Can anyone play games while working full time? Yes, why not? Since gaming is for all irrespective of gender and age groups therefore one can play games even while doing a 9 to 5 job. All one needs to have is the will to play games and time management skills. And since the gaming sector is following the upward curve therefore there are high chances that the leisure gaming hours may transform into a gaming career option in no time. This stands true for the popular gaming influencer Rishab Verma aka Antaryami who used to be a working professional with a 9 to 5 job and in free time, he used to create gaming content; and now, he has over 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube!
Speaking with AnimationXpress, Antaryami shared, “Unlike every other gamer, I started playing with my friends just for some fun. Gradually after playing with them, they used to compliment me on my gaming skills but more than that they were fond of my comic timings and punchlines. That is how my journey began when they suggested that I should start a YouTube channel for gaming. By God’s grace, I was appreciated by the audiences and now I am targeting to reach four million subscribers on my YouTube channel. ”
At his initial stage, he used to be inspired by streamers like Gareboo, Alpha Clasher, dynamo, and many more and they still are his inspiration. When he shifted his focus to gaming content, few of his videos went viral and people started recognising him as a gamer and an entertainer. Antaryami commented, “One fine day, I experienced a moment every fan can relate to. I received a message from Gareebo Bhai to do a collaborative video, which indeed turned out to be a turning point in my journey. I decided to let go of my job and dedicate all my time to my YouTube journey, and later on, I took up gaming as a career. To be honest, I am very happy and satisfied but I still want to grow and learn more.”
BGMI has been the internal part of his journey but he has explored many popular games. The game list includes Valorant, Fall Guys, Prop Night, Among Us, Call of Duty, Getting Over It, and many more.
He has achieved massive growth since the inception of his gaming content career which was two years back and the phrase “Think before you speak” has helped him to achieve his goals. Being a streamer he has experienced and learned more about the phrase. He added, “In videos, we are open to retaking and can omit the lines which can be hurting for others but while doing live streams, one should always be attentive to what they are saying as there are no scopes for retakes. I have realised that anything I do or say can influence the audience who is watching me, therefore I always keep a check on everything and I am always cautious. The other thing I learnt was definitely proper usage of more gaming equipment, using skills at the best, and increasing the quality of content every time.”
Apart from collaborative content, Antaryami thinks that there is an enormous diversity in gaming content. He is glad that he was one of the initial creators who participated to bring that diversity in the market through entertainment and funny voice-over video content.
Here are some more interesting insights shared by Antaryami with AnimationXpress:
Gaming influencer’s lives depend on the existence of the game. Your opinion.
I kind of disagree with the statement. If we are taking this statement as an esports player then it may be somewhat relevant because an esports player dedicates all their time or efforts towards learning and grinding in one particular game. Therefore, changing the game may be a bit challenging. But if we are taking into consideration the gaming content creators, then I would say that our audiences watch us for the kind of content we deliver, and changing the game does not highly impact the engagement. I agree that it does but to a very low extent. By far, in my case, I haven’t experienced any issues regarding the statement.
Share your views on gaming content growth in India. How brands are responding to the growth?
Well, that is a very interesting question and I have a lot to say about it. People started from posting competitive gameplay which later evolved to scripted content for fun and exploring all kinds of games. Gaming creators have definitely helped the industry be more recognised among the audiences and influenced more talented gamers to start with content creation as well. Most importantly the mindset of the people has changed in the current years. Audiences have started taking up gaming as a career option and are very well supported as well. Of course, it has increased the competition in the industry as well but due to this, the quality of the content produced has been improved.
Talking about how brands are responding, I have noticed that endemic brands related to gaming have started showing interest in rigorous promotions through the gamers. Like we have seen a lot of brands advertising on television but I think keeping track through influencer marketing is easier. To my surprise, there are also non-endemic brands like Mamaearth and similar brands have also shown their interest in gaming. As far as I think, gamers have bagged such an audience and are mainly the market targets of most brands. Therefore, I am making a guess that this can be one of the reasons why brands are showing interest in gaming influencers.
How many brands have you worked with so far? And what other brands do you aim to work with?
Not to brag about but yes till now I have worked with countless brands and choosing from those can be a big task but the few big brands I can manage as of now would be Realme, Asus, AMD, Logitech, and more. Brands I want to work with will definitely be Apple and for my personal reasons, one would be KFC because I love eating out at KFC.
Share your practice schedule.
To be honest, I am a lazy lad. I wake up around 11 am in the morning but yes, I go to bed at around four or five in the morning. Yes, I won’t suggest anyone to follow that of course. It is recommended to maintain your sleep cycle if you don’t want dark circles. Jokes apart, I practice BGMI offscreen from 1 pm to 4 pm as we play BGMI the most on the stream. I always suggest that a streamer should always practice and warm-up before actually coming live so that better content and gameplay can be served to the audiences. Then I spend some time with my family and complete my daily chores till 6 pm. Later on, I start setting up my setup for streaming which goes on till 1 am followed by recording some content and planning for future content. This way my everyday cycle continues.
Personal goals for 2022?
I just achieved one of my personal goals of buying a house for my family and next would surely be buying my dream car, which everyone will come to know in near future.
How challenging it is to live the life of an influencer. How do you balance it?
I may say I am a pro at managing my life as an influencer, but only till I am at my place. When it comes to public places it becomes a bit challenging as people tend to recognise me from a distance and come to me for meet and greet etc. I would not say that I don’t like meeting my admirers but sometimes it disturbs my personal time with my friends and family. In fact, I have a really interesting backstory to this. I went to a temple with my family and I was waiting in line for my turn. The waiting time was roughly two hours. I was there casually standing when one of my followers recognised me and informed the others about my presence. At that time the place was filled with the chants of Antaryami and continued for at least an hour. It was a memorable experience for both me and my family but somewhere I did feel that the essence of worshiping in that temple was somewhat tempered. For my daily life, I keep my cap, masks, and shades handy so that I can enjoy some personal time. But I do love meeting everyone.
Your video thumbnails are quite interesting. Tell us the story behind it.
I am glad you liked my thumbnails, but to be honest all credit for the creativity behind my thumbnail goes to my editor known by the name ISO. More than an editor, he is like my brother. He is so good with his work and creativity that I never had to guide him on anything. So in short, if anyone likes my thumbnails then it is all thanks to my great friend ISO.
Is there a sustainable infrastructure for gaming content creators to grow bigger in India? Challenges that you faced as an esports athlete in India?
As most of us are aware gaming and esports are yet to be recognised in India. Therefore, I guess some sustainable infrastructure is still lacking somewhere. I believe that this won’t be an issue in the coming years. It would have been great if there would have been proper training facilities for professional esports athletes. There are definitely boot camps set up by a lot of organisations for training athletes but the availability of facilities for the interested athletes would definitely be a game-changer for India.
In my opinion, being a professional player, and retaining the audience can be a bit of a task as once we are known for the entertainment and funny gameplay. It becomes a challenge to prove ourselves as professional players among the audience. If we are playing in a professional tournament and streaming it live, we cannot serve our audience with our generic content because we would be focused on the match.
Tell us more about your achievements?
My goal was to make a name for myself which I definitely did and will always work hard to maintain that name. Now I can proudly say that my subscribers are more than the population of my city. Anyway jokes apart, I have a very beautiful backstory which comes on top of my achievements. A few months back, I planned a charity stream and decided to donate all that amount to an orphanage. I decided to make a vlog while visiting the orphanage on how we spent our day there. To my surprise, one of my subscribers recognised a kid in my video who was reported missing in one of the cities in Uttar Pradesh. We immediately contacted the family and sent them to the orphanage. Now that kid is happy with his family. To date, my greatest achievement is the love and support I receive from my fans.
Popular influencers (Tanmay Bhatt, Carry Minati, Technical Guruji, and so on) from all around are shifting towards gaming influencing business. How challenging is it for gaming influencers/athletes to retain and engage the audience?
I don’t take this as a challenge, everyone has a separate fan base and everyone has produced different content. As a gaming content creator, I should be happy that these popular names are joining us in gaming content creation. It would rather be a great opportunity to play with them and exchange mutual learnings.
Could you give us a sneak peek at how your daily life looks?
Apart from being a creator, I am a very simple guy. I love spending time with friends and family. I was also suggested to live-in boot camp to build synergy with other creators but somewhere I feel more connected to my city and my family. So I don’t feel like living away from my home. Most of the day is spent in my home, planning for future content and calling up friends at my place. Other than that, I spend my day like a normal person.
Do you think the gaming content market is a viable career option? Tips for your fans!
Yes, I truly believe gaming is a very good career option. I came across people who think that taking up gaming as a career option is an easy task but that’s a myth. There is so much competition in the industry now that one has to grind a lot and give a lot of time to planning for the content. I truly suggest if you really want to start taking it as a part-time job, do not sideline your previous responsibilities. If you really think you are growing and can have a future in it, then only go forward in taking up gaming as a full-time option.
I love living the life of a creator but I still have to go through various hardships. I wish all the best to my fans who want to take up gaming and a career.
