We’re in a weird off-colored golden-age of streaming, with Battle Royale games or decade-old titles like League of Legends completely ruling the streaming world. During another attempt at his patented Triple Threat Challenge -- where the fps player and popular Twitch streamer tries to win a solo matches in multiple games -- DrDisRespect broke down a bit and made some rather colorful comments on the current state of the particular gaming genre. 

It seems like the man known as The Doc, aka Guy Beahm, might be nearing a point of pure burnout. Perhaps, it’s a matter of the two-time needing to branch out some more. 

In the world of streaming, it’s very hard to consistently pull-in large numbers of viewers if you’re not known for one kind of game or a specific title. Folks like Tyler1, KingGeorge, and many more bring in their usual audience based on their reputation with one particular scene. DrDisRespect has been a leader in the Battle Royale and FPS genres since he became the self-described “Face of Twitch.tv” back in 2010. 

The Life of Battle Royale

Ignoring the potential that Doc may have a need to play more games outside of the Battle Royale genre, there is a bigger question to potentially answer. Is Battle Royale growing stale? 

The easy answer is yes. With so many people trying to adapt or build-out Battle Royal games, only to have a handful ruling the charts, it’s an eventuality that games like Fortnite, PUBG, and others will see players burnout and fall-off. On average, folks like DrDisRespect stream for 4-6 hours per day. There's just no way to prepare or train oneself to be capable of enduring that kind of mental marathon. 

Games like Fortnite, made by studios like Epic Games, just aren’t equipped to move fast enough to keep up with this new world of fervor and play time. Gamers that mainline Fornite will find ways to perform better regardless of developer intention. Due to the speed and volume of players’ time investment, there’s just no winning that war of balance. Which prompts a difficult time in-game for even the most skilled and seasoned gamers. 

“This is the reason why people are popular, this right here. This is the game that makes people superstars man … and it f***ing makes me sick,” said the Doc on his stream. He’s referring to the current state of Fortnite, and the ability for folks like fellow streaming superstar Ninja, and FaZe Clan’s Tfue to gain internet fame for playing it at a high-caliber. Recently, Tfue even announced that he'd be quitting competitive Fortnite to stream full-time. 

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With games like Grand Theft Auto V Role-Playing, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Division 2 continuing to climb the most-watched charts (thank you SullyGnome), it could be a sign that even viewers are getting burned out on Battle Royale games. 

Can Expansion Cure Burnout?

Ninja, one of those “superstars” that the Doc makes mention of in one of his rants, has also taken a relatively large step back from Fortnite of late. Sure, he’s still playing a ton of it, but he’s definitely not the Fortnite machine he once was with some time spent on Apex Legends, Sekiro, League of Legends, and even Uno (yup, Ninja and friends lost a ton of money to TimTheTatman playing Uno).

It’s almost impossible to build a large following on Twitch without standing out as a proprietor for a specific (and particularly hot) game type or title. While streamers like Summit1G and Shroud have been able to maintain a modicum of their viewership whilst jumping around in random games, they tend to stay within their wheelhouse. Shroud especially proves time and time again that providing viewers with high-tier gameplay skills in a broad genre can keep fans around. 

State of Play

What does it say for the state of the gaming industry that such a small handful of games can rule the general consciousness of gamers? What does someone who’s “thing” happens to be Battle Royale games do with the mathematical inability of developers to keep up with the demand? 

“It sucks that my enthusiasm to stream comes down to the games that we’re playing and it’s absolutely f***ing s*** right now,” said the Doc after losing another match of Fortnite. “It’s literally the same 5 games,” he added, shaking his head. 

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Hopefully, the Doc can figure out a way to avoid continuing to head down this burnout road. It’s not easy to be a full-time streamer, and someone practically contractually obligated to not only stick within a genre for the sake of his fans, but also remain in a character like DrDisRespect does has a whole extra set of weights on their shoulders. 

What do you think about the current state of the Battle Royale genre? Have any game suggestions for the Doc? Let us know.