Asmongold reveals why he streams on Twitch
Twitch streamer Zack, or better known by his online persona Asmongold, has revealed the real reason behind his decision to stream on the purple platform. Among the many reasons he mentioned is the illness his late mother suffered that prevented him from leaving his house.
Despite the 31-year-old streamer currently having 2.4 million followers on Twitch and recording thousands of live viewers in his streams, he said that his road to becoming one of the most successful streamers was full of turbulence.
Asmongold’s early days
As said during his November 22 stream where he celebrated his 10th anniversary on Twitch, Asmongold’s primary reason was to earn money to tend his ill mother, who suffered from a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that restricted airflow from the lungs. His mother was first diagnosed in 2012.
“My mom getting sick forced me into streaming,” Asmongold said. “I couldn’t leave the house because I had to take care of her. And this was like in 2012.”
Asmongold explained that he started on YouTube, and the circumstances did not allow him to attend school properly.
“That’s why I started making YouTube videos. I couldn’t get a job. I could barely go to school because of that,” Asmongold continued, although he did work for the IRS for a while before he streamed full time.
Money and streaming
Unfortunately, his own health also deteriorated because he was not making enough money from YouTube.
“Ironically, most people say they didn’t start streaming for money,” Asmongold said. “I did. All my teeth were falling out because I could never afford to go to the dentist or anything. They were getting so bad that it was just terrible.”
Asmongold claimed that his health continued to worsen since then and that the dentist said it would take $50,000 to fix his teeth. He claimed that the news caused his 25-year-old self a major mental trauma that made him doubt himself.
“I went home with that bill, and I wanted to kill myself,” Asmongold said. “And I was like, there is no way I can ever get above that.”
Determined to find a solution, however, he took up to Twitch in November 2011, where he then gained fame, becoming one of the most successful Twitch streamers.
“Then, what I ended up doing was I started streaming because I knew I couldn’t pay for it with the money I made on YouTube. That’s why I started streaming, so in a way, I’m glad my teeth fell out,” Asmongold concluded.
On one of the latest Activision-Blizzard’s scandal
Other than reacting to content he deems interesting on Youtube, Asmongold used to exclusively stream World of Warcraft. He’s a variety streamer now, having recently delved into New World and Final Fantasy XIV. However, while he currently doesn’t stream WoW as often, he still follows news about the game and its developer Activision-Blizzard closely.
Previously in July, Asmongold reacted to the news that Blizzard was sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing due to alleged systemic gender discrimination.
“Shameful to hear about what’s been reportedly going on at Blizzard. As a 20-plus year fan, it really hurts to see how things have developed in such an awful way. Just makes me sad,” Asmongold said on Twitter.
He, however, also opposed the idea that streamers should boycott the company by leaving World of Warcraft. He further stressed that fans should not harass Blizzard developers over the lawsuit.
“If they go to another game, their stream is going to be fucking dead,” Asmongold said to fans. “You know it, I know it, Everybody knows it. I don’t think it’s fair to ask or expect someone to throw away their career because of something they had nothing to do with.”