Philza

Phillip Watson, better known online as Philza or Ph1LzA, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is widely recognized for his gameplay in the sandbox title Minecraft, particularly within its hardcore mode, which operates on the hardest difficulty setting with permanent death and no respawns. Through his broadcasts, Watson previously held the world record for the longest-surviving world in this game mode. As of May 2024, he had accumulated 4.3 million followers on his Twitch channel.

Watson was born on March 1, 1988, and is from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Prior to becoming a full-time online personality, he spent more than a decade working in retail while creating content for Twitch and YouTube during his free time.

His internet career began in 2006 when he created his YouTube channel, initially uploading videos featuring Halo 2 and Skate 2. In 2009, he established an account on Justin.tv, the platform that subsequently became Twitch. He introduced his Minecraft hardcore project in 2014, playing under severe survival conditions with increased mob difficulty.

Watson's series achieved widespread visibility in April 2019 after his record-setting five-year hardcore run came to an end due to an attack by an enchanted golden-armored baby zombie, a spider, and a skeleton. Describing the moment as a major turning point, his average streaming audience rose from 5 to 15 viewers up to roughly 180. The sudden rise in popularity allowed him to resign from his retail job. Later that year, on July 26, 2019, he was showcased in the official Minecraft series Meet a Minecrafter.

In October 2021, details from a Twitch leak revealed streamer earnings from August 2019 to October 2021, ranking Watson 47th overall with a payout of $1,364,215.61. In 2023, he joined fellow digital creators TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot, Slimecicle, and Ranboo to launch a collaborative YouTube channel called The Sorry Boys, which focused on sketch comedy and group vlogs before entering an indefinite hiatus in March 2024.

Watson has also been involved in fundraising initiatives. In September 2021, he took part in a charity livestream hosted by streamer Technoblade, playing as one of the hunters tasked with tracking Technoblade in Minecraft. The broadcast generated more than $324,000 for the Sarcoma Foundation of America.

In his personal life, Watson met his wife, Kristin Rosales, an American, through Twitch. After dating, the couple married on March 12, 2020, at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.