"When I was younger I sold drinks at school," he says. Yes, his success was built piggybacking the right game at the right time (Call of Duty: Black Ops - Zombies mode in this case) but there's a business mind whirring behind his broad northern charm, wide eyes and emphatic arm motions. An initial browse of his channel for anyone who's above a certain age (for convenience, let's say the age at which you move from Radio 1 to 6 Music - or Radio 2 if you're buttered that way) is confusing - and some of the terms he's turned into catchphrases aren't suitable for a family publication like Eurogamer.Īny grumpenpuss assumptions I had that his success is a fluke, however, start to evaporate the longer I hear him talk. When he broke a million followers YouTube gave him a 24-carat gold plaque in the shape of a 'subscribe' button.Īs a games writer who dates from the near-dead print era, when I talk to Tom I feel like a dinosaur, and perhaps a little jealous. Add sponsorship into this, and young Mr Cassell is riding on a wave of fivers. As a YouTube partner he earns cash from how many views and clicks video adverts receive, and how many clicks banner ads get. It's something that I try to keep private,") but the cash he's reeling in is stratospheric. Tom doesn't like to talk about it ("There are too many people in the industry who just ask 'Tell us how much you earn!' Do I ask them how much they earn? It's just courtesy: a bit of respect. I'm going to build my own dream gaming house." So with the house I bought - I'm knocking it down. I've got three ultimate goals in life - a job in the games industry, to travel the world, and create my own house. I'm staying local to where I've always lived. "I'm a home-owner at 19 which is pretty cool. "I'm living at home at the moment, and I've finally purchased my own property," he says. Of course, however, his tremendous success has brought about a life that few could see as their own reality. To take on airs and graces in front of the turbulent comment threads of YouTube would be career suicide. For the middle-teens that form the core of his audience he's a cool older brother - or perhaps the kid everyone wanted to be friends with at school. If you say that you're a celebrity on YouTube, people will kill you." The reality of his life, and his down-to-earth nature, is all part of his appeal. "People will think that I think I'm a celebrity. So is Syndicate a gaming celebrity? "Don't say the c-word!" comes a wide-eyed and instant response. Tom captures video of himself when he plays games - talking about what he's doing with the loud end of an AK47, but also about what he's up to his in life. He is part of a phenomenon that the gaming industry has been slow to react to - but one that I believe, as the legions of YouTuber fans get older and more widespread, will increasingly come to define it.
His YouTube channel is only two years old. Tom has 1.4 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and has had well over half a billion video views. Tom, known as The Syndicate Project on YouTube, began to hold court as a crowd of fifty people coalesced around him in under thirty seconds. Small children nervously stood behind him with Expo tickets for him to sign. Phones started to come out and take photos.
It happened as soon as we stopped walking. So we took to the floor of the Eurogamer Expo. "So I can see it happen?" Tom was enthusiastic - he is about most things. "Would you mind if I walked with you for a bit?" I asked. Although, something did feel like it was missing.
I'd finished my interview with Tom Cassell, and it had gone fairly well.
0 kommentar(er)
