About

NextBot Chase is a game played within Garry's Mod where a hostile NPC chases the player through a given map trying to kill them. The player's goal is to run from the NextBot for as long as possible. The game mode started to gain virality in 2013 with a mod where an invincible Sanic Hegehog tries to catch the player, becoming popularized on YouTube and TikTok in later years. The Obunga NextBot gained particular popularity online.

History

What Is NextBot?

NextBot is an AI system that's used in some Source Engine games, including Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2. NextBot uses a "navigation mesh" or "navmesh" system for navigation, allowing NPCs to navigate maps in more sophisticated ways.^[1]

Sanic Hegehog NextBot

On August 30th, 2013, Steam users Xyxen and Nate Wingman posted a Garry's Mod addon NPC to the Steam Workshop.^[2] The NPC is modeled after the Sanic Hegehog meme. It is programmed to be invincible and chase the player across a given map. The addon became notably popularized in the following years, boasting a five-star rating with over 15,000 votes and 370,000 subscribers by June 2022. The NPC appeared in numerous videos over the following years where players run from Sanic in an attempt to survive as long as possible (examples shown below).

The most popular video to showcase the mod was uploaded by YouTuber SHOOTABIRDIE in May 2019 and shows the player running through a maze away from Sanic, gaining over 6.7 million views in three years (shown below).

Online Presence

NextBot Chase maps and NPC mods became increasingly popularized over the years. As of June 2022, there are over 8,100 results on the Garry's Mod Steam Workshop page for "NextBox Chase."^[3] Many NextBot NPCs are based on and use images of memes.

Let's Plays

NextBot Chase is a prevalent game type in Let's Play videos where players try to run from NextBots either solo or with friends to see how long they last. Some of the highest engagement videos of NextBot Chases were uploaded to YouTube in 2019, including a video by PoisonousCookie running from a floating Steve Harvey head and a video by TheFrizkyFrog running from numerous NextBots (shown below, left and right).

In 2022, NextBot Chase videos became increasingly prominent on YouTube and TikTok. For example, on May 10th, 2022, YouTuber Rogurt posted a gameplay video that received over 2.2 million views in two months (shown below, left). On June 2nd, 2022, TikToker^[5] @arreksan01 posted a video where they're chased by a NextBot through The Backrooms, gaining over 813,000 views in three weeks (shown below, right).

Obunga Nextbot

Among various NextBot NPCs, Obunga, a photoshopped face of former U.S. President Barack Obama edited to resemble roach creatures from the manga Terra Formats that gained prevalence in memes in July 2018, became particularly popular.

The mod was submitted to Steam Workshop by the user The Globfather on July 2nd, 2018.^[6]

The mod appeared in multiple viral videos on TikTok and YouTube. For example, on July 6th, 2022, YouTuber^[7] Whitt posted a gameplay video that gained over 2.6 million views in three weeks (shown below, left). On July 20th, 2022, YouTuber^[8] GirthQuake posted a video that received over 263,000 views in one week (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References