fame from esports and become a superstar on Twitch

Shroud wanted to emphasize that he was still very, very good. Of course, he’s no longer part of an esports organization, and of course, he’s no longer wearing a Cloud9 uniform to compete professionally at ESL, DreamHack, or whatever. But it must be admitted that, when he said that the whole world would always stand with him, this statement was not exaggerated at all. As one of the most talented FPS players in the world, Shroud is still at the peak of his career despite not playing.

“I think I can do it in Counter-Strike,” Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek said during a Discord call with PCgamer, when he was asked how long it would take him to master the pro arena in his shooter. interest. “It will probably take a little longer, I haven’t played Counter-Strike in a while,” he admitted. “But I don’t think it will take too long to get back to the top.”

Today, Shroud is one of the most popular streamers on Twitch. On Twitch, we have community-friendly streamers and smart promotions. There are streamers who build their brand through tricks, and convince thousands of viewers to linger to witness the angry, comedy acts live on the stream. There are smart brains who want to build a community of their own, they know how to take advantage of their SEO ability to optimize their channel when streaming at the right time for the lunch break of elementary school students. There are people with the ability. natural gamer, switching from one game to another in the hope of attracting viewers’ curiosity.

But Shroud, Shroud is completely different. It’s hard to do the same 8-hour job over and over again – that’s playing PUBG non-stop. However, Shroud is one of the few streamers to take his stream to the next level of art. It’s like a natural talent, like world stars like LeBron James or Lionel Messi – seeing him get 30 kills in a PUBG duo, or clearing out almost a quarter of the players in a single game. Fortnite for example.

It gives us inspiration. Very difficult to describe. It made the caster all over the world praise it. Of course, at the end of the day, Shroud is simply playing the game with a mouse and keyboard, but it makes you realize that there is something, which cannot be obtained from hard, well-trained practice. You cannot be Shroud, in the same way you cannot be Michael Jordan.

It is strange, for someone at the peak of their career to enjoy the first month of hanging up the competition. Shroud earned over $200,000 in three years playing Counter-Strike and PUBG for PUBG. Late last year, at the age of 23, he announced he would retire from professional play. “From here on, I will focus on new challenge, stream and push myself to create great content for fans around the world,” he wrote on Twitter. My Twitter.

If you follow Twitch regularly, you can guess this will eventually come. Shroud has more than 33,000 subscribers and has been less and less present on Cloud9’s esports profile over the past year or so. Now, he’s the face of Loaded.gg, describing himself as a “game ambassador” geared toward creating entertaining content on Twitch. It’s strange that Shroud ended his playing career even though he was still at his peak, but in general, when people make their own decisions, they don’t shed a tear.

“I really miss playing on the big stage, hearing the cheers of the crowd in the stadium. But I’m not interested in competing,” he admitted. “In my four years as a pro gamer, I had a lot of highlights, but in my mind, I wanted to keep streaming, because before, I had to adjust both jobs. I want to be my own boss. I don’t want to move anymore. I’ve been flying non-stop this year, and I don’t like that.”

Try to stand in his place. Shroud is an excellent shooter in the game. As a young man, his dream was to become a professional gamer – an ambitious goal at that time, when esports was still not as developed as it is now, but luckily for him, he developed. career right into the second Counter-Strike renaissance. His family was a little supportive at first but became more supportive as Shroud began to see his dreams come true. Shroud is now too famous and respected enough to do whatever he wants.

The pan is viable. That is all. pic.twitter.com/5AxWwscBVS

— Michael Grzesiek (@shroud) April 3, 2018

This sets a bad precedent for the esports industry, as Shroud, a player who can make any roster in North America, is happier not having to compete professionally. You’d hope that esports would keep this 23-year-old talent around, especially since he’s been such a magnet for audiences.

Blizzard, Riot, valve, and what happens in pro are facing the harsh reality that Shroud can make more money, live more freely on his own. It’s like The Rock leaving WWE: all of these companies want to create superstars, but what happens when those superstars realize their true worth?

PCgamer asked Shroud if he thinks the esports industry can improve to keep talent like him from disappearing. Not surprisingly, he couldn’t give an easy answer.

“It depends on the individual. Some people like to travel around the world. But for me, it’s not, I’d rather stay at home and play online,” Shroud replied. “I don’t know if anything could be changed to make things better for everyone.”

Shroud is not sure what his future holds. He left Canada many years ago to settle in Los Angeles. He streams 8 hours a day and never gets bored in this job.

Now, Shroud mainly plays Battlegrounds and Fortnite – the two titles that make him famous right now – and he says that, as long as publishers keep rolling out Battle Royale, he will keep playing them. Shroud also disagrees with the idea of ​​a MOBA for the genre – he could be playing the battle royale of Battlefield or Call of Duty, or the sci-fi, sci-fi theme.

“I would love to see games where the environment is destructible,” said Shroud when he was asked by PCGamer what he would like to see in the upcoming battle royale titles. “It will change the way people play games. Someone’s camping in the house and you can knock the wall down.”

Obviously, the biggest beneficiary is Twitch. As the image of many gamers, Shroud always makes sure he doesn’t get involved in scandals in his career, avoiding things that can affect his career like Dr. Disrespect, Tyler1 and some players from the Overwatch League. He talks about streamer mistakes to the cruelty of Twitch chat, and it will follow you wherever you go. “You know the daily news, and a lot of bad stuff… It’ll show up on Twitter, Instagram, if you play while not streaming, that time period will also be posted. Then slowly, that scandal will follow you.”

“I laugh at every message, because most of them aren’t really serious. They just want you to laugh, or they simply want to see you angry. If they really want to put you down, it’s best to laugh it off.”

This is a simple tactic that has helped many streamers. And it’s only going to get harder and harder now that Shroud is risking everything into his streaming career. At least he knew what he was up against.

After hanging out from the professional game, Shroud has returned to his roots. Gamer in the bedroom, comfortable. He used to travel around the world, and always wanted to go back home, with his friends, without having to practice or attend promotions. Some players want to appear at IEM Katowice. Some people want to enjoy their high school summer vacation for the rest of their lives. We don’t know if Shroud’s decision was correct or not. Because in general, isn’t this what we do after “retirement”? Do what we want.

Source: PCGamer

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