Streaming. The Struggle for an Above Average Gamer. A Personal Story

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Streaming. The only job every gamer grows up dreaming about. This is a story about myself, a streamer for a few years, who has seen the personal struggle of streaming and why it is so hard to make it in the market.

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Growing up I was always a competitive person, games only increased that. Soon I found myself falling in love with Call of Duty (COD), and before I knew it, I was in the competitive scene at a mere age of 12. 11 years ago when I discovered my 1 true dream and passion in gaming, YouTube was just beginning, gaming content was on the rise, and everyone wanted a piece of it. I struggled for a while trying to get my foot in the door. I needed to use my phone, or a camera to record my TV because I couldn’t afford a capture card. My videos were edited in free editors that would render with a watermark. Nothing about my videos was clean, but my gameplay was, and that was the difference-maker.

Soon I found myself streaming and having a fantastic time at it. My numbers were growing, my love for entertaining was growing and a dream was born. I worked hard to fine-tune my COD skill and continue to make sure I was at the top of my level. Then came college, the downfall to almost every streamer. By the time college rolls around every streamer usually has to decide between full gaming commitment or college. My only option was the college. My passion for video games never fell off, but the time and effort I was able to put in did.

Fast forward to today. April 5, 2020. I still stream, I have a solid following but I cannot grow. The problem with twitch is it is overpopulated. Kids as young as 13 create a stream and begin streaming games. Professional gamers use it as a means to showcase the top level of talent and if you are a person without that top-level talent, growing is merely impossible, but it's not. The key to being successful in streaming is dedication. Gaming and streaming tie in great because by the time you master a game and you are top of the leaderboards, you master streaming for that game as well. At the end of the day, I am not at a point where I can call my streaming a career, but I will be there soon.

This article was written by Mitchell Dewald, the Co-Founder of THE RISE COLLECTION (therisecollection.co)