AN AMERICAN Twitch star has made an estimated $1.2million after live-streaming himself from his bedroom for two weeks straight.
Ludwig Anders Ahgren kicked off his marathon broadcast on March 14 and is charging viewers cash to extend the round-the-clock stream.
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The video feed aired from his home in California has featured dozens of hours of himself asleep in a bright red race car bed.
The 23-year-old plays video games, chats, cooks, eats and even showers (with shorts on), all on stream, according to the New York Times.
Ludwig extends the deadline for the stream’s end by 20 seconds for each subscription purchased for his channel. Subscriptions are $5 per month.
It works a bit like a telethon – as long as the cash keeps coming in, he won’t stop streaming.
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“We’re making this like a goddamn vending machine,” Ludwig said a few hours into the first day of his stream.
Over the course of the project, Ludwig has played games, slept, exercised and much more while streaming to up to 70,000 viewers at a time.
His five roommates and girlfriend have played supporting roles, joining him to cook or workout.
The streamer has 2.2million subscribers on Twitch – 500,000 more than he had prior to his “subathon”, according to unofficial tracker SocialBlade.
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If each of those new followers has paid the minimum $5 subscription fee, Ludwig has generated at least $2.5million over the past two weeks.
Twitch currently operates on a 50/50 split for streamers, meaning the web star has taken home roughly $1.2million since the project began.
In one stream, Ludwig said he would keep going as long as people kept subscribing – though he has added some constraints.
New subscribers now only add 10 seconds to the stream, and the American has said he will stop at 31 days no matter what.
At the time of writing, an on-screen timer has eight hours to go before the stream ends, though it regularly jumps up as new subscribers join.
Ludwig was already popular on Twitch before the subathon began, and he’s had some help along the way.
Twitch – the world’s biggest streaming site explained
Here’s what you need to know…
- Twitch is a website dedicated to hosting livestreams watched by millions around the world
- The platform is owned by Amazon and largely focusses on video game livestreams
- However, content creators also upload clips of themselves creating artwork or music, or simply having a chat
- Twitch boasts more than 15million daily active users watching clips streamed by around 3million creators
- Its creators make money through a mix of paid subscripions, advertising revenue and donations from viewers
- Some of the site’s biggest earners make millions every year, largely through sponsorship deals with big brands
- Twitch is worth an estimated £3billion
- Its biggest competitors are Microsoft-owned streaming platform Mixer, YouTube (which is owned by Google) and Facebook Live
The stream has featured prominently on Twitch’s homepage and the platform even wished him “Goodnight” from its official Twitter account.
Ludwig recently became the most subbed to streamer on the site.
A subathon is not a new concept. Streamers regularly engage in certain activities or stunts in order to drive subscription numbers.
Creators might promise, for instance, to eat a really hot chilli or play a specific game once a subscription target is met.
In April 2020, Twitch star LosPollosTV streamed for more than six days during a subathon, setting what was believed to be a record at the time.
Other streamers have since gone on longer, but without running a subathon for the duration.
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In other news, a sleeping man made $16,000 (£11,500) by streaming his slumber on Twitch and charging fans to attempt to wake him up.
Netflix is trialling a viewing timer feature that can pause an episode for you if you fall asleep.
And, scam emails claiming that the recipient has been selected to receive a coronavirus vaccine have been highlighted by concerned experts.
How long do you think Ludwig’s stream will last? Let us know in the comments…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
