CloutBoost met PUBG Twitch Streamer sprEEEzy to ask him what it’s like to build a career of a professional gamer.

While Twitch continues to dominate live streaming, the majority (almost 75%) of Twitch’s viewership still comes from people tuning in to the top 5,000 channels. With more and more brands and gaming influencer agencies tapping into the world of Twitch Sponsorships, Cloutboost started a series of Sponsored Interviews with top Twitch Streamers. We will be covering Top Streamers’ history on Twitch, their experience with brand sponsorships, advice for new streamers and more.

SprEEEzy is a Croatian Twitch Streamer known for his captivating PUBG gameplay. “Triple E” is a signature mark recognized by many PUBG fans around the world. Prior to streaming fulltime, he completed his master’s degree in Computer Software Engineering from the University of Zagreb.

As a teenager, sprEEEzy mainly enjoyed playing MOBAs, real-time strategy games and MMORPGs over FPS games. He started playing StarCraft II in his first year of college and found it to be one of the most challenging games that he has ever played. However, when PUBG was released, he felt that this might be an opportunity for him to attempt a streaming career.

Cloutboost met sprEEEzy, a professional PUBG Twitch streamer

Cloutboost (CB): What does your nickname “sprEEEzy” mean? Where it comes from?

SprEEEzy: Honestly, I don’t remember why I chose the nickname, but it was about 10-12 years ago. The inspiration for the three letters “E” came from a Czech Call of Duty pro gamer luckEEEr.

CB: How did you become a professional gamer?

SprEEEzy: I started playing PUBG in May 2017, and after a month or two I reached #1 Rank on the Solo Leaderboard of EU and NA servers. That was the main source of new viewers. Technically, I’m not playing PUBG on a professional level, but I do participate in streamer-only tournaments and show matches.

CB: What’s your favorite part of a career as a Twitch Streamer?

SprEEEzy: Being able to visit countries and places I never thought I’d visit, for example, Seattle or California.

Becoming a Twitch Partner last year was a huge milestone in my career, you can see more in this video:

CB: Do you remember your first brand partnership? What did you learn from it?

SprEEEzy: For my first brand partnership I accepted an offer that was probably worth 4-5 times more than I was paid. I did not have any negotiation skills or experience with the pricing on the “streamer market”. Also, the advertising method was a bit too aggressive and it did not fit well to my audience.

The good thing is that you always learn something new with each deal, and I’ve really got a great feel for what my audience wants and tolerates.

CB: How do you ensure a sponsored campaign’s success?

SprEEEzy: The number one rule is to deliver everything that you promised. A lot of content creators tend to leave things out or forget some details. For most advertisers, timing is everything. Reminders and checklists can help you track the scope of deliverables.

Before you accept a deal, you need to make sure that the brand’s message fits your channel and it’s philosophy.

CB: Are there any brands that constantly support you? How do you develop long-term partnerships with Advertisers & Gaming Influencer Agencies?

SprEEEzy: I’m currently working on several long-term brand deals. It’s a market that is not easy to get into for streamers, especially when you only start out. Most big brands tend to go for well-known names like Shroud or Ninja. Though, not every brand can afford such collaborations, and here comes the opportunity for streamers of a smaller scale.

Developing long-term partnerships is difficult, but the best way to start is to work with smaller deals. After you bring in the initial results, you can start negotiating longer sponsorships.

CB: What’s your advice on how to keep your audience engaged?

SprEEEzy: Constantly bringing something new to the table and evolving is the most important thing you have to do as a Twitch streamer.

In my case, it’s a mixture of in-game skill, teaching, and humor. People come to watch the stream for various reasons, but personality is the main trait that people stay for in the long run. It’s important to be yourself, but it’s easier said than done.

CB: What’s something you wish more brands & gaming influencer agencies knew about Pro Gamers and Live Streamers?

My wish would be for the brands to learn what the Twitch/YouTube viewers mentality is because a lot of them go for traditional approaches in advertising. Also, they need to understand that in most cases you cannot have exact metrics on how successful the campaign was when it comes to streams.

CB: How does your audience respond to sponsored content?

As I’ve been doing various promotions for a while now, my audience is used to it. Viewers respect that I only accept sponsorships that are interesting to them and that fit my channel really well. For example, I currently don’t take gambling or supplement promotions, since I don’t think I want to expose my audience to something like that.

Here’s an example of a sponsored video on my Youtube channel:

CB: With the rapid development of live streaming industry and the growing number of streamers, what’s your main advice to stand out?

The classic approach would be just to be one of the best at the game you’re playing. Great humor also works really well on Twitch, as well as high-quality production.

CB: Are there any other games besides PUBG you are looking forward to playing?

I’m still interested in PUBG, but I’m very much looking forward to World of Warcraft Classic. Hopefully, other developers would also step up and we’ll see some new amazing games by the end of the year.

CB: How do you think what’s your most effective channel for brand promotion? (Twitch, Youtube, anything else, or a combination of all of them?)

The most effective way of promoting a brand would be a full-scale promotion across all your channels. However, it takes time for your audience to accept the new brand as something you stand behind. So the brand needs to provide real, working products and results for your audience to start trusting it.

CB: When working on a sponsored project what is your approach to content creation? What’s the best way of integrating a brand to your content?

The key to a successful sponsored product activation is knowing your audience. You cannot brute-force the promotion and expect a good response from your viewers. Catering to what your viewers like and what is acceptable to them is the proper way to go about it. If that means more passive advertising, that’s the price you have to pay. Advertisers can demand a lot from you, but you always have the option to decline or change up the offer.

CB: What have you got planned for the next year?

Life of a Twitch streamer is relatively unpredictable, but my plan is to keep growing and try to become a successful variety streamer – stream a wide array of games.