After graduating college, Anne Munition (real name not disclosed) was working a graphic design job, and decided to take up streaming as a hobby. Over time, she realized that her channel had grown to the point where a decision needed to be made.
“I started to kind of realize that I was becoming successful at it and that if I really wanted to make a go at becoming like a content creator full-time that I needed to make time for it,” she told The Esports Observer. And so, she made the decision to quit her job. Fast-forward six years later, and Anne Munition has amassed 633K followers on Twitch, nearly 100K subscribers on YouTube, and is a member of Red Bull’s gaming talent roster.
By the Numbers
For Anne, the decision to move into streaming came down to the math. She was earning enough from her channel to pay her bills and have enough left over to start saving. She explained that the income from streaming, which comes primarily from viewer donations and subscriptions to her channel, can be extremely volatile month-to-month.
That income has become even more volatile for some streamers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Viewership on Twitch has skyrocketed with people stuck inside amidst various states of lockdown, which has according to Anne allowed revenue from ads played during a stream to remain somewhat consistent. However, that primary revenue stream relies on viewers having the resources to donate part of their income to their favorite streamer.
“Especially this year has been really tough, I think in general for everyone. Often creators, while our jobs have a bit more security, because we’re just kind of doing the same thing that we’ve always been doing, the people who subscribe to us potentially have less income – especially expendable income to spend on things like entertainment. And so I think quite a few people probably have seen a hit to their sub revenue…For me, things like sponsored deals are very important because I don’t really have to worry about my sub count as much, because I know that I have a guaranteed thing with my sponsorships.”
In addition to her affiliation with Red Bull, Anne has partnerships with several brands including CORSAIR and Discord. Having been a part of the relatively young streaming ecosystem for so long, she has seen the relationship between brands and streamers evolve over time.
“I think that in general the companies that were doing sponsorships six years ago were all the endemic brands that were directly related to gaming. And as time has gone on, we’ve seen more and more of that kind of open up and reach out into different companies that are not directly related. A lot of food companies and things like that. And those non-endemic companies are kind of dipping their toe into streaming…everyone sees the value in content creation as a medium.”
What to Watch
There are hundreds of different video games and content categories streamed on Twitch every day. Part of the challenge for a full time Twitch streamer is identifying which games to play on your channel. Anne explained that this can be a delicate balancing act – finding a game that you enjoy playing that will also hold the attention of an audience.
She said that she has sometimes found games that she greatly enjoys playing, but might have a lot of complex features that are difficult for a new viewer to latch on to. “I have to kind of focus on what I’m enjoying, although it can be very difficult to see that this game that I’m really enjoying, clearly people don’t want to watch me play this as much as they would want to watch me play something else.”
While some streamers choose to follow the popular trends and focus on games with the broadest appeal, Anne said that for her personal brand, it is important to remain authentic and focus on games that she genuinely enjoys.
Looking forward, Anne wants to continue growing her stream, but to also find a way to create a better work-life balance. She explained that streaming can be a uniquely all-consuming profession as your personal life and daily activities all have the potential to be leveraged for content.
“I know most streamers and myself included, I don’t ever take days off. I can’t remember the last time that I had like a true day off, except for maybe Thanksgiving, I guess.
But even then it’s like you’re always thinking about, should I be tweeting this? Should I be posting this photo on Instagram? So it’s like every waking moment is kind of consumed by this idea of I’m a content creator. My job is to create content. So therefore your life is pretty much all content in a way. One of the things definitely for me in 2021 I want to try to continue doing my work and hopefully do a better job of it while also improving my work-life balance, which I believe is going to have the byproduct of better mental health and therefore hopefully also more entertaining streams that will draw in more viewers.”
