In this post encapsulates a 3-question interview with Matthew Schroeder, better known as MrMattyPlays. Matthew is a successful YouTuber, Twitch streamer, and Podcast co-host. His channel has been growing and evolving since late 2011, as has he. What once was a “Lets Play!” centered channel, found its niche making content about Bethesda Game Studios games, specifically The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. This period of time on the channel consisted of speculation/prediction videos, news and reviews, and the “Lets Plays” that started the channel. In its final transformation, “MrMattyPlays” has become one of the most consistently reliable news channels on YouTube. He discusses all manor of games, but is particularly fond of RPGs; and though he isn’t bound by The Elder Scrolls or Fallout titles anymore, he still makes time for what was once his main focus.
Matty’s fan engagement stands out, he has a Discord channel in which he is active in daily. He got back to me fairly quickly for the interview as well, which you will find below.
> To start, I’d like to ask how and when did you know that making YouTube videos, specifically about video games and the culture surrounding them, would be the right career for you? Was it something you always wanted to do, or was it a new found passion after trying it out?
Matty: I remember distinctly when I was nine years old, I was eating dinner at a friend’s place. His mom was going around the table asking myself and her son what we wanted to be when we grew up. I recall saying “I wish I could just play games, but I guess I’ll be a lawyer.” Understandably, my friend’s parents got a pretty good laugh out of that and that moment has always stuck with me my entire life. I spent most of my high school years thinking that I’d go to be a lawyer because according my parents, I loved to argue. It wasn’t until 2015 that I found out that people could share a similar passion as you and there were communities representing all different games. Furthermore, with the growth of the channel, I saw a pay increase that could allow me to do it full-time, but my parents wanted me to get a degree first. I think they made the right call even if I was frustrated at that them at that time. My channel dipped in relevancy until about spring 2017 where my parents and I agreed that I’d give full time content creation a shot for a year and see where it landed me. To sum up the answer to your question, 2015 is when I realized this was a possible career option, but it wasn’t until arguably 2018 that I full established myself between a Patreon, well performing YouTube channel, and Twitch.
> Secondly, how do you measure your own success? What makes you feel good about the work you’ve done?
Matty: I love this question because there’s a lot of angles to success with content creation. The first thought is always numbers. How many views, how much watch time, how much revenue was generated, and so on. While that’s all important to maintain this as your livelihood, I define my success in a case-by-case basis. First and foremost, YouTube is an unpredictable beast in some pretty neat ways. You never know what will gain traction and grab people’s attention. I know this will sound pretentious, but I genuinely try to put my all into everything I put out there. It’s taxing, but it relieves my anxiety in a strange way. If I see a video I put time into doing well, I feel it’s deserved. However, back in 2015 when I was balancing school and this as a job, there were some videos that took me a couple of hours to make that gained traction. No one really had anything bad to say, but I personally felt bad because I knew I could’ve done more. So I measure my success on the effort put in. I trust my audience where if I put something good enough, informative enough out there, it’ll find its way onto other people’s screens. While numbers technically are the most important, I feel when I focus on them too much, my vision is altered and my creativity stagnates. I go to a safe space and try to be okay with the same ol’, same ol’.
> Just one more, to keep it short. What sort of words of wisdom can you offer to people wanting to become a content creator, or anything involved in video games (i.e. journalist, developer, etc.)? Any advice or words of encouragement for those who may not have the proper support system at home?
Matty: A couple of things. Firstly, it’s a thing you have to stick with. A lot of people approach content creation with a mindset of “oh I could make good money off [it] too.” It’ll never come fast and if it does, you have to be ready to fight to maintain your audience and learn the game quick. Some people deviate too fast, some take too long of a break (although short ones should be had!), some don’t know when it’s time to put your foot on the gas and ease off. I think part of this is the product of assuming everyone is interested in everything you’re doing because YOU are into it. The job quickly develops into a worldly perspective and some people just know how to handle that so they either give up too quick or don’t try at all. A support system for content is huge. My parents were fundamental in my ability to do what I do now. Even to this day, they talk a little more quietly when I have the ‘recording’ sign on my door, work dinner around my podcast schedule, etc. They weren’t huge fans at first though! Initially, my friends were my biggest supporters and why I kept going from about 2009-2013. It was a combined effort. If I could offer any advice, I’d say open up your family’s eyes to the reality that this can be a job if you chip away at it long enough and it’s not just YouTube. Some people’s living is through Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, etc. A career can be made, it’s just about patience, dedication, and support.
Taylor Ethridge 