Shroud explains how he became so successful on Twitch

Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek is one of the most popular streamers in the world, and explained how he climbed to the top of Twitch during his Wednesday, October 16 broadcast. 

Shroud is one of Twitch’s biggest stars, regularly drawing thousands of viewers to his channel eager to watch him dominate opponents in battle royale titles like PUBG or Apex Legends, or grind his way through dungeons on WoW Classic.

Sitting as one of the platform’s most-watched broadcasters is something that many aspire to emulate, but the path can be almost impossible – prompting one shroud viewer to ask the 25-year-old for the story of his journey to Twitch’s summit.

When a donation asked him how he became so successful on Twitch, the Canadian gave an honest answer, diving into his history to provide the context for his massive popularity on the platform.

“I went live every day,” shrugged shroud. “That’s all I did. No, I’m sure it was a lot of things, right?”

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“I started as a streamer, then I got really into Counter-Strike, and I loved CS. I joined and climbed the ladder of CS, so people started recognizing me in the scene because I was getting better, and better, and better. Then I joined a pro team and went to tournaments and did all that. By the end of it, I’ve already built a following and it carried over. That’s pretty much it.”

For shroud, he believes that his career as a professional Counter-Strike player laid the foundation for his streaming success, but a large chunk of his exponential growth came after his retirement thanks to his dominating displays in the battle royale genre.

In fact, his skills are so revered that he’s often been described as the “human aimbot,” with an aim so precise that few escape once the Canadian hovers his crosshairs over them. 

His humility and honesty about how making sure he’s live every day show the hard work he puts into his career though, and is certainly something that any aspiring streamer can look to for inspiration as they attempt to climb Twitch’s ranks.