Like most people, 2020 saw myself stuck inside, working from home and living where everything was shut down. As a result, most of us ended up spending more time with our devices — phones, tablets, computers, televisions, and video game systems. At the beginning of quarantine, my husband was playing video games in his off-time to still be able to connect with friends, albeit virtually. Since Call of Duty: Warzone was so big at the time, he would find himself playing it for a few hours with some of his friends, desperate to cling to some sort of normalcy and to try and remain social. As a result of that, he came across a video — one of a Call of Duty: Warzone match where the person was acting like a real command officer. The video was fun, and he showed it to me, who also found it entertaining.
From there, he searched for the maker, and came across a streamer for Call of Duty: Warzone with the gamer tag StoneMountain64. Stone was on YouTube, with many other videos about the game and also streamed on Facebook. My husband and I ended up watching some of his streams to pass the time and found him wildly entertaining. Since we knew what Twitch was, we decided to check that out next to see who and what else was streaming.
We checked out some Call of Duty: Warzone streams and came across a live stream for a streamer with the name Swagg. Swagg is a streamer from Arizona with a massive following, who is part of the intensely popular FaZe Clan. When we first watched the stream, we noticed he was incredibly entertaining and had a great streaming personality. He was humble, constantly interacting with the chat and his viewers, and most importantly, very, very, good at the game. My husband loved watching what he was doing to try and learn some things for when he played the game. After following and subscribing, we found ourselves watching his streams more and more; he had a fun and infectious attitude that kept us laughing — something that we needed during this tumultuous time. Swagg, whose real name is Kris, also often plays in squads with three other people, dubbed “Nuke Squad”, – J (JSmoothHD), Dante (TheBoiSantana) and Booya (GDBooya). What I think really solidified why we kept coming back to watch them was the camaraderie between the four; they are friends from different parts of the country, but it felt like just from listening to them they had been friends forever and like you were part of the conversations. Every now and then there are tense times due to the game, but above all you could tell they are having fun and some of the jokes they make leave you laughing long after. They are just the right type of fun and entertainment you need to watch and to take your mind off of current events, especially since they stream so often (they stream almost every day). Swagg also plays with a few other streamers who we’ve really come to love too — Lucky Chamu, Rapullze, and DiazBiffle — all of which have incredible energy and are equally entertaining and hilarious.
It’s become a new routine in my house; since most of the streamers stream at night, we usually end our days with watching a stream and laughing alongside them, something we’ll continue to do long after quarantine ends.
While Call of Duty might not be your cup of tea, it’s worth checking out Twitch to see if there’s anyone streaming games you’re interested in. Some celebrities stream often, including Felicia Day.
So, thank you to the streamers who continually provide content, keep us laughing and for helping us get through these times.
