Critical Role is launching its own subscription service, Beacon
Critical Role’s actual gaming empire is expanding once again. On Thursday, the group announced Dungeons & Dragons-playing voice actors beacon, a new membership program that promises to be “the most direct way” to support Critical Role. Beacon will offer “a wide range of exclusive and early access programming” among its member benefits and, crucially, let Critical Role bypass third-party video services like YouTube and Twitch, where much of the content is streamed and hosted.
But Critical Role won’t abandon these platforms, say its creators. “Nothing will change for audiences on Twitch and YouTube,” Critical Role CEO Travis Willingham said in an email video announcing Beacon. But the new members-only Beacon promises “a more unfiltered experience” for fans of Critical Role, Willingham said.
Beacon costs $5.99 per month, or $59.99 per year. Critical Role currently offers a free, limited seven-day trial.
In addition to early access programming and exclusive videos, Beacon promises pre-sales of live events (which would hopefully help members avoid sold-out shows, scalpers, and peak pricing), instant access to videos on demand and podcasts, access to an exclusive Discord server, and discounts on merchandise .
Beacon will boast two exclusive series: Crucial role Fireside Chat, described as a monthly Ask Me Anything series in which cast members answer questions from Discord; And Critical role cooldown period, a “backstage pass” that promises to let viewers experience the cast’s reactions after the show. Beacon subscribers also get early access to series Crucial role shorteneda shortened reel-style show, alongside actual audio series for all ages Slayer’s Take again and day-and-date audio versions of the main Critical Role broadcasts.
Marisha Ray, cast member and creative director at Critical Role, said Beacon lets the group “bring more of our activities in-house.” Less dependence on third-party platform providers appears to be a big part of Critical Role’s plan. “It’s no secret that video platforms (…) have had their ups and downs,” Ray said, adding: “It’s not unusual for our content to be demonetized because we all have the vocabulary of teenage sailors.” Ray also acknowledged that platforms like YouTube and Twitch are running ads on critical role content “that doesn’t really align with our beliefs.”
Willingham mentioned another third-party platform: Patreon. He said Beacon will offer fans “a more direct line” to Critical Role’s content, cast and community.
“We are incredibly excited about what Beacon has to offer for us and how we engage with our audience,” Willingham said in a statement. “There’s no change to the way people can watch our current slate of shows and we’re excited to provide access, content and perks in ways we’ve never had before.”
Critical Role launched nine years ago as a web series featuring professional voice actors (Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel and Travis Willingham) working their way through D&D campaigns. Over the course of hundreds of episodes spanning multiple campaigns, Critical Role has evolved and expanded to include comic books, animated series, their own tabletop role-playing systems, and other video spin-off series. The series’ creators say Beacon will let them continue to invest in their franchises and operations.