Twitch Streamer Disguised Toast Broadens His Horizon & Enters The Esports Industry

Jeremy Wang, better known to many Twitchers as Disguised Toast, says that streaming is not forever. He has been named Forbes 30 under 30 in 2021 for games.

Wang, 31, started by playing the digital card game Hearthstone in 2015.  Here he trolled players while playing pranks on them.  Two years later, he coupled with OfflineTV, an online content creation group co-founded by Pokimane and Scarra. Through streaming games like Among Us, he accumulated 2.8 million Twitch followers and 3.7 million YouTube subscribers.

Wang is the founder/owner of Disguised (DSG), a North American Challengers League team playing Valorant. Wang was questioned by Polygon as to why streamers are broadening their existence outside of live streaming, what the issues are with forming an esports team, and why one would still contemplate outside funding following the Twitch dispute.

One issue that Wang has seen with forming an esports team is how unprofitable they are. He stated that he is ready to “lose one million bucks” over the next two years with his esports team. He is fine with raising funds in uncontroversial methods to make the adventure more fruitful in the long run.

Top content creators have long debated the role of streamers in fostering gambling on their platforms. Disguised Toast stated in 2021 that he liked gambling for entertainment with comrades but said  gambling streams were  “weird.” He also commented in a YouTube video “These streamers have the disposable income and they get fat stacks to gamble. I don’t think you guys comprehend how much these gamba streamers are getting paid.” In September 2022, major streamers, including OfflineTV co-founder Pokimane, demanded that Twitch prohibit gambling.

Disguised Toast told The Wisemen Podcast that he couldn’t approve of crypto funds but is open to gambling support in spite of all that circles it. As long as his players and staff won’t have to worry about being insured for the next five years, he said he would most likely take it for good money. However,  if it keeps him running for one year, he did not think it would be worth it.

The streamer’s willingness to accept a gambling sponsorship was questioned by Polygon. Wang said he never says never, pointing out the deceit in the business.  Wang feels like streamers feel compelled to say they will not do X, Y, and Z, and then later on, they do X, Y, and Z for good money.  The barricades and related unprofitableness of his new esports team have forced Disguised Toast to pay as much as $500,000 a year, he stated in one of his Youtube videos. Wang calculated paying just the players and coach would run him up to $30,000 per month. With Disguised Toast expanding his options beyond the more secure and lucrative world of streaming, it is understandable to wonder why he would start an esports team at all.

Wang said that as far as his profession goes, he has seen and accomplished quite a bit of  everything including the peaks and the lows. He understands that becoming a professional gamer is a fantasy of various youngsters out there. He feels it is a way for him to help five kids go after that vision playing a video game while getting paid.  He said when he sees the feelings these kids have, it’s almost like he is experiencing it over again.

References

(1) https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeremy-wang/?sh=4ecc1bb2154c