Matt Shea’s mother wasn’t happy when, at age 21, he told her that he wanted to play online video games for a living instead of pursuing a medical degree.
“She lost it,” he said, laughing. “She was really concerned about my future.”
She’s not complaining these days.
Her son’s enthusiasm for gaming has helped him earn a six-figure annual salary from the comforts of the basement in his Paradise home.
Shea is now 24 and a YouTube sensation, with 1.8 million subscribers from around the world. His popularity has also attracted many well-known international companies, which offer him advertising sponsorships and business deals.
“I’ve been really lucky,” Shea said. “It feels great to make a living out of something I love to do.”
But it’s not something he ever imagined as a profession.
Growing up on Fogo lsland, Shea was like many teenage boys who rushed home after school to play online games, and played with friends on weekends for fun. While in school, he made a few Minecraft videos, using school computers and the internet.
He continued to play in 2011 after he moved to St. John’s to attend Memorial University to pursue a degree in behavioural neuroscience and, on a whim one day, “threw up a few videos on the internet” on YouTube — a few short clips of speed-run games, like Surgeon Simulator, to complete levels as quickly as possible — not realizing how popular they would become.
His videos immediately drew the attention of avid gamers, who seemed to enjoy watching Shea work his way through various skill levels in every challenge.
“It was a bit of a niche. Not many people were doing it at the time. I was doing it just for fun, trying to set records in the game,” said Shea, adding that he initially drew a few hundred subscribers after one of his posts ended up hitting the front page of ReddIt social media site.
“When I realized I had a little bit of an audience, I said maybe I could do a little more with this.”
He added more videos of himself playing various games, with great response despite the fact he admits he wasn’t a skilled player.
In 2013, Shea moved on to Let’s Play videos and bought a microphone to better interact with his audience.
“I definitely didn’t have charisma starting out. I was really awkward. It definitely wasn’t good live commentary,” he said, laughing. “But I kept it up and I improved over time. I learned to project my voice and articulate myself better.”
He also played “indie, obscure games,” and new games by small developers, which did well on his channels. He said that bred a genre on YouTube.
As the popularity of online gaming grew, so did the demand for Shea’s videos.
In one year, from 2012 to 2013, he went from having a few hundred subscribers to 10,000.
“I’d often hit a trend, which shot me up,” said Shea, adding that his numbers saw a sudden surge after a prominent YouTuber commented on one of his videos. “I got a lot of lucky breaks like that.”
In 2014, he had 100,000 subscribers. The following year, when Shea graduated from MUN, he reached the one million mark.
That’s when he decided to do it full time. He did apply for medical school, but didn’t get in. It was a blessing in disguise in many ways, he said.
“I know I made the right choice because I wouldn’t have been able to do both. It would’ve been just too much work,” said Shea, whose brother and sister are both in medical school. “I likely wouldn’t have accepted anyway.
“But — and I always watch when I say this — I’m happy I didn’t get in,” he added, laughing. “Luckily, I didn’t have to make the choice. The choice was made for me and it was such a relief. I think my mom would’ve been more disappointed if I turned down the opportunity.”
It helps that he’s generating plenty of cash from YouTube.
“When you shoot up to millions of views, you’re talking pretty big money,” said Shea, who pointed out some YouTubers earn seven-figure salaries.
“It got to a point where Mom was like, ‘Oh, OK, this is actually a real thing that’s going well.’”
Shea has since hired a channel manager, who handles the sponsorship deals, while he has also formed a company, mainly for tax purposes.
He’s quick to point out there’s a lot more to being a successful YouTuber than just playing games.
“People don’t realize how many different skills you need to be a YouTuber,” said Shea, who has become proficient in Photoshop, editing video and editing for a thumbnail and uploading data. “It takes a lot of skills and that’s just the actual process of creating it.
“You also need to consider the marketing side of it. How are you going to ensure people want to click on your games? Are you making the right games? Do you have the right content? The right subjects? How long should it be? How often do you make cuts in the video? How much are you going to talk? All this stuff is taken into consideration when I’m making videos because I’m trying to figure out how to get the maximum enjoyment for my audience and the maximum amount of views.”
While Shea’s main demographic is teenage boys, he has subscribers of all ages.
He got the chance to meet one of his biggest fans a few years ago — an 82-year-old grandmother from Virginia, who was ecstatic to see him at a gaming convention.
“I don’t know who was more excited to meet each other, me or her,” he said. “She’s been a fan of my channel for years and now she actually has her own channel, mainly playing Skyrim. She’s such a sweet lady.”
Shea hopes to reach two million subscribers someday, but admits it’s difficult to expand the business these days, as the market is so over-saturated with content.
“Right now, I’m at a point where I’m still making gaming videos, but I’m trying to do other stuff — the reaction kind of stuff, where you watch videos or stories online and you talk about them and make jokes,” said Shea, who plans to do more live-stream videos on the Twitch platform.
“I aim to entertain.”
When asked how long he plans to continue YouTubing, he laughed and said, “I have no idea.
“It’s hard to keep up that type of content. I don’t think my channel is ever going to die. … As long as YouTube is around, I think I’ll be able to make a living off of it.”
And he hasn’t ruled out going back to school someday.
“You never know,” said Shea, who has also considered pursuing stand-up comedy. “At this point, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with my future, because I can always have YouTube on the side. But I can be a YouTuber who has another job, too. So, I don’t know what that is for me yet. I’ll have to wait and see.”
Twitter: TelyRosie
