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Daniel John Hardcastle (born 23 March 1989), known online as Nerd³ or NerdCubed, is a British
YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...
, author and actor. Created in 2011, his YouTube channel primarily consists of video game-related content. As of December 2024, it has approximately 2.41 million subscribers and 1.35 billion video views. He is the author of ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' bestseller ''Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life and Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd'', and ''The Paradox Paradox''. In 2025 he became a writer for
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
, writing an audio story in partnership with
Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...
.


Career


Online

Hardcastle rose to prominence through a scripted, story-based
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
created within
Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...
. After creating his
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel on 20 March 2011, Hardcastle initially uploaded a series of comedic
vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...
s before he uploaded his first
let's play A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and (in some cases) a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough ...
. His first let's play series, called ''Nerd³'s Minecraft Buildy Thing'', ran from 27 August 2011 to 22 August 2012. After creating videos on a few indie games, Hardcastle uploaded his first ''Nerd³ Plays'' video on 7 January 2012. In 2012,
Machinima Machinima () is the use of Real-time computing, real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. The word "Machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''machine'' and ''Film, cinema''. According to Guinness World Records, ma ...
sponsored him to create the series ''13 Ways To Die''. In 2015, Hardcastle was nominated for a
Golden Joystick Award The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...
for "online personality of the year". He has since amassed more than 2.44 million subscribers and 1.34 billion total views. On Red Nose Day 2019, Hardcastle raised over £16,000 for
Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
over the course of an 11-hour livestream. In September 2019, Hardcastle's YouTube account was unverified for being not widely recognised outside the platform.


Film

In 2020, Hardcastle starred in the film '' Ashens and the Polybius Heist'' alongside his longtime collaborator Stuart Ashen, who also co-wrote the film. Hardcastle himself also holds a small writing credit for the film, having written two jokes into it when Ashen gave him the script. Hardcastle will also be starring in Ashen's film ''Turn Back''.


Books

Hardcastle began writing his first book, ''Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life & Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd'', in 2017. On 4 June 2018, he started
crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...
the book through the website Unbound. The book reached 100% of its target on the first day and 1000% by 11 June. Reaching a total of 1903% of its initial goal, the book is the most successful crowdfunded book in the United Kingdom. The foreword of the book was written by founder of Double Fine and game director Tim Schafer, and another a chapter was contributed by YouTuber Stuart Ashen. The book was released on 19 September 2019 and was a ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' best seller. On 26 September 2019, crowdfunding began for Hardcastle's second book, ''The Paradox Paradox'', a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
which he described as "a bit ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'', a bit ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', and a bit fucked up." The book achieved its funding goal within 20 minutes. The eBook was released early for backers on 15 December 2024 as a thank you for waiting five years for the story. The physical hard cover released on 17 April 2025, however, on the run-up to the launch, in January 2025, Unbound, the publisher, announced they had filed for
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
, later on being absorbed into Boundless Publishing, a new venture by the same people, promising initially to honour existing contracts with the approximately 238 authors affected, however later on stating they would only be able to make "good-will payments", when the company "survives and thrives". Hardcastle made a video on the topic, explaining many management failures and a lack of communication, resulting in at least £40,000 in withheld
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...
, unauthorised 85%-off sales, and misallocated funding for a
paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...
that Hardcastle didn't authorise. Concluding the video, he assures: "''we've lawyered up, both individually, and in groups of authors''". The book is available to purchase on
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
and Boundless, both as a
hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy ...
or
e-Book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
.


Audio Stories

On 28 February 2025, Hardcastle announced that he had written a short
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
story for Volume 13 of the
Big Finish Short Trips The Big Finish ''Short Trips'' are a collection of short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'', beginning with the collection ''Short Trips: Zodiac'' in December 2002 and endin ...
. Hardcastle's story, 'Rise of the Eukaryans', which features the
Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation (otherwise known as regeneration) of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As wi ...
and is read by Laura Aikman, is one of six short stories in Short Trips Volume 13: Tales from the Vortex releasing on 30 April 2025.


Personal life

Hardcastle is married to Rebecca Maughan, an artist who illustrated ''Fuck Yeah, Video Games''. Hardcastle's father, Steve "Dad³" Hardcastle, with whom he has regularly collaborated, started a YouTube channel in 2013; it has accumulated more than 300,000 subscribers and 23 million total views. He retired from making videos on 5 February 2024. Hardcastle studied
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
at the
University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...
, but dropped out after the first year.


Bibliography


Fiction


Nonfiction


Filmography


Film


Audio


References


External links


Nerdcubed official websiteDaniel Hardcastle at the Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Daniel 1989 births British comedy YouTubers English humorists English webcomic creators English writers English gaming YouTubers Living people Male actors from Southend-on-Sea YouTubers from Essex