It isn’t uncommon for the average person to participate in online gaming. The range of gaming consoles and PCs on the market allows for an immersive and realistic gaming experience.
In the last ten years, streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube have become the hub for the rising careers of live streamers and content creators who record themselves playing popular console and PC games like Minecraft and Call of Duty.
Thanks to partner programs in which streamers work with the sites they play on, they can make money from viewer donations and subscriptions. Years after their rise to fame, gamers like Ninja and Pewdiepie boast millions of subscribers on their platforms and an enviable net worth.
We are already aware that some celebrities have become big names in the online gaming world, especially after the rise of online gaming platforms having a variety of game options. It’s enough to try cryptoball shooter games to see the reason for an abundance of games in today’s online gaming platforms, ready to offer.
This is a big deal for not only players but also streamers whose digital presence started evolving recently. Here are three streamers switching out regular streaming for professional online gaming.
Jaime Staples ‘PokerStaples’
32-year-old Jaime Staples began daily vlogging in 2016 with a variety of videos, with some being related to gaming content and vlogging his daily life. The Alberta native, whose Twitch channel is named PokerStaples, has over 150,000 followers.
The streamer started to play poker professionally and joined Pok*rstars in 2015 in a sponsorship deal.
In 2019, he left Pokerstars and committed full-time to streaming poker as his main career. He then joined PartyPoker and has primarily played there ever since.
The gaming star is no stranger to acquiring cash. His online earnings are now estimated at $1 million. A majority of his career earnings were made playing at Pok*rStars. Poker runs in the Staples family, as Jaime’s brother Matty Staples is also a professional poker streamer.
Fans of Staples can even purchase a stake in his pok*r games if they wish. He also offers advice and valuable gaming knowledge to his fans online. As of 2023, Staples is still a well-respected streamer and continues to stream five days a week on Twitch.
Felix Lengyel – ‘xQc’
Like Staples, Lengyel is also a Canadian-based streamer who began his streaming journey playing Overwatch as a professional gamer.
The 27-year-old played for the professional Dallas Fuel Overwatch team and also for Team Canada from 2017-2019. As of 2023, he has 11.8 million followers on Twitch.
The gamer decided to expand his horizons from Overwatch and became a full-time Twitch streamer sometime during 2019.
He became the most-watched streamer on Twitch for three consecutive years, despite being banned several times for violating the streaming platform’s guidelines.
Branching out as a multi-streamer, Lengyel began online gaming streams and struck up a partnership with a gaming site where he was reportedly given a referral code to display in his streams.
Twitch has hit out at gaming streams and the promotion of online gaming. For some streamers, the lucrative deals and money to be made in online gaming seem to outweigh any concerns about the morality of gaming.
Lengyel himself has admitted to having a turbulent relationship with gaming and an addiction to it. To his audience, he told them he was somewhat addicted to gaming but it was alright for him because he could afford it.
Despite the controversy he has faced for his streams, Lengyel recently signed a two-year contract with streaming site Kick.
Kick itself has sponsors from gaming sites in various countries; therefore, there is less controversy and difficulty around streaming and promoting online gaming on the rival site.
Lex Veldhuis
Lex Veldhuis started as a streamer playing the military science fiction franchise, StarCraft on Twitch. The Holland-born streamer always played video games but transitioned into gaming later on.
He began playing in card rooms in his home country with his competitive spirit, and a chance meeting with professional French pok*r player Bertrand Grospellier inspired him to make the jump into professional gaming. He started in his first game with $10.
Veldhuis thrived in online gaming tournaments, and when he was mentored and he began at Pok*rStars in 2005 delving into bigger hands. He still managed to cash in at the World Series of Pok*r a number of times, but nothing close compared to his online career.
In 2013, the 39-year-old transitioned to PokerStars Online, although he did eventually return to Twitch as an online gaming streamer. The gaming pro streams every other day and has amassed over 300,000 followers on Twitch.
Impressively, Veldhuis was put in the Dutch Gaming Hall of Fame in 2016 for his contributions to the gaming world for the Netherlands. The streamer has his own website with links to his previous gaming Twitch streams and details about his life, as well as access to his previous live games.
From gaming to online gaming: Why the switch?
Money is an obvious motivator for those in the streaming community to switch up their content and join the world of online gaming streams.
There has been a big boom in the number of watches consumed as well as participating in online gaming, so these streams offer gamers the opportunity to gain a following and a reliable income.
Poker, in particular, offers a form of camaraderie that may inspire streamers to get involved. If they have already built a following, there is a chance that their loyal viewers will stay around for their new streams.
Online gaming platforms are also keen to sponsor players who show they can grow an audience. The players we have looked at are enough to inspire anybody to plug in their headset and create an account.
