Complex x Gen Gamer
Impact for People:
I helped develop and lead the launch of several gaming shows on Complex including hip-hop host DJ Akademik’s first-ever gaming show and Old Spice's first-ever video game franchise.
These serialized YouTube showed more diverse representation than what most of the professional eSports community currently shows as being white male-dominated.
Impact for Business:
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#2 most viewed new Complex series year of launch.
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2x higher like-to-dislike ratio than the avg Complex show on Youtube.
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$1MM+ sponsorship revenue within first year of launch.
Why Gen-Z Chooses Video Games
The conventional thinking on video games may be that they are socially isolating. Gamers, as the stereotype goes, play alone, in their sweatpants, locked in their bedroom. They are often portrayed in the media as loners, anti-social and awkward. But not for Gen-Z who flock to games for virtual photography and massive music concerts by their favorite artists.
Games create a sense of belonging and community and a tribe they can call their own, complete with its own lore, rituals and slang. They like the connectivity, but also that they can create a world, cooperatively and collaboratively with others.
Although 59% of the U.S. classifies themselves as gamers, 90% of Gen-Zers do. It's no surprise that they chose gaming as their preferred pastime. For them, gaming platforms function in a very similar way that social networks do for millennials and older people.
Old Spice :
Level Up Your Legacy
In the episodic series, Level Up Your Legacy, our host, Rae Holliday, will interview special guest talent, while playing a video game based on the guest’s life. The first two levels of the game represent major pillars and achievements currently defining their respective legacies. The third level has an eye to the future. What’s next for these rare individuals? How can they level up their legacy?
On the Sticks
On the Sticks is Complex’s first gaming series and follows Akademiks as he travels from city to city challenging a different celebrity guest each week.
In this episode, YBN Nahmir accepts DJ Akademiks’ challenge to faceoff in a winner-takes-all rumble playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the PS4. The victor gets bragging rights while the loser will have to get dunked in the pool. In between multi-kills and disses, Akademiks talks with Nahmir about his work, life, balance, the beef between him and Tay K, and what’s next for the YBN crew in 2020.