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How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

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Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#41

Post by astura »

petercooper wrote: post #36

The bit I'd be interested to read about is the psychology behind the "donors." Why would anyone throw down random $100 or $500 without a quid quo pro to someone receiving many other such donations? I understand streaming, generally, and have paid to subscribe to a channel before but the random throwing around of not insignificant amounts of money gets me scratching my head. (Should make it clear I'm not criticizing t…

People do a lot of things that baffle me.

Spending $100-500 for some entertainment is actually reasonable and not at all baffling.

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#42

Post by pc86 »

chrisper wrote: post #40
EA wrote: post #16

No mention of Dr. Disrespect - a Twitch persona who recently won "Streamer of the Year" at the Esports Industry Awards. Just a passing mention of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a game which according to some is growing faster than Minecraft did. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is the most popular streamed game on Twitch right now. The game regularly has over 2,000,000 concurrent players, has sold over 13,000,000…

A big chunk of those 2,000,000 players are Chinese no?

What does that have to do with... literally anything?

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#43

Post by nindalf »

olympus wrote: post #9

What I think is crazy is that this industry exists at the scale it does. It has replaced reality TV for a segment of the world population. There are legions of people that watch these streams, just to watch someone doing something that they could do themselves (but maybe not win as much). This isn't like F1 racing where I'll never be able to afford a racecar, or football where I don't want to exercise. Most of the ki…

Its literally the difference between watching pro sports and playing sports yourself.

I think Dota is a great game and I could play it, but I'm not that good, especially when I'm not playing regularly. So I have the choice of playing it and watch myself air-ball abilities or watch the equivalent of Steph Curry score from the half-line and beyond.

Think about it, its a competitive game where you're matched with players of equal skill, so you'll win exactly half your games. The ones you lose can be very frustrating, sometimes taking the pleasure away from playing the game. But if its someone else who's winning/losing, I don't mind.

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#45

Post by jonheller »

Tell that to the tens of thousands of streamers on Twitch who have 10 or less viewers, who absolutely are not getting rich.

Like others have mentioned it's a combination of luck to get the initial attention, and skill to maintain that following (either actual video game skill, entertainment skill, or a combination of both).

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#46

Post by falcolas »

maccard wrote: post #28
sandworm101 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And be attractive. The top youtube/twitch people either look or sound like celebs. They are either cute or have the voice, the pipes, of a radio star.

Lots of people are saying that, but it's clearly not true. I don't think imaqtpie [0] fits that description. Skimming through the top twitch streams right now, plenty of them don't fit that description. [0] https://go.twitch.tv/videos/200675143

I'd hardly call him unattractive. Classy glasses, a well kept appearance (which can be challenging with a thin mustache)... a slight overbite is about all that might be considered unattractive; but his attitude and voice more than make up for it.

Almost speaks more to the accepted definition of "attractive" than the streamer.

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#47

Post by Jemmeh »

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #18
tinbucket wrote: post #2

Interesting read and insight into a subculture I know very little about. Looks like only a few of them are getting rich, and it isn't without its costs. Working seven days a week as a professional gamer is pretty brutal.

>Working seven days a week as a professional gamer is pretty brutal. I'm gonna throw some shade towards gameplay streamers. Streamers who do focused content and actually produce shows as you would in a TV/Radio studio have a real job which I've actually done, so this doesn't include them. Playing a game and running a stream, technically, is not hard. Engaging with viewers is not hard. There's a bunch of solutions out…

Of course "streaming isn't hard" in the same way that playing football isn't hard. It's when you do it at a professional level and have to put in mad hours every week to keep up that it becomes brutal. All without guarantee that you'll even get paid if you're just unlucky that week and don't get enough viewers.

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#48

Post by petercooper »

astura wrote: post #41
petercooper wrote: post #36

The bit I'd be interested to read about is the psychology behind the "donors." Why would anyone throw down random $100 or $500 without a quid quo pro to someone receiving many other such donations? I understand streaming, generally, and have paid to subscribe to a channel before but the random throwing around of not insignificant amounts of money gets me scratching my head. (Should make it clear I'm not criticizing t…

People do a lot of things that baffle me. Spending $100-500 for some entertainment is actually reasonable and not at all baffling.

Sure, I've spent money on a lot of weird things, giving arbitrary money to people I think who needed it, buying coins in games I've enjoyed, etc.. but donations with no quid pro quo to top Twitch players till do baffle me, given people making the donations know they're well off. It feels like me sending random checks to Larry David because I like watching his show :-D I'd just be keen to see an article digging into that.

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#49

Post by dsfyu404ed »

The 18-hour days and other working conditions they of the top earners described in the article tell me that a lot of people will age out of their ability to sustain their level of income. It will be an quick transition like sports or porn where you hit a certain age and the dollar value of the level at which you can perform falls off a cliff because you're limited by your body.

I would hope that the pro streamers are planning to use the industry connections they develop for a move into some other part of the video gaming industry around that time.

Re: How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online

#50

Post by kwijibob »

EA wrote: post #16

No mention of Dr. Disrespect - a Twitch persona who recently won "Streamer of the Year" at the Esports Industry Awards. Just a passing mention of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a game which according to some is growing faster than Minecraft did. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is the most popular streamed game on Twitch right now. The game regularly has over 2,000,000 concurrent players, has sold over 13,000,000…

I have just discovered how enjoyable Twitch is.

Dr Disrespect is amazing. He is an online performer and a gamer.

Most surprising are the people who talk about how watching Dr D has helped them through depression or cancer. He talked about this movingly but briefly in his speech this week.

This is a whole new form of entertainment. It will be fascinating to see where it unfolds. I think Amazon will get a very good return for their investment.

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