The life of a Twitch Streamer — Twitch Streamers gaming and streaming lifestyle
An outline of my gaming and streaming lifestyle — the life of a Twitch Streamer — Twitch Streamers
- OY!G PubG4ngsta
Danger! Intrigue! Suspense! Fast Cars! Women! Luxury….
Oh sorry. I wasn’t describing my life. That’s actually just a summary of Grand Theft Auto V.
If my life was a video game, honestly, I would’ve asked for a refund by the time the main character turned 13. However, I would’ve missed out on the best part.
Now, unlike anytime before, making a living off of playing video games is a viable option for a wider range of people. Before E-Sports and Streaming became mainstream, the only people who really earned a check from playing games were the testers, those few, lucky, unseen creatures you knew existed, but only heard about, like Big Foot, or, La Chupacabra.
Getting paid to play is every serious gamer dream job. How could it not be? Flipping burgers isn’t fun, I don’t care what Sponge-Bob says. And Steve Carroll didn’t work in my office, so there weren’t as many laughs there. My girlfriend can’t nag me for spending more time on my Xbox than I do with her if my Kill Streaks pay for her pedicures.
But if life taught us anything, it teaches us that every good side has its bad. So what should I be prepared for as I become a full-time Twitch Streamer?
I Googled these questions and got answers that only brought on more questions.
Be yourself! Huh?
Love your game! Really. Like, ask it for a date love?
Become nag-proof. Pfft. My shields are already charged, buddy.
I couldn’t find an answer that fits. So I moved to figure it out myself.
It wasn’t too hard to understand that, the larger my following, the more leverage I’d have to come to Twitch with an offer for partnership. I knew, realistically, I couldn’t tell Mr.Krabs “I quit!” just yet. I had to put in the hours. I had to game. I had to stream.
That was a few months ago. I haven’t made any money yet, but, taking my gaming seriously changed my outlook. When I pick up the sticks, my purpose seems greater now.
At the same time, it's amazing.
You don’t have to eat, sleep, and sneeze video games ( Even though I do). The beauty is the sense of building a community from the ground up. We knew there were hundreds of thousands of gamers. But, who knew there were just as many people who just want to ‘watch’ someone play a game?
Sometimes I have bad days
My game is pretty sick. Wicked even. But, sometimes I have bad days. My viewers are still intrigued. They offer commentary, advice. They ask questions. We go over the highlights of the match. It's humbling. For years us gamers had been ridiculed and ostracized. Nerds they call us. ‘Fanboys’ they whispered behind our backs. Now, we have the capability to engage each other constantly, drone out the hate, and cry on each other's shoulders as our girlfriends file their teeth to fine points, prepping to chew us out.
However, it's been quite a grind. Building a following takes lots of self-promotion. Tooting your own horn is a job in itself. Some people hear your message. Others hear a whoopie cushion. Still, I push forward with my main goal in mind. Every uptick in the number of followers I get feels like a small victory. I’m trying to compound those victories into triumph.
My girl helped me buy my 3rd Xbox 360, in spite of her reluctance
The hardest part of it all is time-management. My job keeps the lights on. My girl helped me buy my 3rd Xbox 360, in spite of her reluctance. The kind of loyalty deserves what she demands. I got kids too. On top of that, and it may sound sacrilegious to my gaming brethren, but I do have a life outside of Microsoft’s control. I’m only one man, there are only 24 hours in a day, and life is short. It hasn’t been easy, but so far I’ve managed to strike a balance between Battle Royals and playing Monopoly with my family.
The best part of streaming- that is, until you paid- is you get to express yourself as a gamer. Fully express yourself. You might see the cool skins on my avatar, or heard me rattle off some smack talk before I sniped you from across the map, but watching a dedicated streamer is different. His/Her expression as they run through a haze of bullets will make you feel like you’re in the room with them. It's cool seeing different rigs; go ahead, admit you were a little jealous when you saw that one kid lean back in that $200 game chair.
The more I stream the more it feels as if I’m letting people into my life, and it takes a certain amount of confidence to do that. Like anyone else I keep in mind what people might think of me when they what I play, but I try not to let it affect my game. When I’m getting really hot I shout “Oh yeah!” and my followers rally behind me. It’s that type of camaraderie that makes building a community worth the effort. My followers become familiar with my playing style and my lingo. It starts to feel like we’re a part of a club.
I wasn’t exactly antisocial before I started streaming, but I sure wasn’t the Instagram maven that some people can grow to be. My friend recommended I start a website ( ohyeahgaming.com) and a YouTube channel to help build my Twitch following. All I heard was “Twitch Following”, he could have recommended I backflip into a highway and I would’ve agreed.
Sooner, than later, I found myself in front of my iPhone, stuttering over a script I half remember. I got lost navigating the maze of webpages on Blue host and WordPress. I became my giddy 13-year-old self when I ordered my first logo design from Fiverr. Then it dawned on me. “I’m not just streaming. I’m starting a business”
That meant learning new things. And I was surely doing that. I learned that, in spite of a world filled with hate and an internet crawling with trolls, there are actually a lot of people who want to see you do good. Your job is to let them know you exist.
Becoming a twitch streamer
I learned the balance between taking yourself seriously, and not too seriously at the same time. Everyone has an opinion; becoming a streamer means you’re opening yourself up to the people. In essence, you’re becoming an entertainer. That means you have to have some thick skin. Showcasing your game, people are going to expect an L337 level performance. Whether or not you deliver isn’t the issue. The point is, that’s what people expect. So in turn, you should expect certain kinds of comments that aren’t always encouraging. Me? I respond to some, ignore the others, but I focus on the positive vibes I receive from my viewers. Know what you’re getting yourself into, but don’t let it ruin your day.
You don’t have to have visions of starting a business to become a steamer. You don’t even have to want to get paid for it. But if you do start streaming, be sure why you’re doing it. Are you trying to meet new gamers on a new medium? Do you want to show off the fact you can run through an entire death match without using projectiles? (I’d sure love to see that) Do you just enjoy being watched? Hey, no judging here. Just be sure you know what you’re doing, and why you’re doing. Quarantine has forced the entire world into a new way of life. In turn, there is a whole new breed of both streamers and viewers. This change of times requires a change of heart if you’re not already the resilient type.
For those of y’all who are chasing the dream of getting a check for your techniques, the same rules apply. Getting paid is possible. There are people doing it, so that means you can too. It will require tenacity, but that’s with anything that’s worth having in life. You’ll have people tell you “oh, there’s too many people doing it” your too late” it’ll take too long” and there’s some truth to what they’re saying. There is a lot of competition in the streaming market. But so is there in the Law industry, The tech industry, the private sector, the fast-food industry, and nearly every other job market. If you invented a completely unique field of labor and thus had zero competition, you would still have to market it in order to build awareness and gain customers. Work is work.
With that being said, chase the dream, You’ll sweat. You’ll stumble. You’ll catch a cramp because you didn’t stretch first and you got bad knees from your dad’s side of the family. Yet, as long as you keep moving forward, you’ll get closer every day.
Chasing the dream isn’t dreamlike. Even the movies show you the frustration and shattered expectations that everyone goes through. However, that's just life. There aren’t too many video games you can cut on and you’re already at the end of the storyline, your character already maxed out, the world saved from darkness.
No. It takes time. There’s a process to it.
I look at it as a challenge, as if I’m handling life by guidelines I’m able to alter as I get further in my own personal quest. ( I will not apologize for my nerdiness) I may be forced to work 40 hours a week at a job I despair of in order to pay my bills, but I can choose to take some of the other hours available to me and invest them into something I’ll love. Then, hey, if I can take those 40 hours and put those into my investment too, I’ll become unstoppable.
I keep that and more ideals in mind when I crank up my Xbox and cut on my stream feed. When I’m dazzling with my Spell Break prowess, or trying to explain my methods on Apex Legends. I have goals I’m trying to reach. And I’m linking up with new people every day who want to see me reach those goals. I’m not Tfue or Ninja just yet, but my life as a streamer is great so far.
From where I’m standing, even the sky isn’t the limit.
Let's link-up!
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Visit me on ohyeahgaming.com
Or follow me on Twitch @oyg_pubg4ngsta