The last year and a half has been a landmark for video games. As the world collapsed, the medium gained new meaning as games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a central way in which we deal with one another. Platforms like Twitch saw tremendous growth and viewers saw more than 1.8 billion hours of video in February 2021. In addition, Mortal Kombat got another movie.
And through strange pandemic luck Free guy, by director Shawn Levy (Real steel), comes out at a time when it can build on 18 months of video game hype. The film, starring Ryan Reynolds as a non-playable character from an open-world video game that breaks the monotony of a programmed character, was developed by 20th Century Fox before Disney took over the company and was originally scheduled for summer 2020. As a comedy Free guy thrives on references to games like Grand Theft Auto, but among all of the virtual jokes are some real people.
Free guy has a real squad of influencers from the gaming world itself, such as Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Imane “Pokimane” Anys. Polygon spoke to three creators who appear in the film: Seán “Jacksepticeye
McLoughlin is an extremely popular YouTuber with a following of around 27 million subscribers. The streamer’s videos cover a wide range of content – it will make silly, screaming, narrated videos about gaming Resident Evil Village, and stream Between us with popular creators like Corpse Husband. Polygon interviewed McLoughlin with Daniel Middleton about Zoom.
“I mean, certain aspects of [the job] are easier than some other jobs, ”said McLoughlin. “But everyone thinks turning on a camera and playing games is an easy thing. […] I have the feeling there’s a lot more to it than we’re always there. There’s a mental toll that people don’t realize. You have to do it for so long all the time. We are one-man armies most of the time. It’s a lot more complex than I think people believe. “
Daniel Middleton comes from the Minecraft World. While his channel was big since 2015, he continued to make videos and even appeared on the infamous Dream SMP
“Maybe just the place is pretty negative. I feel like it has such a reputation even though only a very small percentage of the online world and audience is toxic and that can easily be either controlled or ignored, ”said Middleton. “I think it’s a massive mistake that there are trolls and poisonous people everywhere. That’s not the case. I’ve met some of the nicest people out there through gaming, YouTube, and streaming. “
Lannan Eacott comes from another huge world of games: Fourteen days. The Australian creator has since done a ton of streaming covering fun mods in games and memes – many of which have a comedic twist. Like the others, he is faced with the mistaken belief that his job is not particularly difficult.
“[Some people think] you just wake up like Oh, record a video for 10 minutes, send it to someone, ready for the day“Said Eacott. “It’s more of a lifestyle. Rather, it’s your entire existence. I can’t remember the last day I felt relaxed. It was probably a decade ago when I wasn’t stressing out about something or people’s comments. […] I think that’s my biggest problem with people’s perception: that it’s easy. I’m not saying it’s the hardest thing in the world, but it has its challenges. ”
Polygon then asked Eacott how much work there was in a single video.
“When I first blew up when Fourteen days was in its prime, I slept three to four hours a night and worked every day and edited the video, tried and come up with something, right [in the] In the morning, film five hours, edit six hours, take a thumbnail and talk for two hours, and then go to bed and wake up and do it every day, ”Eacott said.
For those more familiar with the industry, creating content about games – or creating the games yourself – isn’t an easy task. Back in 2018, streamers explained how difficult it can be to keep up with the constant flow of content. As the public awareness of gaming itself grows, the hope remains that we can remember how much work it takes to make the media we love.
