I've been streaming mainly shooter games on Twitch for a little over a year now. Yes, I am female. And yes, I enjoy it. No, I don't do it because of clicks or money. I've been gaming out of a passion for ages now. Here comes the whole truth about streaming.
Some will now be surprised, but gaming is still often seen as something that mostly men do, even though that has never been true. 44% of gamers are female - a quota of women that we can only dream of in companies... For the math geniuses among us (to which I absolutely do not belong to), almost half the gamers around the world are women! And why not? Video games are great! For everyone! And here we have three more reasons why they are so great:
- READ MORE: 3 Reasons Why Gaming Is Good for You
In order to understand my personal connection to gaming a bit better, we have to go a little further. Because it all leads to where I am today. When I turned my hobby into my job ...
The Beginning
I came into contact with my first video game very early on. At that time, my seven-year older brother got a yellow Game Boy Color for his birthday. As is normal for siblings, it was like “Alisa, hands off, this is mine”. And being the good sister that I always was, I waited until my brother was at soccer practice, so I could sneak into his room later and secretly familiarize myself with the electronic device. At first, I didn't understand. My pixelated avatar in the form of a little man was walking around in the grass until, suddenly, I heard a noise. Suddenly, I was in a kind of fight scene, a wild Pokémon wanted to be caught - I was hooked!
So after the next birthday, I finally held my own Game Boy in my hands: my first own Game Boy Color in the color of the devil. I now looked forward to the long car rides to Italy or the days when I was allowed to stay up a little longer and play. I don't even remember how many nights I secretly stayed up all night...
Over the years I have accumulated quite a few consoles: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Light, Nintendo DSi, and, soon, my first PlayStation, which was later followed by the Xbox 360. I heard from a few friends that they often played Call of Duty, so I decided to buy the game (with the help of my dad, since I was obviously not 18 years old yet). And from then on I realized that I felt at home with shooter games. The fast movements, teaming up and communicating with friends, the feeling of victory after a win, or the best KDA made me strive for more.
The fun of Fortnite brought me to Twitch
Of course, I didn't forget the classics among the games and when Zelda: Breath of the Wild was teased back then, I knew that I had to have this game and the Nintendo Switch. I heard a lot about the game Fortnite at that time but didn't develop any real interest in it then.
In 2018, however, a friend asked me if I would like to play online with her - because she also had a Switch. So we downloaded the free Fortnite and had fun, eliminated the opponents with our horrible play-style, and tried to build a wall every now and then. The longer I played, the more I noticed how the game captivated me and I began to take Fortnite more seriously and switched to my PlayStation 4 Pro, which I had bought in the meantime.
So I played Fortnite, met new people online, with whom I often started to play, and did my bachelor's degree on the side. At that time, I also started watching some Let's Plays of the game on YouTube. Later, there were live streams on Twitch, where I also watched players like Ninja or Tfue. Of course, I was far from playing like them, but since I really love playing Fortnite (and really love talking), I wanted to try streaming myself.
So I bought a better microphone and a PS4 camera, looked into the settings, and went live for the first time ...
Luck, fate, or maybe both
I have to admit, I was more than lucky on my first stream. Maybe some of you know him. MontanaBlack decided on the same day to record a video for YouTube, which he called “making little streamers happy”. In my very first stream, which by the way was terrible in terms of quality, I received an insane donation and a host from one of the biggest streamers in Germany.
And that's how it all started. I was often asked later how I felt in that moment. I often describe it as surreal - simply because I didn't realize it at that moment. But at the same time, I knew that I had found what I wanted to do. However, I never intended to stream full-time. I wanted to be able to choose and yet be secure. And shortly afterward I came across EarlyGame.
And yes, here I am, editor at EarlyGame, where I can write about gaming and esports. I am also a streamer on Twitch, where a community has developed that means more to me than I could have ever thought before.
During my studies, I was once asked where I see myself in a few years. I couldn't answer that question at the time. Ultimately, my passion for video games got me where I am today. Maybe it took a bit of luck, but if I look back, I would do it again just like that. It's a dream come true, really.
And my colleagues have also had their own experiences with video games. Have a look here:
- EarlyGame Talk: Videogames Made me Study History
- EarlyGame Talk: Video Games Make Me Angry and I Love It!
- EarlyGame Talk: I Have a Confession... I love Gacha Games
Original article by EarlyGame's Alisa Eiber.