PointCrow Interview: How a material science engineer took over Nintendo speedrunning
Once on the fast track to working as an aerospace engineer, ‘PointCrow’ shares with Dexerto how he ended up becoming a professional video game content creator.
Eric ‘PointCrow’ Morino has become a prominent figure on both Twitch and YouTube – but before his rise to fame for speedrunning Nintendo titles, he was a college student working toward a degree in Material Science Engineering.
Morino started his collegiate journey in 2016, but kicked off his career as a content creator just a year before graduating. After receiving his degree in 2020, PointCrow was faced with a choice: He could pursue a safe and lucrative career as an engineer, or continue growing his online audience.
Of course, Morino ultimately chose to play video games over crafting aerospace materials. Here’s our in-depth discussion with PointCrow about how he became a Nintendo speedrunner.
PointCrow Interview: Choosing gaming as a career
PointCrow (Twitter)You often hear stories of how someone who has been in a professional field of work for years suddenly quits their job to pursue their passions – but it’s rare to hear of someone who puts in the work to enter into a highly esteemed field, only to leave before they’ve even started. Enter PointCrow.
The 24-year-old Twitch streamer and YouTuber has amassed a substantial following on both platforms while only being in the content creation game since 2019. Morino said, “I had some really awesome stuff set up [in college]. I worked on multilayer ceramic capacitors for some defense contractors. But I did streaming and YouTube as a hobby.”
Although he didn’t intend for content creation to become his career, he states that his channels started to gain traction. As he began making a decent income from his content, Morino told himself, “If I ever made as much as I would in engineering, then it would make sense to do streaming full time.”
Right as PointCrow graduated, he made the decision to pursue content creation exclusively. He admitted that it was unexpected, but claims he was able to choose between two dream careers. The more entertaining of the two just happened to involve video games.
PointCrow’s advice to content creators
Although PointCrow streams to thousands of viewers and his YouTube videos garner millions of views, he started with a fraction of the audience he has now. In fact, it took Morino a little over a year before his “big break.”
January 23rd, 2020 is the date PointCrow associates with his massive growth. A video he had made months prior had “hit algorithm” and reached a number of viewers he wasn’t used to at the time. While many content creators attribute their success to luck, PointCrow claims he knew it was going to happen eventually.
“One of my videos was bound to pop off at that point,” states Morino, “A lot of people say YouTube is a lot of luck, but it’s more of seizing an opportunity.” He added that, if creators are making videos that “will be” good, it just takes time for people to eventually catch on and for the algorithm to pick it up.
PointCrow advises that if you’re wanting to get into content creation, you need to start it as a hobby. “The moment you start to treat it like a job is the moment it stops being fun. So if you go into it thinking you want to make this your job, don’t. It’s really unlikely you’re going to make it. But if you want to try, I’ll be happy to meet you.”
PointCrow on getting stuck the same content
PointCrow (Twitch)In addition to his speed runs and wacky video game challenges, PointCrow is also seeking to break out of this mold by attempting IRL content. Creators rarely leave the content that helped them rise to prominence, or shy away after a failed attempt at something new.
However, PointCrow has proven that repeatedly attempting new content can lead to success. At the beginning of his career, Morino almost exclusively made The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild videos. He stated that he felt locked into just creating Zelda content.
“I would play a Zelda game and it would go really well. But then I would go into something Nintendo-adjacent like Pokemon, and the video would bomb.” He claimed that his viewers would ask where the Zelda content they subscribed for was, and when he’d be returning to his roots.
The way PointCrow overcame this issue was facing the way he faces content creation as a whole. “You want to make sure whatever you do is the best in that field. You want to revolutionize that field.” PointCrow does this by publishing high-quality videos covering content you can’t find anywhere else.
PointCrow (Twitch)Morino intends to expand his content outside of video games.
“It’s video games to start, but I want to do more.” This is already apparent through the two IRL videos he has posted recently, both of which are hovering around 1 million views on YouTube.
PointCrow’s quick rise to stardom is inspiring, but it’s not without its risks. Regardless, playing video games for thousands of viewers is a dream job for many, and Eric “PointCrow” Morino is proving what’s possible in today’s content-rich landscape.