About

Corridor Digital is an American production studio known for creating numerous pop-culture-related viral videos featuring professional visual effects and animation. In the 2020s, the channel attracted controversy for using AI technology in certain videos, dividing internet users on the controversial technology.

History

Corridor was founded by Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer in 2008 and launched its YouTube channel on May 17th, 2010.^[1] The channel gained over 9.7 million subscribers in thirteen years. Their earliest videos were behind-the-scenes shorts from a fan tribute series to Modern Warfare called Modern Warfare: Frozen Crossing. The earliest video was posted June 7th, 2010 (shown below, left), which gained over 586,000 views in thirteen years. Their earliest video to crack a million views was posted on October 27th of that year, gaining over 3.5 million views (shown below, right).

Over the following years, the channel grew widely popular with short videos highlighting various stunts and contraptions that showcased its aptitude for visual effects. To date, their most popular video is a humorous short centered around creating the "world's longest lightsaber," posted on June 30th, 2018, which gained over 192 million views in five years (shown below).

Controversies

AI-generated Anime

Corridor Digital "Rock, Paper Scissors" AI Anime Controversy refers to the backlash and discussion of a February 2023 video created by production company Corridor Digital that used AI art tools to make an animated short in the style of anime. The video went viral as some praised it for showing the potential of AI generator tools in the animation industry, but also led to notable pushback and criticism from artists and animation fans who felt it was not only low-quality but posed a threat to the livelihoods of future aspiring animators. It also renewed viral debates around whether AI-generated content was stealing or plagiarising the artwork of others through its method of training the AI with scenes from Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

AI Redraws of Video Game Characters

On October 4th, 2023, Corridor released a video where they used AI to give famous video game characters "photoreal faces." The video gained over 400,000 views in two days (shown below).

The video again generated controversy for its use of AI, and complaints again stemmed from people thinking the creations were a downgrade from the original models. For example, on October 4th, Twitter user @GeorgeCrudo^[2] posted a "summary" of the video, showcasing what he felt was the channel's downgrade of Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid, gaining over 1,300 retweets and 21,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). The same day, user @Soft_Rumpus^[3] complained about the video's "edit" of Aerith from Final Fantasy VII Remake, gaining over 60 retweets and 1,100 likes (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References