BroadcastGG Case Studies: How do I start?

There are many paths to casting, and in some ways that is both the best and worst parts of getting into the industry. Some people prefer a structure of advancement through which to progress, and others a looser goal and the manipulation of opportunities to put them closer to it. I probed a few members of the Broadcast.GG community to see how they came to be casters.

Meg: Management and Evolution.

 Meg’s journey to casting started with her involvement in an amateur Overwatch team, first as a player and then manager. When they were hanging out no practice booked they would have impromptu ‘1v1’ events, which Meg offered to commentate on. Soon after, another amateur Overwatch league started, the Overwatch University League, which Meg’s team convinced her to use her talents for. So began her journey consistently casting Overwatch matches and eventually also moving to the ‘Scrub Cup’ amateur Overwatch tournament to further craft her conveyance of carnage.

TheVK: Localisation and Opportunity.

 As a bilingual Russian gamer, TheVK was part of a few communities that were interested in localized Russian Broadcasts of gaming events, namely the ‘Games Done Quick’ series on Twitch which TheVK had inherent interest in due to being a speedrunner himself. With demand for Russian commentators over a restream of GamesDoneQuick, TheVK used his previous experience as a speedrunner and action games enthusiast to supply commentary to his localized audience and from there continued to find events to cast. TheVK is a great example of how you can use skills like bilingualism to find a niche for events that may require translating, or how you can make an opportunity through content that isn’t localized for your language by restreaming with your own commentary.

Rapture: Podcast to Shoutcast.

 Rapture was a Smash (Super Smash Brothers) enthusiast and ran a podcast with content centered on the game series. As his show gained traction he gained local support and had opportunities in his area to cast the local smash tournaments, living in New York certainly was a boon here for Rapture, exposing him to a huge population of gamers and events he could attend and cast. As with players, Rapture’s journey shows that content creation of many kinds can enthusiasts opportunities to cast games or events.

Roooc and Vowels: Scrub Cup to Scrub Casters.

 Roooc and Vowels, experienced EU-based casters first found themselves meeting in the ‘Scrub Cup’ that Meg was also known to cast. Together they won the tournament under the moniker of ‘Smartt Gamers’ though gained more than a title in terms of synergy. The pair quickly took an interest in casting and together casted a series of scrims by Roooc’s university team and then returned for a second season of Scrub Cup not as competitors, but casters.

Locktite: Roleplay to Role Gained.

 Locktite took a route more encouraged than embarked upon, having been a vocal player in his Overwatch games and a positive voice people enjoyed interacting with, another player informed him that he sounded like a local news man. Having taken the ‘compliment’ to heart, Locktite ran with the idea and changed his persona when joining games to ‘radio host’ or ‘news caster’ and shifted his communications to caster-esque terminology and a more objective style of speaking that favoured not only his team but the enemy too. Eventually someone enquired as to whether Locktite was a game caster and once more, the hint was taken and a few Google searches later he found himself at BroadcastGG ready to cast.

Culture: Culturing the Amateur Field.

 Culture started casting in League of Legends by joining an organization for lower-ranked players that wished to improve their play, signing up as a player/coach. Over time however, playing competitively lost its appeal and Culture decided to stick with the organization by transitioning to a casting role for their games. After a few games, Culture found that he truly enjoyed casting and decided to go ‘all-in.’

Bemmie: Your Local DanceCaster.

 Bemmie started casting by going to local Smash Brothers events and participating in ‘hop on, hop off’ casting that is freely available for some games for players that are either waiting for their turn or have already been eliminated. He discovered an enjoyment for commentary that was carried in for several years beyond gaming, with Bemmie becoming a commentator for local breakdancing. Several years of commentary later, Bemmie’s love of competitive gaming had not dulled and he returns to the arena with sharpened skills and a proactive mindset, running various tournaments off his own back to provide opportunities to both casters and players in Hearthstone and other games.

MooshuBeef: Making an Impression.

 MooshuBeef used his talent and interest in doing impressions to start his casting journey, originally commentating on his Call of Duty games in global chat as a ‘super nerdy character.’ Enjoyable and entertaining, a few university friends began to watch Mooshu’s shenanigans and it became a regular feature of their time chilling together. A while later Mooshu became interested in esports and thought about commentary because of HuskyStarcraft and a few League of Legends broadcasts he enjoyed. Mooshu got his first chance to commentate at Twitchcon 2015, using the opportunity to try and educate people about the game and was met with a slew of Battletags to continue his commentating and observation in-game after the convention was over. Upon investigating further opportunities, Mooshu discovered the local Razerstore was putting on esports events and harassed the venerable Chhopsky until he was allowed to co-cast. Legend has it Chhopsky eventually forgave Mooshu and the two embarked upon a casting adventure into the great yonder of opportunity.

Medic: Sitting Out and Stepping Up.

 Medic’s start in casting was born of an overpopulation of his scrim lobbies in League of Legends. When there were more than the required ten people interested, Medic would offer to sit out and stream the games, commentating over the action for the viewers, mostly to rip into his friends. Upon discovering his love for commentating, Medic looked to League of Legends subreddit Summoner School to find further opportunities such as streaming and casting their Gold and Silver level tournaments. Consistent content output from Medic meant that eventually he found a recruitment opportunity at an organization called EGL and applied for the position successfully, destined to meet his long term casting partner, Medic continued working forward from there and now is an incredibly successful League of Legends caster.

Ham__Tornado: A Classic Cut.

 Ham’s journey began cold, a slightly interested glance at the esport watching habits of her partner before being introduced by her sister to Overwatch, a game Ham came to adore in both gameplay and esport as she settled to watch the first Overwatch World Cup. Cut to a few months later and Ham came to meet Gillfrost, known affectionately in the Overwatch community as ‘Left Guy’ who was a part of Colorado-based esports production company Carbon Entertainment, responsible for early seasons of Overwatch Contenders.

A brief discussion with Gillfrost left Ham interested in the possibility of casting and she made the proactive step to train and practice using the VODs of Overwatch Contenders to cast over. Once she felt more confident in her abilities, Ham probed Gillfrost and others for potential avenues to deploy and cultivate her passion for casting before eventually finding BroadcastGG where she became an integral part of the Scrim Nights Program and lead a successful series of recasts with known ‘good ideas guy’ LEGDAY. Exploiting a lack of localization for Chinese content featuring popular teams, the pair took it upon themselves to cast the ‘Nexus Cup Annual Finals’ in English for those who desired a way to watch in their own language to moderate success, peaking at almost 1700 viewers for an unofficial cast. From there, Ham has built up a reputation as a well-researched and insightful colour caster who always brings valuable information, insight and terrible jokes to the table.