Lupawolf152 Blooms Bright in DreamHack’s Creator Celebration

🌸🌱 Embrace ANZs Blossoming Talents with DreamHack’s Blooming Creators! 🌱🌸

As spring blooms across Australia, we’re thrilled to delve into the stories of emerging talents showcased in our Spring Showcase. 🌼🌟

Meet Tessa, aka Lupawolf152, an Indigenous casual gamer with mob from Waanyi country. With a lifelong passion for gaming since her childhood days of playing Pokémon Blue on the Gameboy, Tessa now finds herself in her 30s, still captivated by the world of video games. Streaming has become her creative outlet and a means to build her confidence in public speaking. A goal she absolutely crushed after her incredible streams at DreamHack earlier this year. Inspired by streamers like DottzGaming and Games4Kickz, Tessa ventured into streaming five years ago, starting with recording how-to videos and evolving into consistent gameplay streams. Her streams are more than just gaming; they’re an opportunity to share experiences, embrace adventures, and create a welcoming space for all, where winning is a bonus and friendship is the true reward. 🌺

We’ve had the privilege of delving into her world through a series of questions. Now, the spotlight is on you, Lupawolf152! 🌷

How did you first get into gaming and streaming?

I’ve been playing video games since I was a kid playing Pokemon Blue on the Gameboy. Over the years I’ve played many games on different platforms. I think I’ve always got more than one game on the go. There were two games and streamers that I was watching that made me want to give streaming a go about 5 years ago. I was playing Elder Scrolls Online and 7 Days To Die. I came across DottzGaming, who had some great builds for ESO, and I watched how his streams and community grew and I thought that was cool. I was also playing 7 Days To Die and was watching Games4Kickz playthroughs while I was playing the game myself, I saw how he started from making YouTube videos then gave live-streaming a go. I started recording a couple of how-to videos then tried going live straight from the Playstation and Xbox. I saved up money to upgrade my PC so it would be able to play and stream at the same time and then I began streaming more consistently.

Could you describe your streaming style?

I stream to share my adventures, to share my experience with a game. I can get excited over characters, lore or artistic details in games. I like to have a comfort streamer to watch while I play games off-stream so I guess I wanted to be that for someone else. I wanted to create a space where people felt welcomed and safe to just hang out, so if they were playing games, they didn’t feel like they were sitting at home on their own. I don’t care if I am not the best at games, winning isn’t everything, if I lose, it’s okay, I’ll just try again. Gaming to me is about the adventure and the friends you make along the way, winning is a bonus.

What obstacles have you faced along the way, and how have you worked to overcome them and grow your channel?

When I started streaming one of the challenges I faced was comparing myself to other streamers. Theirs would look so cool with fancy overlay, their streams and camera looked to high quality and crips, and they had bigger audiences. I had to remember, I can only do what I can with what I have and I need to make the most of it. Growing a channel takes time, commitment and work. I did research, I watched other streamers, looked up guides, and asked questions. I made some basic overlay with the little art skills I had, I could commission someone else later down the line for more fancy overlays. Better equipment was expensive, so I saved up and upgraded my camera, microphone, and lighting. To grow a community, I needed to make genuine connections with others, be part of other communities, work on content outside of just being live. We’re all on different paths to reach our goals, we all come from different circumstances and have different experiences, so I should focus on my own work and not worry about how well someone else is doing.

How do you interact with your viewers and foster a positive and engaging community on your channel?

I’m still growing my community and learning how to do it. Anyone who comes into the stream and says hello I answer as soon as I see the chat message. There’s a bunch of fun channel point redemption options where viewers can interact with me and set off sound alerts, jump scare or meme overlay clips, they can also change the colour of the lights that are behind me. If they subscribe they can access a bunch of them via chat commands that don’t use channel points. I have a community Discord for followers to join and hang out with other members, I can let them know stream updates and schedules, and ask their opinions on what games to play or if they’d like to join in. There are other channels for game news, for posting pet photos and funny memes and to discuss games. I have a channel called good-things-for-bad-brain-days, positive messages & reminders for when you’re struggling with mental health because everyone can have a bad brain day. I’m also on different social media platforms so they can reach me outside of streaming on Twitch.

What are your aspirations for your gaming streaming channel?

My current milestone is to reach 1000 followers on Twitch. When I started out I wanted to be part of a stream team, for Elder Scrolls Online or 7 Days To Die because they were my favourite games. Now it’s growing BlakoutGG, working with my friends and fellow First Nations streamers to create content together, and to build a community and connect with other mob who play games or create content.

Can you share a standout or memorable gaming moment from your streaming journey so far?

I don’t have the moment clipped, but there was a viewer who came in and they were down because they’d failed an exam during their studies to be a medical professional. I said to them that it was okay, failing isn’t the end of the world and that they still had another opportunity to try again. They had the time to work out what they needed to study harder on and to take the exam again. They came back months later and said they passed and thanked me for the encouragement. That felt nice, and warmed my heart. I hope they reached their goal.

How do you manage your time between streaming, personal commitments, and possibly work or studies?

I have a freelance job where my hours change from week to week, so I would schedule streams around that. Although streaming is more of a hobby, I always tried  to have the mindset to treat streaming like another job. To give myself rest breaks and days off from going live. If my physical or mental health wasn’t great, I wouldn’t force myself to stream. I’d keep my community up to date if I couldn’t make a stream.

Have you collaborated with other streamers or content creators?

I have collaborated with many streamers. When I started out I would raid another streamer who had a small audience who was playing the same game I had been. Then I’d sit in their streams and get to know them. I’d connect with them on Twitter too. If we got along I’d ask if they wanted to join in a multiplayer game or they’d ask me. You become part of their community and they become part of yours, you raid each other and the communities mix. Now I have a fair few friends who stream and we play games together. 

Could you share some details about your streaming setup and the tech you use to ensure a smooth and high-quality stream?

Getting tech for streams can get expensive, I started out with using a desk lamp and baking paper to diffuse the light so it wasn’t so harsh. When you’re starting out you use what you can until you can afford to upgrade. I’m running a two pc set-up, I have a desktop PC to run my games and then using an Elgato capture card I have it connected to a laptop to handle the outgoing stream. To connect my consoles I have them connected to an HDMI switcher that then is connected to the capture card. One of my fave applications I use with my streams is called Lumia Stream which is a customisable control system. I have some Philips Hue smart lights bouncing on the walls behind me. I can run chat commands, channel point rewards, fun alerts, run raffles, control my lights and other devices, works with Streamlabs OBS scenes and layers, just lots of fun stuff.

How important do you think it is for streamers to give back to their community and beyond?

I think it is important to give back to the community. They’ve supported me on my streaming journey so when I’ve celebrated a streaming milestone I’ve had giveaways. I’ve also held some charity streams for World Wildlife Foundation, Variety and Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation. Giving back and paying it forward.

Our heartfelt appreciation to Lupawolf152 for embarking on this venture with us! For those eager to catch her Twitch streams, you can Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9 PM AEST. 🌱✨