Ali-A

How old is Ali-A?

He is 32 until 6 November 2026, when he turns 33. If you are reading this in 2027 or later, take the current year, subtract 1993, and subtract one more if his birthday has not yet come that year.

Ali-A age by year

The table makes one thing clear: most of his biggest milestones came in his late teens and twenties, and he was still under 30 when Forbes listed him.

How old was Ali-A when he started YouTube?

His main channel was created on 13 September 2006, according to Social Blade. He was 12 then, and he has been making videos for about 20 years.

When is Ali-A's birthday?

6 November. In 2026 that is a Friday, and it is his 33rd birthday.

Alastair Aiken is an English YouTuber who became one of the best-known Call of Duty creators in the world. When a new Call of Duty game is announced, he covers what is known about it, gives in-depth reviews, and then publishes walkthrough series showing viewers how to finish it. Later he became a leading Fortnite channel, and he also posts vlogs about his day-to-day life and travels.

Ali-A real name and the name Matroix

His real name is Alastair James Aiken. Before "Ali-A", he used the alias Matroix, and the original channel URL still uses that name: youtube.com/Matroix.

Counts are from Social Blade for the main channel and MoreAliA. Wikipedia also lists smaller channels: Clare & Ali, Ali-A Plays and Ali-A², each under one million subscribers on its February 2026 update.

Why does MoreAliA have more subscribers than the main channel?

MoreAliA started as a second channel, but it has 20.3 million subscribers against 19.7 million on the main channel. Short, frequent uploads on the second channel have kept growing it, while the main channel has the longer history.

Average views per video

The main channel's 7.36 billion views over 5,293 videos work out at about 1.39 million views per video. MoreAliA averages about 2.45 million views over 3,034 videos.

1. 2006: the main channel is created on 13 September.
2. 2013: MoreAliA is created on 6 May; in October he signs with the multi-channel network Polaris.
3. 2015: Guinness World Records names his channel the most popular Call of Duty channel by views and by subscribers.
4. 2016: he co-hosts NCS Yes Live at the Roundhouse in London on 29 March.
5. 2017: the book Ali-A Adventures: Game On! is published on 24 October by Random House.
6. 2019: he is included in Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Games category.
7. 2021: he marries Clare Siobhan.

Ali-A awards and records

• Guinness World Records 2015: most popular Call of Duty channel by views.
• Guinness World Records 2015: most popular Call of Duty channel by subscribers.
• Guinness World Records 2015: two Minecraft records, for the tallest staircase built in one minute and the most blocks of wood collected in three minutes.
• Guinness World Records 2016: highest score in offline Team Deathmatch on Black Ops III using only the knife and combat axe, shared with Tom Cassell.
• Forbes 30 Under 30, 2019, Games.

• Call of Duty: reviews, news and walkthrough series for each new game.
• Fortnite: gameplay, season updates and challenges.
• Vlogs: day-to-day life, travel and family.

His style is fast, upbeat and aimed at a young audience, which is why he is popular with children and teenagers. Forbes cited him in a 2015 piece on tips for making YouTube work for kids.

Is Ali-A still active in 2026?

Yes. Both channels are live, and the Social Blade counts above were read on 31 October 2026. The main channel's figure of 19.7 million is the same as on Wikipedia's February 2026 update, which suggests the main channel's growth has levelled off. Most new growth now comes through MoreAliA and short-form uploads.

Ali-A family

He married Clare Siobhan in 2021, and they have three children. The couple also run a joint channel, Clare & Ali, under one million subscribers.

Ali-A's book

Ali-A Adventures: Game On!, written with Cavan Scott and illustrated by Aleksandar Sotirovski, was published by Random House Books for Young Readers on 24 October 2017.

Ali-A belongs to the first generation of British gaming YouTubers who built huge audiences on Call of Duty in the early 2010s. Several of them went in different directions:

• KSI began with FIFA videos and moved into music and boxing.
• DanTDM grew through Minecraft and family-friendly gaming.
• The Sidemen turned a group of gaming friends into a channel network.
• PewDiePie built the largest individual gaming channel of the decade from Sweden.

Ali-A stayed closest to his roots. More than 20 years after the channel was created, game releases and seasonal updates are still the backbone of what he posts.

What makes his channels work

Three habits explain his reach. He is early on news, so his videos are often first when a new season or game appears. He uses bright thumbnails and short, energetic intros that suit a young audience. And he splits content across channels, so the main channel carries bigger productions while MoreAliA takes faster, more frequent uploads.

He is one of the longest-running British gaming channels. For other UK channels, see our top YouTubers in the UK and the top creators in the UK. For other gaming channels, see the top gaming creators, or browse all creators.

How we checked these numbers

Subscriber and view counts were read from Social Blade on 31 October 2026. Personal details come from Wikipedia, whose infobox was last updated in February 2026. Age is calculated from the date of birth, not copied from another site, so it changes on his birthday.