The Topic Selection Secrets Behind Fortnite LEGO Viral Videos, Full Platform Layout Strategies, The Truth of Live Streaming Profitability, and The Profound Impact of AI and Independent Games on Future Creation
Introduction: The Creator's Ten-Year Journey and Interview Background
In the field of game content creation, veteran AndySlaps has accumulated rich experience and unique insights over ten years. He has been active in traditional gaming content, from commentating on esports events like Apex and Valorant to recent content entrepreneurship in Web3 games, leaving his footprints along the way. At the same time, he has provided consulting for emerging game projects like Shrapnel and Moonray, witnessing the evolution of the game content ecosystem. Recently, during a deep dialogue organized by Trench, AndySlaps shared his observations and thoughts on the game content creation process and ecosystem based on personal experience: how to choose content topics, how to layout across major platforms, how to monetize live content, how independent games can break through, and what impacts AI creation brings... What stands out is that whenever he discusses these creation links, he invariably mentions an emerging platform tool—Raijin platform, and its role as an accelerator in the content ecosystem. This article will dissect the key components of game content creation based on the interview content and explore how the long-termism of creators complements new platform tools, bringing new opportunities to the game content field.
Topic Selection Skills: The Key to Capturing Players' Interest
For content creators, topic selection is a race against time. AndySlaps emphasizes that 'the core of content planning lies in understanding what players want to see, what they are searching for, and what can truly help them.' He gives an example: not long ago, he produced a strategy video about the latest game changes, which garnered 3 million views in less than two days. This was not due to the high quality of video production, but because he captured players' urgent needs. In the interview, Andy revealed several of his topic selection tricks: first, keep up with game trends. For instance, when a large game releases a new season or new hero, it often means a surge in player discussions, making it an excellent time to jump on the topic. He browses social media and live chat to notice signals like 'seven out of the last ten posts mention the same topic.' This intuition and sensitivity to the community are the 'smell' accumulated over years of content career. Secondly, listen to players' questions. He often watches top streamers' broadcasts, quickly scrolling through comments in a chat room with tens of thousands of online viewers to find frequently appearing questions or complaints. For example, when he sees many viewers repeatedly asking about a game mechanic in Shroud's live stream, he realizes that this is something everyone urgently wants to know but has not received timely answers for—being the first to explain or produce tutorial content often leads to a 'big hit.' Thirdly, approach from personal experience. As a seasoned player, AndySlaps has played various games and accumulated thousands of hours of experience. When he tries a new game and finds a level or task that took him 30 minutes to understand, he realizes that many ordinary players might need longer. At that point, he immediately produces a concise guide to 'help others save that 30 minutes.' Such pain-point-based tutorial videos often perform exceptionally well.
Of course, Andy also admits that different topic types have different impacts on the 'long-term value' of creators. For example, strategy or tutorial content can quickly gain massive traffic, but viewers often leave after solving their problems, not long-term followers. In contrast, entertainment content that can make viewers laugh or resonate with them is more helpful for accumulating loyal fans. However, in reality, a successful content channel needs to balance both: it must quickly seize hot topics while also building personality for long-term stickiness. Andy achieves this combination punch, ensuring traffic while stabilizing the community.
So, in the face of an era of information explosion, how can emerging platform tools help creators enhance the efficiency of topic selection and content planning? Andy specifically mentioned the unique support provided by the Raijin platform in the interview: achievement recognition and fast event mechanisms. Raijin can automatically recognize player achievements and data on Steam, meaning creators can quickly turn a hot topic into a participatory challenge. For example, when a new independent game suddenly becomes popular, creators can leverage Raijin to initiate related challenge competitions with one click, and the entry requirements can even be directly set to 'complete a certain achievement in the game'—since the platform automatically detects achievement completion, there is no need for manual result tallying. This mechanism allows creators to not only capture hot topics but also simultaneously organize interactive activities. Viewers who see the content can immediately participate in the event through a link, thereby becoming more deeply engaged in the topic discussion. A viewer might just learn about a new gameplay in the video, and the next second, they can click the link to join the challenge competition directly through their Steam account—this seamless connection greatly increases the interaction conversion rate. As Andy said: 'Players see a prize, and all they need to do is log in with a Steam account, and they can get ready to compete.' In terms of topic selection strategy, the Raijin platform mechanism helps creators transform passive viewing into active participation, enriching content forms and enhancing the sustainability of content heat.
Platform Strategy: Short Video Windfall and Multi-Channel Operation
In today's 'attention economy', everyone can become a content producer, which also means competition is fiercer than ever. AndySlaps is acutely aware of the importance of diversifying distribution channels. He points out: 'To succeed today, you must appear on all major platforms.' His own experience involves a full-platform layout: long videos are published on YouTube, live streaming is operated on Twitch, and short videos are widely distributed to TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and even Facebook short videos. This 'broad net' strategy maximizes reach to different audiences. For instance, although YouTube Shorts has a short duration, it is currently one of the most friendly algorithms for new accounts, making it easy to gain considerable views. Andy mentions that for newcomers starting from scratch, YouTube Shorts is often the fastest platform to gain attention; meanwhile, Instagram and Facebook's Reels can sometimes even surpass YouTube and bring explosive view growth. He himself once automatically synchronized edited clips to Facebook, and after a cold start in the first few days with a brand new account, it accumulated over 2 million views in three weeks, even surpassing his performance on YouTube and Instagram at one point. At the same time, he has a contrary suggestion regarding 'live streaming duration': newcomers should not stream for more than 4 hours a day. Because streaming for long periods without viewers only consumes energy and makes it difficult to gain followers—rather than streaming aimlessly, it is better to spend more time editing exciting clips for short video dissemination, thereby expanding the audience through a snowball effect and returning to the live stream's popularity. This series of platform strategies shows that short videos are a tool for attracting traffic, while live streaming is a bond for engagement, and multi-platform operation is necessary to form synergy.
In the realm of multi-channel operation, Andy is also exploring the value of emerging interactive platforms, which is one of the 'changes in content gaming' he refers to. In this interview, Andy talked about the Raijin platform he recently joined and praised it for being 'simple and barrier-free, with the product itself capable of attracting users.' Unlike traditional content platforms, Raijin is not meant for uploading videos or live streaming, but rather an interactive event platform for players. For content creators, this opens up a whole new 'platform dimension'—a platform that converts viewers into participating players. Andy shared a vivid statistic: he initiated his first personal competition on Raijin with a $5,000 prize pool, attracting about 200 players to participate in a short time. Interestingly, about half (nearly 100 people) came from his traditional Web2 content channels. In other words, when he promotes the event he organizes on Raijin on TikTok or YouTube, a large number of ordinary players who were only scrolling through short videos were successfully drawn in, easily joining the competition through one-click Steam login. For these players, there was no cumbersome registration process, nor did they need to understand any blockchain knowledge—familiar Steam accounts served as their passes, and they could directly participate with just a few clicks. This seamless experience made Andy exclaim that 'Raijin truly bridges the gap between Web2 and Web3,' achieving a smooth connection of Web2.5.
This case shows that introducing interactive platforms like Raijin into the content distribution matrix can create a positive cycle: creators publish content on traditional platforms to attract attention and then guide viewers to Raijin to participate in activities; viewers gain immersive experiences from the activities, pay more attention to the creator, and may return to their main channel to become loyal fans. At the same time, Raijin's platform features provide technical support for this conversion—the Steam login to play reduces the participation threshold, and the event system supports the organization and execution of activities. An event is fully supported by the platform from planning, registration to result announcement; creators only need to focus on promotion and content production, greatly reducing operational burdens. This multi-platform interaction strategy demonstrates high efficiency: Andy's event quickly gathered hundreds of users, and according to his observation, if purely relying on shouting in his streaming room, it would be almost impossible to achieve such participation with traditional methods. It is evident that by effectively using new platform tools, creators can break through the ceiling of a single content form and connect with users through broader channels. In today's highly fragmented attention economy, this may be the key for content creators to stand out.
Live Streaming Monetization: The Reality and Breakthrough from Traffic to Income
Many newcomers with gaming dreams step into the live streaming field, fantasizing about a scene of popularity, fan donations, and continuous contracts. However, AndySlaps reveals the harsh reality of live streaming monetization through personal experience: unless one becomes a top influencer, it is difficult to make a living solely from live streaming. 'If your live streaming room has an average of 3 viewers, your data has already beaten 99% of streamers'—this sounds shocking, but it is the fact revealed by official Twitch statistics. The vast majority of streamers remain unnoticed for a long time. Andy bluntly states that after becoming a Twitch partner and reflecting on his career, he calculates that 'he earns less than $2 per hour' overall, and the first three years were almost zero income. This situation is quite typical in the industry: apart from a very few overnight successes (like Ninja, who became famous by streaming Fortnite early), the vast majority of streamers endure a long accumulation period. Moreover, as competition on platforms intensifies, ordinary streamers' revenue shares and exposure opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce.
In this context, the value of live streaming lies more in building a core community rather than being seen as the sole source of income. Andy emphasizes the importance of diversified monetization: on the one hand, obtaining ad revenue and sponsorship cooperation by publishing long videos on platforms like YouTube, and on the other hand, seeking other ways to interact and monetize with fans outside of live streaming. For example, event activities are a new direction he is trying. In the past, when a streamer wanted to hold a fan competition, they often had to seek sponsorship themselves, set rules, manually tally scores, and distribute prizes, making the process cumbersome and error-prone. However, with the one-stop event tools provided by Raijin, everything becomes simple and efficient. Andy's $5,000 prize pool event was not funded out of his own pocket, but rather a collaboration with the platform—this means he secured a substantial prize for fans, increasing their participation and loyalty, while he also gained industry recognition through successfully operating the event. It can be said that in this ecosystem, creators, fans, platforms, and sponsors achieve a win-win situation: streamers expand their influence, fans gain enjoyment and rewards, while platforms and potential game manufacturers gain user growth. It is also worth mentioning Raijin's wallet-free reward distribution mechanism, which addresses common pain points in Web3 game events. In the past, whenever digital rewards (such as NFTs or tokens) were involved, organizers had to teach ordinary players to install wallets and safeguard private keys, which was a barrier for many. However, Raijin allows rewards to be directly credited to users' accounts through backend technology, eliminating the need for players to manually operate wallets to claim rewards. As a result, Andy's event attracted a large number of pure 'newbie' users to participate boldly—they do not need to worry about the complexities of blockchain, and after the competition, they can log onto the platform to see their rewards credited. This frictionless experience has opened new paths for live streaming monetization: streamers can incentivize and retain fans by hosting platform events, with the platform mechanisms ensuring reward fulfillment and data statistics, thus enhancing fan engagement while saving creators' organizational costs. In the long run, when creators can prove their ability to mobilize player participation, various game manufacturers and brand parties will be more willing to provide sponsorship or collaboration opportunities, thus opening more monetization doors. Andy is gradually trying to upgrade himself from a single content producer to a community organizer and event initiator, thereby breaking free from the sole reliance on donations and ads to achieve more robust value transformation. For many content creators, this is an inspiring approach: treating fans as participants rather than merely viewers opens the opportunity for income to come from interaction rather than just traffic.
Independent Game Trends: The Rise of Niche Hits and Breaking the Circle
In recent years, an interesting phenomenon in the gaming circle is the rise of independent games—works created by small teams or even individual developers often unexpectedly become phenomenon-level hits. As a content creator, AndySlaps has a deep understanding of this trend. He admits he 'easily gets bored playing the same few games,' so he is always eager to try various new games, especially niche independent games. This extensive exploration brings him fresh experiences, allowing him to repeatedly catch the 'seedlings of hits.' In the interview, he mentioned that a recently emerged independent game called (Schedule 1) has suddenly gained popularity, and he keenly seized the opportunity to produce a series of related short videos, achieving over ten million views across the network that month. This confirms that content creators can serve as catalysts for independent games' success: when creators discover a potentially great game and produce content in a timely manner, they can quickly gather players' attention, thereby promoting the game's exposure within the mainstream player community. In fact, not only (Schedule 1), but also (Among Us) and (Goose Goose Duck) have seen multiple independent teams' small works become well-known overnight thanks to recommendations from streamers or video creators. It can be said that the 'secret code' for independent games to go viral largely lies in the hands of content disseminators.
However, from a developer's perspective, it is not easy for independent games to break through on the vast Steam platform. Every year, thousands of new games log onto Steam, many of which are high-quality works that remain 'hidden treasures.' Andy laments that some excellent independent games merely lack an opportunity to step into the spotlight. This is one reason he is optimistic about the Raijin platform: providing a stage for new games through events and community activities. The platform mechanism of Raijin offers a cost-effective way for small and medium-sized publishers/developers to attract new players. For example, a new independent game can choose to hold an official challenge or league on Raijin, offering a prize pool as incentives. In traditional modes, official competitions often mean having to build a registration system, verify players' game data, and handle prize distribution, which is burdensome. However, all of these are ready-made functions on Raijin: the platform automatically reads Steam performance to ensure fair competition; one-click registration and prize distribution lower the participation threshold for players; combined with creators' content dissemination, the effect is amplified several times. After an online event, the game can attract hundreds or even thousands of new players to try it. If we compare the user acquisition cost with advertising on social media, it may be much lower, and the players coming in are high-quality players who have an in-depth experience of the game mechanics. Andy's case provides evidence: among the 200+ participants in his event, a considerable number were not core players before but entered the platform to try the game due to the competition's allure. This indicates that event activities can effectively reach potential player groups that are usually hard to cover. Additionally, Raijin has a clever design—it issues corresponding participation passes or qualifications based on players' existing achievements and gameplay records on Steam. For example, hardcore gamers who have accumulated rich achievements can directly obtain qualifications for various high-level competitions on Raijin. This mechanism encourages core players to flock to different games' events and offers those who usually focus on single-player achievements a chance to 'shine on stage.' Once they invest in the competition, their stickiness to new games and sense of community belonging are significantly enhanced. For publishers, the retention and subsequent consumption potential of such users are obviously superior to 'one-time downloads' of casual players. Therefore, more and more independent game publishers are beginning to pay attention to the cooperation between content platforms and event platforms—content creators excel at generating topics and traffic, while platform events excel at carrying conversions and retaining users. The combination of the two is becoming a new paradigm for independent game marketing. Andy envisions that through ecosystems like Raijin, if a game is of high quality, 'there will always be opportunities for it to be discovered by players who truly love games and to grow its own community.' In the current wave of independent games, this is a virtuous cycle that both developers and creators look forward to.
AI Creation Impact: How Technological Innovation Reshapes the Content Ecosystem
When discussing the future, AI (artificial intelligence) is an unavoidable keyword. AndySlaps repeatedly mentioned in the interview the potential impact and opportunities AI brings to game content. He shared a humorous case: recently, an American streamer used AI technology to create a 24-hour live debate channel featuring 'Trump vs. Biden.' This channel uses AI to mimic the voices and speaking styles of former President Trump and current President Biden, endlessly 'debating' various topics day and night. Viewers can pose questions in the chat, and AI generates responses from these two 'characters' in real-time. The result is a live room filled with witty remarks, with Trump and Biden playfully mocking each other, creating a hilarious and creative effect. According to Andy, this channel attracted thousands of viewers to watch live for an extended period, and despite knowing it was AI self-directed and performed, everyone still enjoyed it. This example fully illustrates that AI can indeed become a new content producer and provide an unprecedented form of entertainment. Andy believes this indicates that various 'AI streamers' may soon emerge—perhaps we will soon see virtual YouTubers powered by AI, automatically generating scripts, voiceovers, and images to produce an endless stream of content without requiring human participation. However, he also emphasizes that AI is still far from mature in the live streaming field. Content like the aforementioned debates can be broadcasted for a long time, but for AI to truly engage emotionally with viewers and interact in real-time like human streamers, there are still many technical hurdles to overcome. In contrast, in the recorded video field, AI may showcase its capabilities faster—from automatic editing and voiceovers to generating entire segments of video, some semi-automated content production is already being experimented with. Creators should not think about whether they will be replaced, but rather how to leverage these new tools to empower their creations, such as speeding up material organization, gaining inspiration, or even using AI to create entirely new content forms.
The influence of AI on the game content ecosystem is not only reflected in content production but also extends to game development itself. Andy mentioned that many independent game developers are now leveraging AI to accomplish tasks that previously required teamwork: artistic generation is the most direct example, with some games using generative AI to create character illustrations and card art in bulk, allowing small teams to have vast artistic resources. Although there are concerns that this might impact human artists' livelihoods, the reality is that many projects still have art teams refine AI-generated materials, significantly improving efficiency and reducing costs by up to 90%. Additionally, code assistance, utilizing models like ChatGPT, allows for quicker resolution of programming challenges—whereas independent developers previously had to scour forums and consult peers for technical difficulties, AI can now provide sample code or fixing suggestions based on natural language descriptions. This further lowers the threshold for game development: as long as there is creativity, individual developers can piece together a playable prototype or even create complete games. Zai expressed during the interview: 'When everyone can become a developer, and a game created by one person can sell millions of dollars (there have been recent cases), large companies may also be forced to innovate more.' This actually injects vitality into the industry: on the one hand, 'grassroots' creators (whether content producers or game developers) gain unprecedented capabilities due to AI, allowing them to create at an exceptional scale; on the other hand, traditional big companies will face a more competitive environment, prompting them to invest more resources to utilize AI to enhance product quality. For players and viewers, the future will bring more diverse and richer games and content options.
Amidst the wave of AI revolution, the role of platforms and communities is becoming increasingly prominent. Andy and his guests point out that as the quantity of content and games grows explosively, the difficulty of discovering quality content is also increasing. This is precisely the stage where platforms like Raijin can shine—through community-driven events and achievement systems, genuinely excellent and interesting games and play styles are presented to the public. For instance, Raijin can host themed competitions for innovative games that utilize AI technology, quickly gathering eager players to experience them, thereby validating the playability and endorsing the game. Games that have been verified through player competitions are also more likely to gain recognition and spread. Conversely, creators can also gain inspiration through these platforms: observing which themes have high participation can help content creators identify where the 'next breakout' may be. Additionally, AI technology itself is being introduced to enhance platform functionality. Andy also envisions the prospects of AI in anti-cheating and maintaining fairness. Cheating and hacks, which are common in competitive games, are a major enemy of event organization. With data analysis of player behavior using AI models, platforms like Raijin are expected to identify abnormal behaviors more accurately and clear cheaters in real-time, ensuring fairness in every competition. This also serves as a protection for the content ecosystem—viewers and players can trust the authority of platform events, and creators can hold activities with greater credibility, without suffering reputational damage due to cheating controversies. It can be anticipated that in the future, 'AI + platforms' will jointly construct a new foundation for content creation: AI makes production more efficient, while platforms ensure survival of the fittest and healthy interactions, thus forming a positive cycle. Andy believes that every creator who embraces AI technology and is adept at managing communities will possess more initiative in the new era. As another guest EJ stated, 'We are entering a new world where everyone has the opportunity to become a creator,' and in this world, those with keen long-term strategies will leverage advanced tools to go further.
Conclusion: Long-Termism and Platform Acceleration as Dual Engines
At the end of the dialogue, AndySlaps' experiences and views outline a panoramic view of game content creation: it is a field that requires both looking up at the stars and being grounded. On the one hand, success is not achieved overnight—Andy deeply understands the importance of persistence and evolution through ten years of content career: algorithms change, platform rules change, audience preferences change, but only the love for creation and a sense of responsibility to the community remain unchanged, allowing for long-term accumulation. Every creator should have such a long-term belief: not to judge heroes by one or two fluctuations in traffic but to focus on continuously delivering value, building personal brands, and community culture. Andy's journey from three years of silent streaming with no viewers to his current influence with hundreds of thousands of fans across platforms is the best illustration of this. On the other hand, the era has given this generation of creators unprecedented accelerators—from short video algorithm dividends to AI content tools, and to innovative platforms like Raijin, each emergence of new technology and mechanism helps those who are prepared to run faster. As Andy personally proves, effectively utilizing platform tools can lead to creators achieving more with less effort: organizing an event with hundreds of participants that used to require a team to operate for weeks can now be accomplished by him alone within days with Raijin; in the past, it was very difficult to persuade casual viewers to download and try a game, but now, with 'one-click login + reward incentives,' the conversion becomes natural. These accelerators will not replace the efforts of creators, but will amplify the results of their efforts.
When 'long-termism' meets 'platform acceleration,' it feels like equipping content creation with dual engines: one engine provides an endless supply of perseverance, patience, and adherence to the essence of content, while the other engine provides the thrust of technology, data, and product mechanisms, allowing excellent content to reach audiences faster and more broadly. Both are indispensable: without hard work and without tools, one may achieve less than expected; only relying on shortcuts without inner strength makes it difficult to stand firm in a rapidly changing environment. Looking ahead to the future game content ecosystem, we have reason to remain optimistic—more and more creators like AndySlaps are sailing with long-termism as their sail and platform tools as their oars, navigating the ocean of content. Whether new creators or veterans seeking breakthroughs, they can draw nutrients from his experience: persist in their creative passion and keenly embrace new platforms and technologies. In doing so, the virtuous cycle of mutual achievement between creators and platforms will continue to thrive, bringing players a constant stream of exciting content and injecting unstoppable innovative power into the entire game industry.
