YouTube star The Diamond Minecart launches app for his Minecraft videos

YouTube channel The Diamond Minecart is one of the most popular Minecraft-focused channels in the world, with 4.3 million subscribers and more than 1.6 billion lifetime views.

Now there’s an app for that, released for iPhone and iPad by multi-channel network (MCN) Maker Studios, which has launched similar apps for gaming channels PewDiePie and The Yogscast in 2014.

The app, which is free to download, serves up a feed of new and popular videos from the Diamond Minecart channel, which was launched in 2012 by gamer Daniel Middleton as a showcase for his Minecraft play-through videos.

Fans can also personalise the app to focus on different shows within the channel, and share videos with friends on social networks. In its structure, it’s very similar to the PewDiePie app that Maker launched in late July.

The Diamond Minecart is actually a recent addition to Maker’s roster of YouTube games channels, having joined its network in August.

“He’s one of the most extraordinary storytellers creating short-form video today, and we look forward to helping him grow his creative vision in the years to come,” said the company’s chief audience officer Chris Williams at the time.

Maker Studios now has the four most popular YouTube games channels in the world – PewDiePie, Stampy, The Diamond Minecart and Vegetta – according to the monthly rankings chart published by online video industry site Tubefilter, based on data from analytics firm OpenSlate.

In October, those four channels respectively generated 352m, 183m, 155.3m and 154.6m views. Judging by the reference to a “Mr Stampy app” that appears to have snuck accidentally into the App Store listing for The Diamond Minecart’s app, Stampy will soon be joining it on the store.

Minecraft in particular has become one of the most popular categories of video on YouTube, with online video firm Octoly claiming in November that Minecraft videos have now been watched more than 47 billion times on YouTube.

For MCNs like Maker, launching apps is more than simply a convenient way for people to watch their favourite channels. They’re also another way to establish a direct relationship between YouTubers and their fans.

The videos may still be streaming from YouTube, but the apps give scope for exclusive content and competitions, and perhaps also a platform for the MCNs to sell advertising without having to give YouTube a cut.

For now, The Diamond Minecart’s app is iOS-only, but Middleton confirmed in a reply to a fan on Twitter that “it will be on Android very soon”.