While most gamers spend their time hoping to unlock new levels and characters, one instead broadcast the moment he unlocked a new fear.

YouTuber and Twitch streamer RyanUkAus left people across the globe feeling itchy when he shared his video last month, after he’d tasked himself with tidying up one of his desks.

The Australia-based creator restores vintage hardware and had a lot of old tech taking up space on his desk, but it was one Dreamcast controller that really caught his attention while he carried out his errand.

Ryan explained he hadn’t been planning to make a video, but what happened was ‘so bizarre’ he decided to share it.

It all began as he was vacuming around the desk, when Ryan witnessed an ‘explosion of ants’ coming from the Dreamcast controller.

He attempted to vacuum up some of the bugs to make the situation ‘manageable’, but soon had no choice but to open up the remote to find out where they were ‘pouring’ out from.

Upon doing so, Ryan discovered not just one or two, but an ‘entire colony’ of ants crawling around inside the controller.

The gamer explained that he hadn’t used the controller himself after receiving it in a bundle from Japan years ago.

“I can only think something sugary might have been in it to attract the ants,” he said.

It wasn’t only regular ants that had taken up residence in the controller, either, as Ryan explained there were some winged bugs in there too.

After getting a good look at the colony, Ryan decided to try and save the controller and relocate the ants to somewhere more suitable.

He put the controller in a box alongside some leaves and watched as the bugs began moving their eggs away from the controller, which he then took away for cleaning.

Though he admitted the memory card slots of the remote had ‘become egg storage’, Ryan was able to clean up the shell and buttons, and left the ants to work through the night on the circuitboard.

By morning, it was ‘nearly spotless’, and Ryan was able to hook the controller up to the device and find that it worked without a hitch.

Though the creator’s video did have a happy ending, many viewers were well and truly horrified after seeing how the ants had made themselves at home.

“Imagine playing sonic adventure 2 and a bunch of ants start crawling out of your controller,” one disturbed viewer wrote, as another added: “New fear unlocked.”

Others couldn’t resist cracking a joke over the scene, with one writing: “That controller was bugged.”

Hopefully the ants will be happy in their new home from now on!