Who this is
Lucas Bürger, born in 1997, started the YouTube channel that made him known at 16 and appeared there for years under the first name Nils. At 18 he registered a business and began uploading daily; over time the channel gained almost a million subscribers. To make better videos he built his own Minecraft server, GrieferGames, a Citybuild server that is now about ten years old. At its peak around 200 people worked on the team at the same time, and in the best year revenue was roughly 5 million. Today he spends one day a week on GrieferGames, co-founded the online boating school BootsschuleX with 18,000 students, and holds around 30 percent of a shipping software startup for online retailers in Austria.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
Who is Lucas Bürger?
Lucas Bürger is the founder of GrieferGames, a German Minecraft server, and co-founder of the online boating school BootsschuleX. He became known as a YouTuber who started his channel at 16 and for a long time appeared online under the first name Nils. Over time the channel gained almost a million subscribers. To the episode →
How does a Minecraft server like GrieferGames make money?
Most players play for free. Some buy cosmetic items, loot boxes or ranks, which bring status but no gameplay advantage. According to Lucas, GrieferGames reached roughly 5 million in revenue in its best year. The biggest costs are staff and infrastructure. To the episode →
Why did Lucas go by Nils online?
Lucas already had YouTube channels at 13 and found his videos embarrassing. He didn't want friends and classmates to see them, so he used a different first name online. Once his channel grew, he couldn't switch anymore. The split only ended when his form teacher asked him about it near the end of school. To the episode →
Did Lucas Bürger sell a company?
No. Lucas says he never had an exit event. The money came gradually from YouTube, GrieferGames, other Minecraft platforms and smaller projects. Citing the commercial register, Feliks mentions a balance sheet of around 17 million for his holding. Lucas has invested mainly in the MSCI World. To the episode →
What is BootsschuleX?
BootsschuleX is an online boating school for the German recreational boating licence, which Lucas founded with two co-founders, each holding a third. Students get a welcome kit with learning materials, study the theory with videos and a question trainer, and do the practical part with more than 100 partners. After about a year the school has 18,000 paying students, and a course costs roughly 200 to 500 euros. To the episode →
Quotes
„Griefen heißt, du, du bist im Prinzip der Anti-Held. Du spielst das Spiel auf eine ganz fiese Art und Weise …““Griefing means you're basically the anti-hero. You play the game in a really nasty way.”
„… du bist so ein bisschen Diktator. Also, du machst die ganzen Regeln.““You're a bit of a dictator. You make all the rules.”
„… wir nennen das bei uns immer so ein bisschen Söldner-Modus. Du hast halt Leute, die kommen, aber die kommen nur wegen des Geldes.““We call it mercenary mode. You get people who show up, but they only come for the money.”
„Also ich würde es auch lügen, wenn ich sagen würde, wir drucken da Geld.““I'd be lying if I said we were printing money there.”
„Kann ich das nicht vielleicht mit drei guten Leuten aus meinem Minecraft-Space, also drei guten Leuten und einer Menge Claude-Credits, baue ich dir das nicht innerhalb von drei Monaten nach?““Couldn't I rebuild that within three months with three good people from my Minecraft world and a load of Claude credits?”