The Dutch e-sports player and Twitch streamer Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen (38) has had a wild career that is closely associated with Blizzard games. More than 20 years ago, he was one of the most successful e-sports players in Warcraft 3. Today, at 38, he is experiencing a resurgence on Twitch thanks to WoW Classic. Even usually more cynical users must shed a tear and pay him respect.
This was Grubby’s first career: Grubby was a successful e-sports player in strategy games like Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2, and Age of Empires from 2003 to 2011. He specialized in “Two vs. Two” formats.
Between 2003 and 2013, it was his golden time as an e-sports player, although there wasn’t as much prize money in his games as there would later be in CS:GO, DOTA 2, or LoL. Nevertheless, he was able to earn $303,000 in prize money from 117 tournaments in Warcraft 3 and another $58,000 with Starcraft 2. His biggest success was a win at the World Cyber Games in 2004, where he took home $25,000 (via esportearnings).
For many who followed e-sports back then, Grubby is an absolute legend.
Grubby grinds Twitch, but his games are not really taking off
This is now his second career: Grubby transitioned to becoming an influencer. He began – like many former e-sports players – first as a caster for tournaments, focusing on Hearthstone. He has been on Twitch since 2011.
Since his numbers can be tracked on Twitch, Grubby has been a constant presence on the platform. He hovered in the range of 3,000 to 6,000 viewers for 9 years. In absolute terms, that is very good, but these are also spots where one has to work hard for success. In any case, his career has practically stagnated all this time on Twitch. He never had a real breakthrough.
The problem was that the games he played were never really in vogue:
- In 2018, he streamed Warcraft 3 and Heroes of the Storm in front of about 5,000 viewers
- In 2021, he showed Heroes of the Storm – a game that was nearly dead at the time – in front of 1,900 viewers and Age of Empires IV to 4,200 viewers
- By 2023, he ended up in DOTA 2, a densely populated game, and had an average of 3,650 viewers
Surely, Grubby had hoped for a career boost from the remake of Warcraft 3: Reforged, but that was an absolute disaster for Blizzard.
Blizzard also played a major role in Grubby’s personal life. He proposed to his later wife at BlizzCon 2009:
WoW Hardcore and OnlyFangs are now bringing him success
This is now his breakthrough: Now, more than 20 years after his world championship victory and 14 years into his Twitch career, Grubby has arrived in the mainstream. He is part of the guild “OnlyFangs” in WoW Hardcore. He also continues to showcase Warcraft 3.
In WoW, he now averages 4,500 viewers. In a stream from November 24, he even reached 17,056 viewers at peak – so many concurrent viewers Grubby has never had since data has been recorded.
This is now a highlight. Grubby was able to reach level 60 in WoW Hardcore and celebrated it by singing a somewhat silly song:
This is what makes it special. In the comments, the users of the otherwise cynical Reddit “LivestreamFail” are celebrating the life’s work of the streamer:
- “This is such a beautiful and honest moment. He is what every content creator would die for.”
- “He brings in fresh air. He is balanced, calm, has exciting insights, and is funny.”
- “Ironically, he is one of the first live streamers.”
- “It’s great that he is reaching 9,000 viewers. He has always been a great streamer; I have been following him since 2015, since he streams Heroes of the Storm. I am proud of him.”
- “I think the first streamers did this before it was about big money. They streamed out of love for gaming. Back then, you also had to be good at the games to get attention.”
WoW Classic and OnlyFangs are currently catalysts for the careers of many streamers. Streamers like Grubby are rising. Streamers like Sodapoppin, who were always big before, are finally skyrocketing. Only one person is not looking so good right now: Streamer flees in WoW Hardcore, abandons group and lies coldly: “I couldn’t do anything”
