Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris was one of the first major streamers on Twitch: He captivated audiences with a mix of skill in WoW and entertaining antics. It was so well received that he garnered large sums of viewers – without really understanding it.
Which streamer is it about? “Sodapoppin” is an absolute streaming veteran. He started streaming on the Xfire platform at the age of 15. In 2012, he really took off on Twitch, becoming one of the first truly successful MMORPG streamers, reaching tens of thousands of viewers in the early years of streaming.
Sodapoppin’s mix of skill in WoW and goofy antics was so well received that viewers began sending him money via PayPal. As he reports in the new episode of his podcast with his mother as a special guest, WoW players from Dubai started to send him money through PayPal, including a “donation” of $10,000. However, no one really understood it back then.
In the past, donations were still uncharted territory for many creators:
“At 18, I didn’t care about it”
This is how Sodapoppin’s mother viewed his career: The mother of the Twitch streamer found the whole thing especially “confusing” at the time. She didn’t know that PayPal was “real.” She thought it was all “Monopoly money.” She told a friend: “Oh, he has a bit of money, but I don’t think it’s real money.”
Sodapoppin explains: They were all skeptical back then. They also didn’t know if the donor would charge back the money. Such a chargeback can actually happen and put content creators in difficult situations. Later, the MMORPG streamer says he also didn’t know how he would get the money into his bank account. He didn’t even have a bank.
The practical aspects of the sudden windfall didn’t matter to him much either. “At 18, I didn’t care about it. I didn’t even know what it meant. I didn’t care. I was jumping up and down, I was freaking out.”
You can watch the whole episode here:
However, even outside of his own family, there was still much ignorance surrounding streaming as a career. So Sodapoppin continues: He couldn’t just buy an apartment with his newfound wealth. Even his PayPal statements didn’t convince the authorities. They saw all the “tips” over $1 and thought he was a “stripper.”
Nowadays, there is still debate about whether streaming is actually a real profession, but hardly anyone doubts the resulting income. In 2021, a major leak revealed the highest-earning streamers on Twitch, including Sodapoppin. From August 2019 to October 2021, the streamer reportedly received over $1.4 million from Twitch, placing him at 43rd at that time.
Sodapoppin is one of the first major success stories in streaming; nowadays, millions of content creators stream on Twitch. But who actually started it all? You can find out here on MeinMMO: Who was actually the first Twitch streamer and what is he doing today?
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