Bellevue Business: Gaming for Money? Bellevue Gamer Carves Niche with Virtual Blade

Remember that time when you were playing video games until 3 a.m., and a parent or significant other told you to get a job?

Now you can tell them you're working!

Thanks to the success of the video game series Call of Duty, and coupled by the success of websites like YouTube, some gamers have found an ingenious way to earn a lucrative income, simply by playing video games and posting them online.

For Brian Risso of Bellevue, what started out as a hobby has quickly evolved into a career that he thinks may allow him to retire comfortably in seven years, when he is only 35 years old.

"I played a lot of Call of Duty, and I got pretty good at it," said Risso. "Eventually, I started doing the 'knife-only' thing, where I would only stab and I wouldn't use any of the guns or other weapons. I thought it would be cool to be able to replay some of the things I did, so I bought a recorder, and decided to put it on YouTube."

Going by the name "ONLYUSEmeBLADE," Risso created what he thought would be a channel where his friends would be able to view his gameplay. Two years later, he has more than 7 million channel views, leading to more than 35 million upload views. He has 300,000 current subscribers who eagerly await an alert stating that he's uploaded another video.

"I really didn't expect anything of it, but it just grew and grew from there," said Risso. "It was literally an accident. It went from uploading videos for fun into becoming my profession, which is completely insane. I feel blessed to be compensated for something that I planned on doing for free."

The money comes from Google AdSense, which pays a flat rate for advertising on YouTube channels that draw heavy traffic. Two types of ads can be placed into the video: an ad that launches when the video is played, or a small ad that runs at the bottom of the video for the duration of the footage.

In addition to advertising, Risso partnered with a company called Machinima, which promotes his videos and channel, as well a host of other diverse directors. Due to an agreement that Machinima worked out with Call of Duty publisher Activision, directors who operate under the Machinima umbrella are legally allowed to upload Call of Duty footage without violating the YouTube terms-of-service agreement or infringing any copyright.

With Risso's skyrocketing popularity came additional money-making opportunities. Risso started the "OnlyUseMeBlade" website, which sells T-shirts and other items, and Risso frequently receives offers to provide commentary for other YouTube channels.

"Hazard Cinema approached me and asked me if I'd be willing to commentate their weekly 'Top Five' video. I took a look at it, and it seemed like something I'd have a lot of fun with. I look at it as a SportsCenter for Call of Duty," said Risso.

Job isn't all games

Though making a good living off gaming sounds like the greatest "job" in the world, there is quite a bit of work involved. As an independent contractor, Risso sets his own schedule from week to week, but he admits that he spends far more time editing the videos and managing his channel than he does actually playing video games.

"To be honest, I really only play four to five hours per week," said Risso. "Most of the time I'm either editing, recording commentaries, or working on my YouTube channel."

He also has to manage his Twitter and Facebook accounts, which have 70,000 followers and 35,000 fans respectively. When he's not playing, or managing one of his accounts online, Risso works part-time as a bouncer at a bar. The money isn't as important as maintaining a connection to the real world, which can be difficult when your time and income revolves around a virtual society.

"If I were to sit at home and do videos all day long, every day of the week, I'd go insane," said Risso. "Some people spend all their time on one website, and they lose touch with reality. They're not living in the real world. They're living on YouTube."

What he referred to as "dungeon syndrome" has caused some of the directors and uploaders to take things way too seriously. It's not uncommon for a negative comment, or silly bickering, to cause well-known directors to upload videos where all they do is complain about another video.

This is a bad idea, on both a personal and professional level, according to Risso.

"If you're watching Full House, would you really want to see an episode where all they did was complain about Blossom?" said Risso.

Instead, Risso likes to keep things light, and focus on commentary and discussion. That's in stark contrast to many other game commentators, who upload everything from "tips and tricks" videos all the way to cinematic montages of exciting moments from a variety of games. Commentary serves as a stable foundation, as the focus is on the person talking. Risso has even narrated a "Pac-Man" video.

Virtual stardom

Though his status as a legendary gamer and Internet celebrity are well known throughout the Web, it has little to no impact in the real world.

"It's really weird. In the computer world, everything is clogged up, and I have no privacy, but in the real world, I don't have people knocking on my door or asking me for autographs," said Risso. "The popularity doesn't carry over into the real world. It's not like people recognize me."

When asked how many women he has been able to pick up by identifying himself as "OnlyUseMeBlade," he offered up the following emphatic response: ""Zero! Seriously, when will this kick in?!"

For those brave gamers who are willing to throw their hat in the video commentary ring, Risso has offered some sage advice.

"Have fun with it. Literally, just have fun with it. Be willing to work hard, stick with it, and know it may start slowly. Other people in the community are always willing to help out, so just have fun and put out a consistent product that's different from the million other videos out there," said Risso.

He added that it's important to treat it as you would any other job, and that remaining professional and enthusiastic are vital to success in the field. As for what the future holds, Risso would like to explore other entertainment mediums.

"Hopefully, this is a stepping stone to another form of entertainment, be it podcasts or radio. I never figured I'd be in this position, so who knows where I'll find myself in five years," said Risso. "The OnlyUseMeBlade idea is just one chapter in my life, and it doesn't define who I am or limit what I can do. Eventually, it'll come to an end, and at that point, I look forward to beginning the next chapter."

Guest writer Keith Heffintrayer is a Regional Contributor to Lansdale Patch and other Patch sites in Pennsylvania.