F.A.Q.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
What is Extra Credits?
We’re an educational Youtube channel made up of entertainment enthusiasts with backgrounds in game design, television production, literature and academia. Our team creates short-form animated video essays every week about game design, world history, mythology, and other subjects, all of which may or may not involve a cat!
Currently the channel is run by our Studio Director Geoffry “GZ” Zatkin and Showrunner Matthew Krol, both of whom came aboard in 2018 with the goal of continuing Extra Credits educational legacy established over ten years ago.
Who started Extra Credits?
Extra Credits was founded by Daniel Floyd and James Portnow.
In 2008 Dan inadvertently created the first Extra Credits video as part of a school assignment while completing his graduate studies, basing the video’s script off of an article published by James. (This first series of videos was initially known as "Video Games And..."). In 2010 Extra Credits started airing on The Escapist magazine's website, moved to Penny Arcade TV in 2011, and then found a permanent home on YouTube in 2013.
After many years and hundreds of videos, Dan retired from Extra Credits in 2018, and James retired in 2019.
Can I use your videos, images, or artwork?
In a school setting you can use our videos for a class presentation, homework assignment, etc. as long as you’re not re-uploading copies of our videos to your own site or charging admission.
If you want to use our videos for commentary, highlighting, etc. (such as if you are a YouTube creator with your own channel), please keep your selection to under 30 seconds; contact us for permission if you want to use more than that.
If you would like to include our videos on your own blog or site, YouTube has a handy "embed" function you can use to share our videos.
ARTIST AND WRITER BIT
Coming soon
I have a professional inquiry for you.
Please send relevant information to our email address. A few things to keep in mind before messaging your inquiry:
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Inquiries about episode sponsorships or shout-outs should come from an official representative of your business, school or organization.
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If you would like to send us keys/codes/copies of your game, you are welcome to do so; however, we do not guarantee coverage of any game in any of our content. (Same goes for non-game products.)
What software do you use to make your videos?
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Art: Adobe Animate
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Video editing: Adobe Premiere
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Audio: Adobe Audition & Reaper
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Miscellaneous image editing: Adobe Photoshop
Can I submit captions for your videos?
Absolutely! We invite all of our subtitlers to credit themselves in the subtitles (usually during the Extra Credits endtitles), and we are totally fine with this credit including a link to a website as long as the website in question is "work safe."
Please do not send captions to us directly. You can create and edit captions right on the YouTube video of your choice! Read this article for more instructions.
I have a story about how games/Extra Credits/etc. have changed my life.
We love reading your personal stories about why games have made a difference in your life, and other viewers in the YouTube comments like reading them too! There's no guarantee that we could use your story in an upcoming video, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep sharing your story through other means to inspire people.
I have an idea for a future video!
We enjoy hearing your suggestions for future Extra Credits videos (for any of our shows), but there's no guarantee that we can or will use them in a future video.
That being said, our Patreon Patrons do vote on topics for Extra History episodes (and occasionally other things as well).
I love you and what you do!
Thank YOU for the love! <3
I have a question about something that isn't answered here.
During the early days of the show we did some "mailbag" episodes answering common questions that came from fan letters. Some of those questions and answers capture a (now outdated) snapshot of the game industry, some of them are specific to the show's production that still ring true today, and some of them are just plain interesting! (Questions are listed in each video's description with a corresponding timestamp.)