If you want to be a game anchor, you'd better go to college.
For many people, watching live broadcasts has become an integral part of life.
As e-sports entered the Asian Games and EDG won the championship, playing games that were originally regarded as unprofessional, has gradually gained mainstream recognition, and correspondingly, the game live broadcast industry has also received more attention.
Data shows that there are more than 10 million game anchors in China, and the game live broadcast market has reached 10 billion.
However, what exactly is the job of a game anchor?
What is life like for them who are chatty and enthusiastic in front of the screen?
Recently, the documentary "Rhythm" produced by Douyu focused on game anchors such as "DL, Tuomi", "MrGemini" and "Mimi is not my sister".
Different from the first two professional e-sports players who turned to game anchors, "Mimi is not a sister" (referred to as Mimi) from Guannan Town, Jiangsu is a typical "grassroots". With his love for games and hard work, he has grown from Unknown to have many fans, he has become a potential new star anchor of Douyu.
Are game anchors a group with high income, easy work, and no pressure?
The 18-year-old Mimei talked about his life and work, as well as those troubles.
He is humorous in the live broadcast room, but rarely talks to his parents in life
The 18-year-old Meimei is a full-time anchor. His daily job is to play games live and interact with netizens to give corresponding explanations.
In the documentary "Rhythm", two completely different types of him are presented: in the live broadcast room, he has superb game skills and a humorous explanation; in life, he is shy and introverted, and he rarely even talks to his parents at home.
The "King of Glory", which is played by ignorant, has been the most profitable mobile game in the world for nearly 8 years since its launch.
The latest data shows that in 2021, the global revenue of "Honor of Kings" will exceed 2.8 billion US dollars. Since its release in 2015, the cumulative revenue has exceeded 10 billion US dollars (about 64.4 billion yuan), becoming the first mobile game to achieve this achievement.
In China, there are nearly 14 million game streamers like Mimi.
Statistics show that in the gaming industry, watching games is one of the most important entertainment activities, with more than 465.1 million people watching e-sports competitions in 2021.
Data from iResearch shows that China's overall game live broadcast market will reach 34.3 billion in 2020. Driven by leading platforms such as Douyu, the overall market will exceed 43 billion in 2021.
According to a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center, as of June last year, the number of live game users reached 264 million.
What is the life of a game anchor like?
Perhaps through the documentary "Rhythm", you can understand a thing or two: Unlike most of her peers, Mi Mei stayed at home almost every day, getting up at 10:10 most of the time, and doing one or two live broadcasts in the afternoon or evening.
Momo smiled and said that he only went out two or three days a month, and only went out for things like cutting his hair.
It was supposed to be dinner time for a family of four to sit around the dining table, chatting and laughing, but Mi Mi seldom spends time with them.
The mother complained: "He doesn't eat with us." The father explained that his son's live broadcast started earlier, and he couldn't meet their time. Usually he ordered takeaway, but he would eat together on weekends.
During the day, when the family goes to work, ignorant makes up for sleep; at night, when the family goes home, ignorant broadcasts live, and lives in the same room, but he and his parents seem to be two parallel lines.
Even if the father expresses the idea of communicating, he will choose to avoid it, so that he wants to understand his son, and the father who never watches the live broadcast quietly slips into the live broadcast room, "He will not communicate with us, but is willing to communicate with fans. "
I like doing live broadcasts, I will think about it slowly in the future
Meimei's home is located in Guannan County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province.
This is a small county with a permanent population of more than 600,000. People live leisurely and live leisurely.
Meimei's parents are both local elementary school teachers. Her father teaches Chinese and her mother teaches mathematics.
According to Lao Qiu's father, the ideal job for people here is to enter a public institution or take an exam as a civil servant.
However, their expectations for their son failed because of his son's exposure to games. "He used to have good grades, but later he liked to play games. There is no other way but to respect him." Lao Qiu was a little helpless.
Although the child has become a game anchor, Lao Qiu is always worried about his son's upside-down work and rest day and night, the decline in vision, and the reduction in communication with the outside world... More importantly, he is afraid that this job is just a meal of youth and worries about the future of ignorance no warranty.
But I feel that, "I am doing live broadcasts now, which is what I like, and it is also something that I can stick to. I will also think about the future life plan slowly."
How did Mimei enter the industry of game anchors?
What is the life of a game anchor like?
With a series of questions, a reporter from Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News exclusively interviewed Mimi and his father.
I recalled that my grades in elementary school were good, and I was able to rank in the top ten in my class.
After entering junior high school, because the school was far from home, Mimei chose to live on campus, that is, during the period of living on campus, under the influence of his classmates, he came into contact with games such as "League of Legends" and "Honor of Kings".
"After living on campus in junior high school, we spent less time watching over him. I don't know when he became obsessed with games." Lao Qiu recalled that he had caught his son who skipped classes and played games in Internet cafes several times.
After high school, although Meimei did not live on campus, all her interests were in games.
"We also thought of a lot of ways to ask his head teacher to educate him, communicate with him, and force him to study, but all of them were useless. He just had no spirit in class during the day." At that time, Mimi proposed more than once that he wanted to become a professional e-sports player. , that playing games can make money to support themselves.
But all this is obviously incomprehensible to Lao Qiu, who has been teaching for more than 20 years.
Watching his son "degenerate" day by day, in desperation, Lao Qiu made an agreement with his son, giving him two or three years to concentrate on the e-sports route. .
If you "start over", you will choose to go back to school
Mi Mi went to an e-sports club in Suzhou to train, but he left after a month or two.
"I feel that there is a problem with the management of the club, and I am not very free." Mi Mi, who advocates freedom by nature, returned home. Because he usually watches other people's game live broadcasts, he bought sound cards, microphones and other equipment and started the game live broadcast.
According to the words of ignorance, he is quite talented in playing "Glory of the King", and he quickly gained a lot of fans' attention, and gradually became famous in the circle. After that, he signed a contract with Douyu and became a professional game anchor.
"Objectively speaking, his current income is still good, but I'm still worried, what will happen in the future?" Lao Qiu was in a dilemma.
It stands to reason that the son completed the agreement within the agreed time, and even heard that he is quite famous in the circle, but these reputations seem to be a little far away for Lao Qiu, who has never played games or knows about live broadcasts.
What he saw was his son's irregular daily routine and more and more introverted personality, "The road to life is still long, and the anchor will eat a meal of youth after all, and at the age of 25, 6, 30... Maybe a career It's over."
Worried, but worried, but seeing his son's love and dedication to games, he told himself that it is not easy for a person to do what he likes in his life, "I am trying to ensure his life now, such as his Internet broadband. , to solve some small problems." Lao Qiu said with a wry smile.
Regarding his future, Mimi didn't think too much about it. "I still like the job of live broadcast very much. I am very free and the income is not bad."
In the documentary "Rhythm", in the face of the host's choice of "start from scratch", Mimi chose to go back to school.
He also told the Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter that if he could come back, he would be willing to experience another life.
For many young people who want to take the path of game anchors, Mimi admits frankly that an excellent game anchor needs to be persistent, work hard, and have a better mentality, but it is best to finish high school and consider this after college entrance examination. thing.
In addition, game anchors also need relatively solid skills. If you find that you don't have the talent in this area, or you can't be the best among them, then don't make it a business.
Hearing his son's statement, Lao Qiu said that the child has matured a lot. "I think he will definitely change careers in the future. I don't know when, let's see his development." Lao Qiu said firmly that now he often talks to his son. Said, usually save more money, in case you don't engage in this profession in the future, there is still capital to do some business.
For many young people who want to enter the live broadcast circle like ignorant, Lao Qiu suggested, "In the game, it depends on talent, not everyone can succeed, and the probability of success is still small. It is recommended that young people focus on learning. If you really want to go this route, you should wait until you go to university to consider these things, and after you have accumulated a certain amount of knowledge, it would be better if the university chooses a similar major.”