| “ | Hey there folks, Wrel here. | ” |
―Wrel's signature intro | ||
Michael Henderson, better known online as Wrel, is an American former YouTuber and video game designer, primarily known for his PlanetSide 2 tutorials, game-based weapon reviews, and Thoughts on Better Gaming series. He is currently the Lead Designer and co-producer for PlanetSide 2, a free-to-play massively multiplayer online first-person shooter game developed by Rogue Planet Games (RPG) and published by Daybreak Game Company (DGC), formerly known as Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).
About
Beginnings
Wrel joined YouTube on July 7, 2009. His first video contained a playthrough of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, featuring the Banshee, and was uploaded on July 26, 2009. His subsequent videos consisted of playthrough footage, review, and commentary of the games Warframe and Mass Effect 3. Wrel's prominence seemingly grew when the MMOFPS PlanetSide 2 launched on November 20, 2012.
Wrel's first PlanetSide 2 video was uploaded on December 10, 2012, and was part of his Thoughts on Better Gaming series. He quickly expanded to reviewing game weapons, abilities, and tactics, prompting many players to watch his videos and recommend his channel to other players.
Becoming a game designer
In November 2014, the PlanetSide 2 development team reached out to community content creators to make tutorial videos for the game. The series was titled Basic Training, and the videos were uploaded to PlanetSide 2's official YouTube channel. Wrel was one of the community creators featured in this series.
In late 2015, Wrel officially joined the PlanetSide 2 development team. His hiring was announced in January 2016. Since then, his YouTube channel has seen relatively little content, despite his becoming increasingly involved in PlanetSide 2's ongoing development and game's community as a whole.
Current endeavors
Wrel seems to currently be working on designing new features in PlanetSide 2, uploading YouTube videos, or streaming on Twitch in his off-time. He frequently appears in PlanetSide 2 developer-livestreams which occur regularly on the game's official Twitch channel and various uploads to the PlanetSide 2 official YouTube channel. Wrel's most recent video was uploaded on November 20, 2017, and marked the fifth anniversary of PlanetSide 2. It is currently unknown if he will continue uploading videos on his personal channel.
Throughout 2020, Wrel was interviewed several times by many PlanetSide 2 content creators and PC gaming news outlets. He frequently discussed his journey from YouTuber to game developer, his relationship with the community, and the future of PlanetSide 2. Some interviews were done alone or with other members of the PlanetSide 2 development team.
In 2021, upon the departure of Producer Andy Sites from RPG, Wrel became co-producer of the PlanetSide franchise alongside Chris Farrar.
Thoughts on Better Gaming
Wrel's Thoughts on Better Gaming series pertained mainly to his thoughts on how gaming influences people and what one can learn from the industry to foster better gaming communities.
On May 10, 2021, Wrel released a statement as Lead Developer of PlanetSide 2. In it, he mentioned the importance of PlanetSide 2's player community, both inside and outside of the game, and discussed some new things the developers are implementing to deal with cheaters and toxic players.
Trivia
A meme of Wrel and former Lead Level Designer, Carto.
- Wrel is iconically known for wearing a bandana.
- Wrel has a younger brother and at least one child.
- Wrel once served in the United States Navy.
- Before moving to California, Wrel lived in Connecticut.
- Despite Wrel joining the PlanetSide 2 development team, he is frequently referred to by his YouTube name in PlanetSide 2 developer livestreams. His full name was revealed during an interview with PC Invasion, in August 2020, discussing the Shattered Warpgate Update.
- Wrel's real name is Michael Henderson. Sometimes, the developers will accidentally call him by his real name in their livestreams. During the June 2020 PlanetSide 2 developer livestream, Wrel surprisingly introduced himself as Michael instead of Wrel.
- Many memes have been made of Wrel across the PlanetSide 2 community.
- When something is said to have gone wrong in PlanetSide 2, whether it be a bug, poor performance, or a terrible game update, a common joke in the community is to blame Wrel.
- When Wrel livestreams PlanetSide 2, he will sometimes do a "Pushups for Punishment" stream, where he does a specified number of pushups per death every time he dies in the game.
- Despite being absent on YouTube, Wrel is continuously involved in shaping PlanetSide 2 and its player base, helping to foster the "better gaming community" he envisioned.
