Twitch streamer Summit1g recalls journey to Twitch stardom
Former CS:GO professional player turned Twitch streamer Jaryd Russell Lazar, better known by his online alias Summit1g, has shared his journey to becoming one of the platform’s biggest names.
Going from only 20 to hundreds of thousands of views was not easy for him. Summit1g said his journey to earning a spot among Twitch’s biggest stars involved luck and huge risks in trying new games.
Climbing streaming ladder
During a live stream on June 21, Summit1g shared how he made his way to stardom. Starting as a CS:GO streamer with only 20 daily viewers, Summit1g slowly yet steadily carried it to over 200 views.
He said CS:GO was “the first good choice” that brought him hundreds of views when he was new to live streaming. The viewership count received from the game was also due to his status as a professional GO player.
“I kind of did everything the right way. When I first started things just kind of fell into my lap,” Summit1g said. “I played some Counter-Strike which was the first good choice—it made me go from like 20 viewers to 200 viewers.”
Perhaps due to the feeling of being flat and wanting to try something new, the aspiring streamer switched to Hammerpoint Interactive’s 2012 open-world survival horror game, Infestation: Survivor, formerly known as The War Z. The move resulted in his viewership count dropping to 100 views.
Despite this, Summit1g kept playing War Z and consistently uploading videos. Eventually, his hard labor bore fruit. His viewership count bounced back before skyrocketing to 1400 per day.
Aside from War Z, the American streamer played Bohemia Interactive’s survival title, DayZ Standalone. Both titles share huge similarities, and it did not take him much time to adapt.
His consistency resulted in a streaming career success. Summit1g recalled that luck and taking risks were crucial in his journey to stardom.
Switching games no longer a risk
Throughout the years, Summit1g has witnessed tremendous growth as a professional Twitch streamer. Nowadays, the streamer will no longer have to worry about losing viewership due to playing different titles.
Summit1g currently has 6.1 million followers and thousands in average views. His peak viewership came on April 2-9, 2020, when he posted 317,490 with a 95,880 average.
Summit1g would then make his way to play more competitive titles, including VALORANT and Fortnite. Sometimes, he would also play Rockstar Games’ timeless 2013 hit title, Grand Theft Auto V.
The man once tried to return to streaming CS:GO after years of hiatus from the game. It turned out that the veteran, who once had a brief professional stint in CS:GO, could still pull out an impressive 1v4 performance during his stream on May 21.
Other than CS:GO, Summit1g also tried to return to playing VALORANT earlier this year in February, which was the first time after months of being away from the game.
In the stream, Summit1g managed to clinch up kills playing KAY/O and led the team to an 11-11 draw. His fans, however, chose to focus on talking about how he had reached Platinum.
