Welcome to Streamers on the Rise, where we find streamers who are growing their channels, content, and audiences in extraordinary ways. Each week we’ll talk with a creator about what goes into livestreaming–both on and off camera.
If you’ve ever played an online video game (something like Apex Legends or Valorant as opposed to non-online games like Tears of the Kingdom and The Last of Us), you know people get Big Mad on voice chat.
And they–well, misogynists–get especially Big Mad when there’s a woman in their lobby.
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That’s where joshseki comes in. Because joshseki has two sisters, and whenever he sees a dude being shitty to a woman in his game lobby, he thinks of them.
“There’s no way I could ever let someone talk to my sister like that,” he says. But even taking his sisters out of the equation, “I think it’s just basic empathy.”
joshseki was a longtime League of Legends player before he started streaming Valorant on Twitch. Valorant was his first online first-person shooter game, and it was not a pleasant introduction to the genre. He’d gotten an early access code from Pokimane, whose stream he watched regularly, and logged in expecting to have a good time, and his very first match, he says, was “a really toxic game.”
“I remember just being yelled at by a teammate,” he says. “I felt terrible. […] It was really toxic. I was like, I’m not going to play this game. There’s no way, especially if every game is like this. I took a break for like six months.”
When he returned to Valorant, he played mostly with friends, and while they’d have occasional toxic encounters, there were enough good games that he started to truly love the game.
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But he knows there are still problems–not just in Valorant, but across gaming overall.
It’s clear other people recognize the problem, too. When joshseki started streaming on Twitch regularly, he had around 20-40 viewers per stream. Then he decided to try posting clips of his streams on TikTok, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the first one to go viral was a video where he went up against a toxic player. He committed to keep posting TikToks, which meant balancing a full-time job, going to school for his master’s degree, streaming, and uploading three videos a day.
Thankfully, these days he’s only (we say “only” lightly) doing streaming full-time, and has an editor to help him make content across TikTok (where he has 330,000 followers) and YouTube (230,000). Combating toxicity and uplifting women in gaming has become a major part of his presence on Twitch (250,000).
“I think it’s really important, even when I was a small streamer, to set an example, as just someone who’s broadcasting in front of a bunch of people,” he says. “I think sometimes I forget nowadays too how many people are watching me at once. I just want to be a good role model.”
Check out our chat with him below.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: For somebody who’s reading this or watching this and has never seen you before, can you give me a little bit of background about you and where you’re from, and your journey up to Twitch?
joshseki: Yes, sure. Of course. Hello, my name is joshseki. I’m 25 years old. I am a Valorant content creator. I started streaming two and a half years ago. I remember, I think it was on Thanksgiving Day. It was just like a random stream. I was really inspired by…I think this was the beginning of COVID, so it was like a lot of the Among Us hype. I really loved that game. I remember watching a lot of content creators stream it, and I was just fascinated by the streaming world, being in people’s communities, and talking in people’s chats.
I was definitely a viewer before starting Twitch, as a lot of other streamers probably were. So that’s how I got into it. I picked up Among Us. I was already pretty familiar with PC games because I played League of Legends for like eight or nine years.
Tubefilter: Oh, you were ready ready.
joshseki: Yes, so when Valorant came out, it was a whole new world for me. I remember getting my Valorant beta code from Pokimane’s chat when I was first starting off. She was a streamer I regularly watched. And I remember starting my first game and it was a really toxic game. It was my very first game on, I was just trying it out. It was my first FPS game as well. I just went into it not knowing anything about it. It was a game on Haven, and I remember just being yelled at by a teammate. I felt terrible. Just having voice comms, going into a game with voice comms, was really new to me as well, especially coming from League. It was really toxic. I was like, I’m not going to play this game. There’s no way, especially if every game is like this. I took a break for like six months.
Then, six months later, one of my friends got me into it again. Then I started having a lot of fun playing with friends. We ran into the occasional toxic person, but it wasn’t too bad. Then I just focused a lot on improving in the game. I started to stream Valorant full-time just because–Well, not full-time, just on stream, because before that, I was a variety streamer. I would just play whatever I wanted to play, which was still the case, but Valorant was what I wanted to play. I became quickly addicted to it.
Six or seven months into streaming, I started posting on TikTok, and that’s when everything blew up. My first TikTok to ever blow up was actually a toxic game. I remember that game as well. It was on Bind, and it was a really, really toxic game. I felt really helpless. After the game, just after all the vile things this guy was saying, I thought I’d post it on TikTok. It was my very first video, I believe. It was really toxic. And it was my first time editing too.
Tubefilter: Oh, so first everything, right out of the gate.
joshseki: Yes, so I was just trying to learn editing at the same time and trying to get as much content out there, but it really all started because of that one toxic guy. I felt like I had no one to vent to. I was like, “Is anyone else having these problems in this game?” I remember that one blew up, and then a bunch of Riot devs commented on it. I just felt a lot of support from the community. Then, I think from there, the rest is history. I just kept uploading and obviously made content, not just about toxicity, but yes.
Tubefilter: That is something I wanted to talk about, because I also game, and I’m non-binary but I have a high voice. I play Apex Legends, but I don’t ever turn my mic on, for obvious reasons. The first video I saw of yours was a toxic video, specifically about you defending women in gaming.
joshseki: Yes.
Tubefilter: I wanted to talk a little bit about why that’s become an important part of your presence online. Why is it important to you?
joshseki: Misogyny in Valorant—or, I guess, in any FPS game–is very prevalent. I have two older sisters–there’s no way I could ever let someone talk to my sister like that. It’s not even just that, I think it’s just basic empathy. I was really surprised to go into a game, and first, I was really surprised by that kind of environment, but I was also just surprised that no one was speaking up against homophobia, misogyny. I was going into Valorant playing four or five hours a day, and I would always get at least one game that was like that.
I think it’s really important, even when I was a small streamer, to set an example, as just someone who’s broadcasting in front of a bunch of people. I think sometimes I forget nowadays too how many people are watching me at once. I just want to be a good role model. Even before that, I just wanted people to enjoy the game. It’s crazy how many people come into my chat telling me this story, what this person said, this happened. It’s like…You won’t believe. Even my parents. People just don’t believe how bad it can get in a Valorant game.
@joshsekikda doesn’t matter lol i was just annoyed bc he was screaming all game 🥰♬ original sound – joshseki
Tubefilter: Yeah, it’s bad. I feel like there are a lot of major streamers who address it occasionally, but it’s really a centerpoint of who you are and who you present on stream, is that you don’t let people talk to someone the way you wouldn’t want someone to talk to your sisters. It really comes off and it’s really nice. Back up a little bit and tell me, were you in school before you started streaming, or were you interrupted by COVID, or what was your intended career path?
joshseki: I graduated in 2020 with a degree in computer engineering. My graduation was actually virtual, which is really unfortunate. I started working, and then I started streaming just a few months after I started working. Because once I started working, I could afford to build my own PC, and I just had more resources than when I was a college student, and definitely, I would say more time too after work. Then, I basically went to school. I started working as a software engineer. I was getting my master’s at the same time. I was getting my master’s part-time in product development.
Tubefilter: What a schedule. Jeez.
joshseki: Yes, because they were like, “We’ll pay for your master’s,” so I was like, “Okay.”
Tubefilter: Okay, fine, free master’s.
joshseki: I was really overwhelmed in the beginning, especially because my schedule would literally be like waking up at 6:00 AM, editing for like two hours, going to work, coming back, eating, starting stream up around 6:00 PM Eastern time, and then ending around 10:00 PM. Then I have to edit my full-length YouTube videos because before that was TikToks. That was like 10:00 to 12:00, and then it’s just like all over again.
Then, I think two times a week, I would have class for my master’s. It was definitely a lot. I wouldn’t recommend. I don’t know why I just didn’t hire an editor, but. I was talking about it with my parents actually recently, but I feel like when you’re in that grind mindset and you’re starting on stream, if you’re really passionate about streaming, you’ll make it happen at the end of the day. Even if you don’t have the resources, you’ll pick it up yourself. You’ll start learning. Not that I don’t have that drive now, but definitely, there was this initial excitement and this hunger and drive when you’re starting off. I still have that, for sure, but I think I just was juggling a lot more back then. Even now, I always wonder how I did it, because now I’m full-time streaming, and sometimes I just feel like I don’t have time for anything else. I have an editor now. Thank god.
Tubefilter: Hiring an editor’s really tough in those early days because like you said, you were learning editing, you’re establishing your own voice, and you don’t want to give up control.
joshseki: Yes, for sure. I think I had trouble letting go at first, but then once you meet the right people…It’s definitely trial and error, but once you find the right people and you get adjusted to each other’s style, it’s definitely a lot easier.
Tubefilter: What was the push for you to go full-time on streaming?
joshseki: I think for me it was just, one, I was really busy with work, and then work started picking up. But the point where I realized that I should go full-time was when I was in a meeting at work, actually. The whole time I was just thinking about my content. I think I’d been doing that for months now, but I don’t know why, it was just like a moment where it clicked for me, and I was like, “I shouldn’t be here right now.” It’s also not fair for work also. I’m not paying attention, I’m really distracted, and I’m just thinking about, “What am I going to do on stream today? What am I going to edit today?”
I was just a lot, obviously, a lot more passionate about streaming and my content rather than work. I think that was for sure the major reason. Then, from there, I signed with Evil Geniuses and things just seemed to be going really well for me, and I wanted to put 100% of my energy into streaming and my now work.
@joshseki snipers no sniping #valorant #valorantclips #valorantfunny #joshseki ♬ original sound – joshseki
Tubefilter: Honestly, the fact that you were doing all of that, not only a full-time job but master’s degree, you just had like 36 hours of stuff in every day.
joshseki: It felt like that. Every day felt so long, but also, it felt like it was going fast as well, just because I had no time to even breathe. Especially when streams were picking up and viewership was starting to go up. It was really, really exciting and just overall fun for me.
Tubefilter: A lot of what we’ve talked about in this particular column is obviously Twitch is very difficult when it comes to growing your audience. Discoverability. You mentioned TikTok. You said TikTok took off very quickly for you. How did TikTok and other elements play into your audience growth? Did you find a lot of natural audience growth on Twitch? Or what have you been doing to grow your audience?
joshseki: Yes, for sure I think Twitch’s discoverability is very, very rough for creators. I was averaging like probably 20 to 40 viewers for six months, I would say. Even TikTok, it took me a really long time for it to pick up. I was posting three times a day, morning, afternoon, nighttime, and then just analyzing my numbers there and then working around those different times.
Then, I just started to learn the algorithm a bit more, what TikTok likes, what it doesn’t, and then with those three TikToks, it was like a trial and error, and I got to see what was working for my audience.
I think overall, after TikTok started picking up, people were just calling me “the Asian guy on TikTok who plays Valorant.“ Definitely, I wanted to expand a bit more. That’s when I started looking into YouTube. TikTok was definitely the start, like home base for me. Then I started posting on YouTube a lot. Then that’s when YouTube Shorts were introduced, and I feel like I was one of the very first Valorant creators to start posting on YouTube Shorts. I would post both at the same time. Sometimes I would just post YouTube-specific content. Then, once my Shorts started ramping up, I started uploading full-length videos on YouTube.
I think TikTok was my biggest drive in growth. Then, from there, it was little things on TikTok and then YouTube. TikTok introduced me to a lot of creators. It helped me collab with a lot of other Valorant creators and helped me connect with a lot of other streamers as well. Definitely, I think those two, TikTok and YouTube are my biggest for Twitch growth.
Tubefilter: What is your current average viewership?
joshseki: My current average viewership varies from 1300 to 1700.
Tubefilter: What’s your current schedule like?
joshseki: My schedule is, I stream every single day except Saturdays. When I was working full-time, I would stream in the evenings. I was fine with that until, I think, I had a sponsored stream in the morning once. I used to only stream four hours. I don’t want to say only, but now I stream a lot more–around six to eight per stream. When I was first starting off, I had a sponsored stream and it was early in the morning and it just felt really nice. It just felt right for me to start streaming in the mornings, and that was impossible when I was working full-time.
That was also another reason why I would say I went full-time with streaming: because it just works really well with my schedule. I like having the rest of my day for other stuff, and so I stream right now around like 9:00. I start around 9:00 to 10:00 AM Eastern time. Then I go for around 6 to 8 hours.
Tubefilter: You said you have an editor now, so in terms of content on other platforms, are you posting a certain number of videos per week? Are you still doing three a day? How is your strategy on other platforms?
joshseki: I stopped doing the three-a-day just because I started to see what works and what time works for me. I upload one Short and one TikTok a day. Then I upload a full-length YouTube video–we go for two a week. We’re trying to, now, my channel manager and I, are discussing doing three a week. I guess that’s it right now. I just post a Short or a TikTok once in the morning and then a full-length three times a week.
Tubefilter: Do you post the same videos to TikTok and YouTube Shorts?
joshseki: Yes.
Tubefilter: Do you feel like you noticed a difference in audience demographic at all? Or is it very similar?
joshseki: My audience is almost always on all platforms around 50/50, male/female. Then, for me, it doesn’t vary much from what I’ve seen on TikTok and YouTube.
Tubefilter: Do you have any cool projects or things that you’re working on this year?
joshseki: Yes, I would say one of the main things would definitely be my merch, my clothing line, which is coming out later this year. I think our goal is to come out in the fall or winter season. Without giving away too much, I would say for my first collection, I really wanted to come out with something more streetwear. It’s in the works and I’m really excited, because fashion is something I’m really, really interested in and passionate about.
Tubefilter: That’s very cool. How involved have you been in the design process?
joshseki: Super involved. Probably to the point of being annoying. [laughs] For sure, very hands-on. I came up with the initial design, and then we’ve just been working from there. I think working with Loaded on my clothing line is really exciting. It’s really cool to have people just as excited as I am about something and having a team to work with. I feel like up until now, I’ve been very solo, and I like to bounce ideas with other people. I like to collaborate a lot and just get other people’s opinions on things, so it’s been really nice.
