If 1991 was the year punk broke, when Nirvana turned a subculture into a mainstream phenomenon, then 2019 is the year streamers broke. Streamer crew FaZe Clan, like Nirvana, Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, accumulated a huge young male fan base that seemed to sneak up on mainstream media and pop culture before becoming mainstream media and pop culture. And this past week was something like FaZe Clan's release of Nevermind. First, there was their merch "drop." I saw it with my own eyes. On Friday, FaZe Clan, which is a group of video game streamers but by no means merely that, released a limited edition collection of merch at SoHo sneaker shop Stadium Goods. The line at the corner of Howard Street and Broadway, two blocks from my office, was noticeably bigger than the shockingly big crowd I'd seen in the neighborhood for Billie Eilish's merch release. The crowd for FaZe Clan grew in volume and intensity. Police were called. The entire gathering was shut down because it got too rowdy. How did this crowd get so big? FaZe Clan is not really about gaming, although the group is technically a pro eSports team consisting of professional gamers.
It's a multimedia entertainment phenomenon, stacked with celebrity entertainers who have mastered content production for streaming, for YouTube, and for social media. As an entertainment brand they're like a cross between a metal or rap or punk band, Jackass, skateboarders and NBA All-Stars. Like Wu-Tang Clan, there is group content - the eSports team and the YouTube channel act as a hub - and solo content that spins off that, producing countless viral clips across Twitter, YouTube and Instagram plus thousands of hours of content on Twitch. And like Wu-Tang Clan, there's now the merch. FaZe content includes but is not limited to Fortnite gameplay. It could also be content that more closely resembles that of YouTubers, stupid stunts like arm wrestling or eating. It almost always features competition, shock, mild aggression, aloofness or goofiness. Every generation gets its own version, its own teenage male icons. FaZe, fronted by FaZe Banks, are this one's. FaZe Clan's content, branding and entertainment savvy has, more importantly, dovetailed with the explosion of the the business surrounding Fortnite in a way that has allowed their revenue potential to swell along with it.
Then, over the weekend, there was the first-ever Fortnite World Cup at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. The scale of the event was enormous: 40 million players tried to qualify, 2 million concurrent viewers tuned into the live event, and $30 million in prize money was at stake. Bands like Nirvana capitalized on a moment of exploding CD sales and the power of MTV. Similarly, FaZe Clan is riding the crest of Fortnite's power to mint stars and the peaking merch industry to potentially become a unicorn-like business. The economics behind eSports are notoriously shady. But if FaZe Banks is to believed, FaZe Clan's business savvy is on par with its content savvy. While there are numerous eSports organizations valued over $100 million, a list that FaZE Clan has not made yet, FaZe Banks claims FaZe Clan is the only profitable one. He also claims they've raised $300 million. But take both claims with a grain of salt. FaZe Clan works because they're celebrities. They're the faces of a pop culture moment. They create content that a generation of young (mostly) males love. Now they're capitalizing on it through partnerships, advertising and merch.
Their success has less to do with games than it does with entertainment.
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