Twenty-year-old Shuai Wu is a supervisor in marketing sales for a company in Chongqing, China. Since last March, he has been online game streaming whenever he has time.
So far, he has gained more than 300 followers on Longzhu, a game streaming platform in China. Now he plans to quit his job to become a full-time online streamer, even though he doesn't expect to make any money at first.
"I don't have income from streaming now," Wu said, "I even pay money for streaming." For beginners, income can only come from donations. Some beginners even distribute gifts to fans in order to gain followers quickly.
Wu is one of the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of mostly male video game-obsessed youths around the world who try each month to make a go at professional online game streaming.
A game streamer or game broadcaster is someone who plays games online while others watch. At the top level, professional video gamers can pull down hundreds of thousands of dollars in endorsements, ad deals and even donations from admiring fans.
Big Numbers
Officials at Twitch, a San Francisco-based live streaming video game platform, say there are a least 1.7-million new registered broadcasters and more than 100 million new viewers every month on its platform. Among all the registered broadcasters, 1.5 million are active.
The vast majority of the money in streaming flows to the ones at the top of the pyramid. Most streamers earn very little, meaning the vast majority only scrape by despite devoting the long hours required to practice and hone their skill with a particular game.
Money comes from different sources, including subscription programs on live streaming platforms such as Twitch or Douyu, a Chinese online game streaming platform. On Twitch, viewers have the option to pay $4.99 per month to an online game streamer. Every channel can be watched for free, but there are extra benefits like being able to send emojis in a chat for paid members.
However, not every broadcaster on Twitch can have a subscription, or sub, button. Only partners can apply for a sub button, and to qualify, each person needs an average concurrent viewership of 500-plus (not just a one-time peak) and broadcast regularly at least three times a week.
Streamers with more views and followers earn more from sponsorships and advertisement. Advertisements are run on the channel whenever the platform likes.
Sponsors usually sign a month-long contract with streamers, and typically require the streamer to represent the brand, usually by displaying its logo on their channel or wearing the brand's attire. When in public, the streamer speaks favorably about the product and promotes it whenever possible.
Samsung is one such company that sponsors some of the best teams that stream the game League of Legends.
Viewers can also donate money to their favorite streamers, and donations can be large or small. A streamer whose Twitch name is "Sodapoppin," received $50,000 from a fan with the screen name "Amhai" last year, one of the top donations. Another Twitch streamer, "KittyPlaysGames," got almost $7,000 in donations from just one person in 2014.
Tianyu Guo, a Chinese video game fan who sometimes watches others play, said it is a very different experience to watch a highly skillful streamer playing watching ordinary players playing. This is why a fan might donate such large amounts of money to a streamer.
"It's such an enjoyable experience," Guo said.
Hard to Succeed
China's game streaming platforms, unlike Twitch, pay well-known streamers high contract fees that keeps them from streaming on other platforms.
Some of the streamers own a big number of audience and receive many donations. But only a few streamers make such large amounts of money. On Douyu TV a streamer can't sign a contract with the platform unless he or she gains a certain number of followers.
Launching a career as a streamer is easy. In fact, it's too easy, and that's part of the problem. It costs less than $3,000 to start a channel; which, in comparison to starting a business, isn't all that much. All a potential streamer needs is a computer, a microphone, a webcam and good internet connection. But squeezing out even a modest income is hard.
"For those who have no other jobs, they can die of hunger in this profession," said Wu.
Wu said before he began to stream, he believed being a streamer is as easy as being a superstar. But he soon realized it was much tougher than he imagined. "It seems that many broadcasters get along with each other," forming cliques, he said.
Another streamer, Bao Nguyen, whose name is "ShinKaigan" on Twitch, is a top-level "League of Legends" streamer and also an e-sports tournament player. He said more business savvy streamers know how to leverage connections and the money they make as a streamer to make something long term.
For instance, some people who started off as streamers made a brand for themselves over time and at the same time, they have accumulated some money. They would then form organizations that sponsor professional teams. Others get jobs in the gaming industry through the people that they meet in the community.
Nguyen said becoming a good streamer requires perseverance and takes a lot of work. "I definitely would not suggest going into it with the sole intention of making money as it isn't particularly lucrative for most, especially at the start. Just do it for fun and see where it takes you."
Just as quickly as it can start, it can end. Some streamers plan to stream for years, but Nguyen believes that "Streaming is definitely not a long-term kind of job."
Being a streamer is a hot career now, but as many other jobs, it still can be a tough one. The prospect of this profession is nebulous.
Reach Staff Reporter Ruoran Wang here.
Annenberg Media