Some of you may have had parents who scolded you for playing video games or disciplined you for being invested in gaming, but these days, it is helping to make people millionaires. Everyday folks have created brands around their love for playing video games, and platforms such as Twitch have been instrumental in monetizing something that many view as only a hobby.
This is something that celebrities have tapped into, as well, including T-Pain whose channel boasts 845K followers. He recently caught up with Jackass icon Steve-O on Wild Ride and explained how gaming has been more financially lucrative than his music career.
Nicholas Hunt / Staff / Getty Images
“I’m making more money off of video games than I have made in the last four years,” he admitted. “Just playing them. Playing video games.” It doesn’t seem to matter that he’s not very good because people keep tuning in and Twitch keeps the bankroll coming.
“There are definitely good players out there that make a ton of money, but I think the entertainment that comes from somebody like me being trash at it, that’s just more valuable and more entertaining.”
Elsewhere in the episode, T-Pain spoke candidly about the twists and turns of his career, especially those moments when he found himself struggling financially. T-Pain claimed that there was a point when he didn’t have any money and wished that established artists in the business would have told him that these things often occur.
Watch T-Pain chatting it up with Steve-O below.