited to introduce YouTube memberships and The Escapist +.

Both of these services will directly support the creation of the content that you enjoy here on The Escapist and allow us to continue to experiment and create the content we want to make without having to chase algorithms or completely rely on advertising. The Escapist + is the best way support us and is found directly on the website. You’ll enjoy a completely ad-free experience on the website by supporting via The Escapist +, which is run through trusted third-party payment services powered by Pico and Stripe. We encourage you to give it a try at no risk: We have a no-questions-asked refund policy if you don’t absolutely love it. 

How to sign up 

See the little floating E+ at the bottom right-hand corner?  Click that.

You can enjoy your subscription on multiple devices, such as PC, iPad, and mobile phone. At the moment, we only offer credit/debit cards. In the near future, we’ll also support PayPal. If you’re having trouble signing up, please visit our FAQ page. You’re also able to send an Escapist+ subscription as a gift. What a splendid idea!

Our subscription widget makes it easy to subscribe and manage your account:

Join The Escapist + today, or gift a subscription to a friend!

YouTube Memberships

As a separate option (as the technology isn’t available to connect the two), we’re also offering YouTube memberships. The options are pretty straightforward:

• $2 per month nets you day-of-release access to all of our premium content here on YouTube. No more waiting a week for the YouTube release.
• $5 per month gets you the previous tier, plus a monthly “ask the creators” video where you can ask questions for any of our creators to answer, and we’ll put together a fun edited video sharing their answers to your questions and updates about upcoming content.
• $10 per month provides both Tiers 1 and 2, and your name will be added to a new credits section at the end of all our weekly series to show your support for series like Zero Punctuation, Slightly Civil War, documentaries, The Big Picture, and more. 

The New Escapist and Zero Punctuation T-Shirts

Lastly, we’re partnering with Teespring on YouTube to offer an easy and accessible way to get new limited-edition merch 

So what kind of content will you be funding? Well, let’s take a look.

You’d also be funding the creation of new shows like Slightly Civil War, The Joy of Gaming, and more that we have ideas for that aren’t exactly algorithm chasers, but fun and quality content that we want to create without being beholden to YouTube or advertisers. 

We’re thankful for all the support you’ve shown us over the past year as we’ve worked to rebuild The Escapist brand into something fun and positive for everyone. Your feedback has been invaluable, and we’re excited to keep working together to create new and compelling content for you.