The Twitch streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp gave a major interview to a US newspaper. The journalist summarizes the streamer’s daily life as one characterized by hours of playing League of Legends, anger, rage, and isolation. The streamer wonders about the article: It sounds as if he is lonely. He actually wants it that way – he just doesn’t need friends.
This is the situation:
- Tyler1 is by far the biggest streamer of League of Legends. Each week, he is on air for about 50 hours playing the MOBA. He sets himself extremely difficult challenges in LoL and spends months trying to fulfill them.
- An article in the Washington Post reported about Tyler1: The report depicts the streamer’s life as isolated, living only with his girlfriend and family in a small village, revolving around LoL, the gym, and little more. Themes of the article are “loneliness,” “anger,” and the feeling of being constantly watched. Tyler1 suffers from too little sleep, an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and regularly takes Adderall.
- Tyler1 now comments on the article and wonders what people are doing. This is the life he wishes for.
“Just had a bad day”
This is Tyler1’s reaction: The Twitch streamer says he is really surprised by the reaction to the article. The reporter spent a day with him and Tyler1 was practically smiling all the time and everything was great. But then the article became a “sob story.”
When the report was published, Tyler1 received hundreds of messages asking if he was okay. He couldn’t understand it at all, because he didn’t know about the article before it came out.
He goes through the article live on his Twitch stream:
- About a passage in the article stating that he “looked depressed,” Tyler1 says that on that day he lost 10 out of 11 LoL matches and just had a streak of bad luck. That happens sometimes. He just had a bad day.
- Regarding the note that he suffers from too little sleep, Tyler1 points out that he has now been diagnosed with sleep apnea and looks forward to the treatment.
- The phrasing that he “dropped out of college” is explicitly criticized by Tyler1, saying it sounds like he quit due to poor grades. However, he had good grades and consciously decided to leave university to pursue “other interests.”
- He is also annoyed by a passage stating that there are “dozens of bottles of Adderall” on his nightstand. That sounds as if he takes them like Tic Tacs – that’s not the case. He suffers from an attention disorder and takes medication for it.
- Statements that the house is “run down” or there is “garbage” everywhere also bother Tyler1 a little. The house is “not that run down,” just a bit old. The garbage is mainly fan mail.
“I don’t want friends in real life”
This is what he says about his loneliness: Tyler1 is bothered by the statement that no one visits him in the apartment except his girlfriend and family. While that is true, it sounds as though he longs for companionship. But that is not the case at all.
Tyler1 says he has no interest in friends in real life. He could move to Alaska with his wife, cat, and family and it would be okay for him.
According to Tyler1, the journalist could also have written exactly the opposite article. He posed for photos for hours, where he was grinning widely and making triumphant gestures. However, the photographer then chose a picture where he looked thoughtful and sad.
Tyler1 consistently denies being rich
What else stands out? Tyler1 consistently contradicts any statement that he earns anywhere near what is described in the article. It states that he
- earns $200,000 a month
- has earned $5 million in recent years
- owns a sports car worth $170,000
- his manager rejects any advertising offer below $20,000
All of this is denied by Tyler1, rolling his eyes and calling it “fake news,” assuring his chat that he actually makes hardly any money. The car was also just rented.
On the statement in the article that his girlfriend earns $200,000 a year, Tyler1 exclaims, “You earn the bread! Why am I even still streaming?”
The supposedly low earnings of Tyler1 seem as credible as the statement that he is two meters tall. According to a Twitch leak, Tyler1 is actually among the top earners on Twitch.
Even if Tyler completely gets into his role as a persona when it comes to “money,” the Twitch streamer gets angry at one point.
When it comes to how much his life is influenced by the Twitch chat, Tyler1 shows that he is indeed as affected as described in the article.
He gets upset about how relentless his chat can be at times. There are people demanding a “24-hour marathon” stream as compensation, just because Tyler1 had to cancel one or two streams due to illness. He then scolds the chat – apparently some have not got their lives under control.
“Get a job” comment
This is how he reacts to the comments: Under the article, there are also some comments from readers of the Washington Post.
In one comment, it says that Tyler1 should finally grow up and get a job.
The streamer can only chuckle about this. He calls the writer of the comment a “boomer”, someone who is out of touch and not up to date, and offers to meet up.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is getting worse
This is what’s behind it: What looks like daily life and “normal life” to Tyler1 may seem to an outsider like a life marked by constant repetition, anger, and isolation. It seems hard for many to believe that Tyler1 really chose this life, but he assures that this is indeed the case.
The idea that he might be lonely is completely rejected by Tyler1. He simply says he has absolutely no interest in things like “friends.”
At some points, however, the image shakes a bit:
- When Tyler1 talks about how his control disorder is getting worse since he started streaming, and he can no longer cope when anything feels “wrong” with his equipment or his positioning.
- A passage in the article stating that many acquaintances of Tyler1’s friends had burnout and had to stop streaming, Tyler1 only comments with “It’s true.”
- Also, the fact that his girlfriend actually wishes for a completely different life and talks in the article about missing contact with other people seems to be a sore point. She also wants to get married and desires 3 to 5 children – Tyler1 only comments with “Noted.”
This already seems like not everything is as great in the self-chosen gamer paradise. It’s understandable why people asked after the article if Tyler1 is still okay.
In fact, a major LoL player had to end his career because of exactly the kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder Tyler1 describes:
LoL world champion (22) tells of the obsessive-compulsive disorder that ended his career
