The release of WoW Classic has changed the schedule of many Twitch streamers. Some, like top streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek, have gone as far as saying they enjoy streaming the game so much that they’re willing to lose viewers if that means they can continue to stream WoW Classic.
But shroud wants more than that. He said last night that he wants to become a WoW streamer for good.
“I’ve always been jealous of WoW streamers,” shroud said. One of his friends then said these streamers can just be around their communities and shroud agreed. “Yeah, you just chill,” shroud said.
Shroud has one of the biggest communities on Twitch. He’s been one of the three most-watched streamers on the platform for months by mostly playing first-person shooters like Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Apex Legends. But this is his first long-term experience with a game from another genre when he’s not being sponsored, and it seems to be paying off for him.
On Twitch, streamers usually have different audiences based on their own personality and what kind of game they’re playing. Shroud might’ve noticed some kind of interaction or relationship that other longtime WoW streamers have with their audience that he still doesn’t have while streaming FPS titles. And it seems like that’s what he’s looking for today.
Streaming WoW Classic is working for shroud in terms of numbers. His average and peak viewers have barely changed since he started streaming it on Aug. 26 and his audience was higher than usual during his first two days of Classic streaming, according to Twitch statistics website SullyGnome.
If shroud is making the move to become a WoW streamer, he might be a successful one. As long as the game continues trending as it is now, he may find the perfect balance between maintaining his top viewership numbers while streaming what he likes.
