Gamer, Evan Fong, is on the verge of beating out Justin Bieber on YouTube, and he will do it playing games.
Fong’s You Tube channel, Vanoss Gaming, is riding the wave of a huge trend as more and more young people pass on TV and spend their time on-line watching other people play video games.
It’s estimated Fong may be making as much as US$300,000 a month from his gaming videos. He is quickly approaching 11 million subscribers and two billion views.
Viewers click in to watch Fong and a group of friends chatting, joking and laughing as they play some of the most popular games, such as ‘Call of Duty: World at War, or ‘Grand Theft Auto’.
‘It wasn’t something that I strived to do to the best of my ability like I do now.’
A former elite hockey player Fong was concentrating on obtaining a U.S. scholarship in the sport when he launched his channel in 2011. As the hockey dream faded the YouTube reality came into focus.
“In the early days I remember maybe 1,000 views was something that would be off the charts for me,” Fong recalled in a recent interview with the Canadian Press.
“it took, I would say, about a good year and a half (to start becoming popular). It started really slow and I didn’t take it really seriously. It wasn’t something that I strived to do to the best of my ability like I do now.”
‘It really is a totally different experience’
Fong and friends get anywhere from four to 14 million views daily.
“Viewers really like the authentic type of content from regular people just playing games because they can relate to that. And I think that’s a huge reason why people prefer to watch YouTube videos. It really is a totally different experience and it’s something you can’t find on TV.”
Fong says his parents were not “always fully supportive” of his YouTube pursuits, but went along with it as long as their player was still taking his education seriously.
“I was very conservative. I never wanted to stop university and risk that opportunity. So what I did was I made sure I was successful enough on YouTube before I (dropped out). I probably stopped school a lot later than most full-time YouTubers did.”
‘You’re only as good as your last video on YouTube’
While he’s on the verge of joining the Top 25 list for most YouTube subscribers, Evan Fong appears to have his feet on the ground. He is aware of the risks. “Anything on the Internet can blow up a go away, he says. “You’re only as good as your last video on YouTube.”
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