Fortnite Caster and the CEO of Arrow Clan, Semio88 is one cool-as streamer. We talk about his road to success, lessons learned, and Arrow Clan's future.
With almost 25,600 Twitch followers, "Semio88" is a giant when it comes to German Fortnite streaming. He's not just a streamer, though, he's also an entrepreneur, setting up his own Fortnite clan over the last couple of years. We spoke with Semio to find out how he got to where he is today on Twitch and what's planned for his and Arrow's future. Plus, he has some tips for aspiring streamers and streamers...
Our Interview With Semio88
EG: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us!
Thank you as well!
EG: You've been on Twitch for ages now, how did you actually get into streaming?
In 2017, I discovered Twitch and streaming for the first time. In fact, I came across it through Flying Uwe. I had played soccer my whole life and when my knees were bummed I did fitness. Through Uwe, his companies, and his passion for strength training, I would watch and follow him, and sure enough, he was streaming Fortnite on Twitch, among other things. I realised then that that was what I wanted to try.
EG: The keyword here is Fortnite. What was it about this game that grabbed you? It's still your main source of content, even after almost five years, so there must be something there.
We all discovered the early days of Fortnite a bit for ourselves. In a small group, also together with my cousin and my brother, we decided to game a few times a week. Through Uwe's extraordinary gaming rooms, I also wanted a place like that where I could retreat a bit. So I went and bought a proper gaming PC. Actually, I'm a classic console gamer and the first game I really got into was PUBG. Through PUBG I discovered Battle Royale and through Uwe I discovered this comic-book-like Battle Royale. I then told the guys to install and then it went really, really fast. The group got bigger and bigger and we actually played Fortnite every day.
EG: How did your stream develop, then?
At the end of 2017, beginning of 2018, it really took off. That's when I was an affiliate and discovered the whole thing for myself. I'd been playing for a long, long time just for me and streaming for a long time for hardly any viewers. After a while, more and more people came in and the support got bigger and bigger. Then at some point the custom games started and that helped me build up the community and then also the team, which I then founded myself, even though I resisted it at first.
EG: By team, you of course mean Arrow Clan. How did it come about that you decided to join, even though you said that you were reluctant to do so at the beginning?
It was in February of 2019 that I thought to myself "Yes, okay, let's make a clan". We were then maybe about 30-40 people and in every stream came the question of a community clan. Then we just, kind of, did it. We needed a name, a logo, a Discord, and with these down the hatch, within a few days we started. That was definitely a very turbulent time, and then Fortnite Competitive came in more and more and it got increasingly serious day by day.
EG: How did the name "Arrow" come about?
Arrow in German means, well, an arrow. And if you look at our logo, you can see that there's a lily on the tip of the arrow. A lily connects me with my origin and I love this symbol. I even have that tattooed on my hand. That's why we called it Arrow Clan.
EG: What were the biggest successes of the Arrow Clan?
Some of our guys have made really good placements. So every now and then they'll get some good earnings, you know, real money. We grew with Amar and he was always the head of the community, so to speak. Through his tournaments, the guys gained a lot of attention. Arrow Karmaa and Arrow PanixZ, for example, also participated in a Trymacs tournament and the two of them actually reached the first heights for our team. That's how it went on and on. PanixZ was also in the Grand Finals, for example, where he took home some really fat money.
EG: A question that, funnily enough, I always see you ask on TikTok: How can you join the Arrow Clan?
We have an application list that we have been running since October 2019. We currently have just under 6000 applications. On average, 100-200 are added there per month. Primarily, we want to have very active people. Currently we have 5-10 very active applicants, where we then simply decide on 2-3 people. Currently we have 56 members. Also, simply because of time constraints, we don't bring in new people over and over again. This is simply too intensive in the long run, so we avoid it. Meanwhile, we are already three years old and we just want to make a compact team that also hangs together well.
EG: What are your goals for yourself in Twitch, in streaming and also for the Arrow Clan in the future?
I am completely honest. Until recently, until the beginning of this year, I never set my sights on anything. I had put all of my energy into the stream and into the team, and lost myself a bit. Then, at the beginning of this year, I decided to focus more on myself, including that I tackle more projects. For example, last weekend's €500 EarlyGame tournament. In the meantime, I have also co-casted with many companies like Logitech or Razer, and organized myself. This is something that I would like to continue doing. In fact, I have also now applied and released as a content creator. I already have two offers from two very big organizations, but my decision is not made yet. Of course, I will still be Arrow-Papa and will continue to strengthen, present, and support the team.
EG: What tips do you have for streamers who are just starting out?
You shouldn't get stuck at the top, with big streamers like Amar and Monte for example, and think "oh there's the big money". You should look at Twitch as a hobby and just get going. It should just be really fun, in the end. You should give your channel personality and love your content. Create your own emotes, panels, expand to other platforms like Twitter and TikTok. The possibilities are actually endless. Oh, and then you just have to keep at it. I mentioned that earlier, for 6-10 months there was nobody on my stream, but I just kept going because I loved the game. I also always say to my guys on the team, "Better to start a marathon with small, solid steps, but stick with it for the long haul, than to tear it all up overnight by taking a high risk".
EG: Those were nice closing words! Thank you very much and all the best for the future.
Thank you very much.
More Fortnite Content:
This article was originally written by Alisa Eiber.