Recently, 600,000 people were watching Drake online, which seems like a standard 2018 experience. The twist: Drake was playing a video game called Fortnite with a 26-year-old kid who calls himself Ninja. Which of the two was more popular on the stream is anyone’s guess.
Now, Drake has committed to rapping about Fortnite if they make him a Hotline Bling emote for when he plays with Ninja. What do any of those words mean?
Heather Anne Ritchie, co-founder of Canadian startup Repable, which provides a data intelligence and optimization platform for the gaming and esports industry, joins this week to help us parse through the perfect storm of tech that has led to our current moment in popular culture. One big question: will toxic gaming culture stop streaming from infiltrating the mainstream?
Join us as the House of Embargo crew (CanCon’s streaming collective) – Josh McConnell, freelance tech writer; Patrick O’Rourke, MobileSyrup Managing Editor; and Douglas Soltys, BetaKit Editor-in-Chief – asks everyone to smash that subscribe button.
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Brought to you by CanCon’s presenting sponsor: Dell
Special thanks to TWG for helping make the CanCon Podcast happen!
CanCon Podcast Episode 113 (04/02/18)
The intersection of streaming and popular culture
‘Fortnite’ Streamer Ninja Breaks Concurrent Record (Again), Talks Being Famous
Ninja played more Fortnite with Drake, who gave him $5,000 for winning a game
Drake Says He’ll Rap About Fortnite If Epic Makes A Hotline Bling Emote
The dark side of streaming (looks a lot like the dark side of the Internet)
Top Twitch streamers address ‘normies’ as Paul brothers head to platform
Overwatch casters, players point to Twitch chat toxicity in wake of xQc departure
Twitch’s KFC emote controversy prompts a harder look at online toxicity
Canadian Content music clip (under fair dealing): “Hotline Bling” by Drake
Ad music: “Dreams” by Joakim Karud