Up all night with a Twitch millionaire • Hacker News Board

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#21

Post by jedberg » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:39 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

The same career path as a professional athlete. Some go into commentating, some go into sports management, and most retire broke and have to pick up a whole new career in their late 20s/early 30s.

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#22

Post by diognesofsinope » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:42 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #21

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

The same career path as a professional athlete. Some go into commentating, some go into sports management, and most retire broke and have to pick up a whole new career in their late 20s/early 30s.

Bingo -- they struggle through their 20s until they realize they need to pick a practical career in their early 30s.

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#23

Post by floren » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:43 PM UTC

beamatronic wrote: post #19

bluedino wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully they invest their money and don't blow it on Ferraris and avocado toast.

Their money goes into GME and crypto

Jeez, at least avocados are tasty...

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#24

Post by xboxnolifes » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:44 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

Same thing people in sports do:

- Continue

- Retire

- Start coaching

- Start casting

- Management (Organizing/growing content creators/groups)

- Switch careers entirely

Any of the giants should hopefully have been saving there money and have quite a bunch tucked away. Any of the smaller ones should have been doing something on the side, or at least have a plan B ready.

Also, not sure why we're assuming no college degree here.

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#25

Post by vertak » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:44 PM UTC

I find it hard to sympathize for the poor plight of the $200,000/month healthcare-less twitch streamer working 2 more hours a day than the average person. Was this article written entirely to provoke outrage or is there some oppression I’m missing?

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#26

Post by mym1990 » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:45 PM UTC

siruncledrew wrote: post #13

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

If someone is an esports player, it would be hard to stay a professional (in most action games at least) at age 30 simply due to natural wear on your hands and reaction times getting slower.

This doesn't really make sense. Athletes in many sports are playing way past their 'prime' these days and they are wearing out much more than just their hands. Consistently good reaction times are a result of consistent training. Plenty of older baseball/tennis players have superhuman reaction times. I would see mental fatigue and boredom as being the major hurdle to playing esports on a professional level at an older age. No matter how fun it started as, 10+ years of looking at the same thing over and over has got to be soul sucking.

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#27

Post by valleyer » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #11

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

Do you have the same questions for professional athletes in traditional sports?

We have decades of examples of how this works out for pro athletes. The answer is that there's a range of outcomes: some have to find new careers after their playing days are over; others find ancillary work (coaching, scouting) in the sports industry; the very best make enough money that they don't need to work anymore. In many cases, the athletes have a college degree of at least some value.

Professional video game streaming is relatively new. It's a valid question.

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#28

Post by fizx » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

karaterobot wrote: post #16

This sounds like a bad way to live, and I'm sure it is. But, I wonder if a similarly anxious narrative could be written about the average PM at a startup, or Amazon delivery person, or Uber driver, or really anyone with a demanding job that consumes as much of your time as it can. It seems like being swatted and harassed online are the more unique perils of being a content creator, but the 10-hour stressful days are…

It's probably more stressful having a camera on you for with thousands of fans offering critical feedback every second.

Maybe something like an engineering management role where all you do is share performance reviews?

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#29

Post by somerando7 » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

If you're one of the top streamers, with decent financial literacy, you will easily make enough to retire by 30 if you started streaming at say 20.

Re: Up all night with a Twitch millionaire

#30

Post by munk-a » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

xboxnolifes wrote: post #24

jrockway wrote: post #3

What's the career progression for streamers and eSports players, anyway? I feel like everyone that does this now is going to be tired of it in 5 years, and then they're just 30 and without a college degree or job experience.

Same thing people in sports do: - Continue - Retire - Start coaching - Start casting - Management (Organizing/growing content creators/groups) - Switch careers entirely Any of the giants should hopefully have been saving there money and have quite a bunch tucked away. Any of the smaller ones should have been doing something on the side, or at least have a plan B ready. Also, not sure why we're assuming no college deg…

Or that running a successful business for a decade doesn't count as experience that most businesses would be happy to hire on. Being a successful twitch streamer involves extremely good time management and a lot of hands on advertising. They've got a lot more proof of successful marketing than most PR folks you might look at hiring.