PewDiePie Live War

Top YouTuber Felix 'PewDiePie' Kjellberg is locked in a battle with Indian Production company T-Series to hold on to his subscribers crown - and after a long battle it looks as though mid-February could see the lead change hands.

PewDiePie has had the privilege of being the number one YouTuber for a number of years but T-Series, an Indian production company, have come out of nowhere to threaten his place on the mantle.

The Swede has claimed that he doesn't "really care" about the race: "I genuinely don’t. I think that if YouTube does shift in a way that’s more corporate… something else will take its place."

However, he has certainly made the most of the fan interest in the situation, creating multiple videos on the topic and even releasing a diss track, oddly called 'bitch lasagna,' to roast the Indian company.

PewDiePie has questioned the legitimacy of T-Series subscriber count, as rumors suggested that every new YouTube account made in India was automatically subscribed to the channel. This was later disproved. During the battle for number one there has been plenty of drama, and we'll update this article with more information as it progresses.

Despite the onslaught, PewDiePie continues to hit new milestones, despite doubting that he would ever be the first to hit a milestone again after crossing 67 million back in October. The Swede became the first YouTuber to cross 86 million subscribers, but it seems that the campaign to keep PewDiePie at the top of YouTube may be running out of steam.

The Swede may have some help in increasing his lead as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, again, dropped a hint about appearing on a new episode of Meme Review with PewDiePie.

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Update, February 15: Thanks to Jacksepticeye, PewDiePie has pushed away to a 67,000 lead, but the T-Series pain train continues to push forward. With PDP away on holiday, could this be the end?

Update, February 17: PewDiePie's holiday seems to be impacting his chances of staying in the lead, as the subscriber gap has dropped to below 30,000 once again.

Update, February 19: PewDiePie's lead continues to dwindle rapidly, and he is now only 10,000 subscribers ahead, which could be overcome in a matter of hours - is Elon Musk the final hope?

Fellow YouTuber MrBeast attempted to help out PewDiePie by running a citywide advertising campaign inviting people to subscribe to him, to prevent T-Series taking the top spot. MrBeast also appeared at the Super Bowl with a number of friends wearing "Subscribe to PewDiePie" t-shirts which were visible during the game.

Another YouTuber, Justin Roberts, paid $1m for a billboard in New York.

Fans of PewDiePie have also been doing their part, including hacking printers, smart devices, and even hacking GTA V to spread the message that he needs subscribers.

T-Series has managed to come dangerously close to overtaking PewDiePie on multiple occasions, but each time, he has come out on top to keep his seat on the throne. Who will make it the first to 100 million?