Mikkel William/Getty Images
Mikkel William/Getty Images
Stephen Flavall makes his living playing video games to an audience of thousands on Twitch. When he first started broadcasting, he only had about fifteen people watching at a time. He liked how he could deal with a small community, cracking jokes while people cheered him on.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere changed as his popularity grew.
“About 200 viewers was when it started to get exhausting,” says Flavall. “Now I have about 2,000 viewers [at a time] and when so many people are asking you questions and telling you what to do, it becomes absolutely unmanageable. I began to have anxiety, bordering on complete panic attacks.”
Flavall has made it to a better place now, but his story is not unique. Burnout is on the rise across the country, even for those whose work is – literally – play.
Fewer vacations, less vacations
While professional video gaming may sound like an enviable gig, it’s not much different from being a performer. Broadcasters have an audience, a persona and act in the same role for long hours.
Stephen Flavall, aka “Yorbis” on Twitch, with his occasional star, Zephyr the cat.
Stephen Flavall
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Stephen Flavall
Broadcasters also cannot take vacations. They run the risk of their fan base losing interest during a broadcast and becoming disengaged. Since they are self-employed, they cannot count on paid holidays or sick leave. This leaves broadcasters wondering how to navigate making an income that isn’t an official “job”.
“If you have breaks during your broadcast, how do they work?” asked a reddit user on r/Twitch. “I’ve been streaming for a while, but I found it was hard for me to go for much longer than two hours.”
Another editor commented on the appropriate length of a break: “20 minutes is too long. I recommend five minutes because you don’t want people to lose interest.”
When Flavall, who works at Twitch, first started out, he also wasn’t too keen on taking vacations, and that extended to offline vacation time.
“I would worry that viewers would lose interest in my channel if it was offline for a week or two,” says Flavall. “But nowadays my content is unique enough and my viewers are long-term enough that my viewership base keeps coming back when I come back.”
Even now, though, many of Flavall’s “vacations” are really still work.
“Conventions like TwitchCon, opening parties for various game studios and production companies, in-person content creation opportunities, and other private chances to talk to sponsors or investors all give the illusion of time off, while in it’s another work weekend after all.” Flavall says.
Mixing it all up and risking it all
Twitch audiences can also request streamers to play games they may be tired of. Haelian, another Twitch streamer known for playing rogues, got tired of trying to escape the underworld Hades day-to-day. But that game made his broadcast popular, and his fans weren’t happy.
‘Hades’ streamer Haelian struggles with bosses and his fatigue with the game.
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Haelian
‘Hades’ streamer Haelian struggles with bosses and his fatigue with the game.
Haelian
“I was already burnt out Hadesbut I was dividing my time 50% other games and 50% Hades” Says Haelian. “You get people you don’t want to hear say “When will he pass Hades?’ ‘Why hasn’t it started? Hades yet?'”
What followed was another kind of hell. Viewership dropped as Haelian began to devote more time to other games. Fewer people would tune in if he didn’t fight the Furies or go up against the Bull of Minos. This endangered his livelihood. “How interactive people are with me and how interactive I am with them, all those things directly hit my wallet,” says Haelian.
“Every content creator has been through this, especially those who play games,” says Haelian. “They start with this thing that’s known, and then they try to do something else, and that’s a struggle.”
Fierce competition and inconsistent support
Twitch’s competitive culture also fuels the flames. It’s not just that a streamer can get tired of a game or rude viewers; they can also fall victim to a pervasive “always on” mentality.
Taylor Chou, Director of Talent Management at Evil Geniuses, a sports and gaming entertainment company, says Twitch can be a pretty toxic work environment.
“When you’re a broadcaster, you really know that every second you’re offline, grinding, posting, broadcasting – someone [else] it is,” says Chou. “That’s a lot of pressure for people to learn how to manage.”
Chou also says that communicating with your audience and having a support system is key to mitigating broadcast burnout.
“Most of the best ways to deal with burnout start with a support system,” says Chou. “When you’re a broadcaster, make sure your community has a sense that this is a person they’re watching.”
This support has helped Stephen Flavall get his mojo back. He still plays his favorite game – Kill the top — to his audience every week and has a small team to help manage sponsorship contracts and interviews.
But that kind of structure can take years to build, and while fans have rallied around broadcasters, they can just as often stress or even harass them. This leaves many burned out and on their way to signing up for good.
Keller Gordon is a columnist for Join the game. Find him on Twitter: @kelbot_