Gustavo “Baiano” Gomes is determined, as he says, to preserve the Brazilian League of Legends bearing
One of the the biggest streamers in BrazilGomes accomplished a lot in 2023. It was the most watched co-streamer of the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational, with a peak of around 150,000 concurrent viewers. He also organized the fifth edition of his private tournament CBOLÃO, in which he raised 200,000 Brazilian reais (about $39,000) to help non-governmental animal aid organizations.
Gomes’s rise has been fast and his success has been paved by a single traitor.
As Luís Santana, a Brazilian journalist who works for the website Mais Esports, puts it, Gomes differs from others because of his ability to create informative yet entertaining shows. By doing this, it closes the gap that game developers can’t.
“Baiano is a phenomenon,” Santana said. “That is” League of Legends What? of the Gauls is for Counter-Strike.
With a loud voice and a healthy smile and the charm of a man in dreams, Gomes is now looking to expand his work in Brazil by connecting with others. League of Legends communities That is, if he finds a decent work-life balance.
From Bahia to the world
Gomes’ success may have been rare in Brazil, but his story began on a common journey in the country inauspiciously. Born in Bom Jesus da Lapa, he grew up mostly in areas where access to the internet was a luxury. Second Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statisticsthe average monthly income in his state of Bahia is around 1,000 Brazilian Reais – the equivalent of $200 USD.
Gomes grew up in a lower middle class family. Health problems in his family brought a lot of pressure due to him; Children should have a fun weekend.
Transforming passion into career has been a worthwhile challenge. That is important League of Legends a player in Brazil, where subsidies and investments were almost non-existent in the early 2010s, money was only a promise. Although Brazil is a big market When it came to the game Sales, it was not easy to convince parents to pursue a career in the game industry.
When Gomes set his career on the stream, he also faced setbacks. The biggest one saw his one-year contract with Facebook Gaming end after one month of the partnership. Gomes rented a house with two friends, paying six months with the first installment, and that’s all – the salary he received from Facebook. Then cut expenses. During this time, Gomes says he barely had money for food.
In 2020 his life changed. Living in São Paulo, Gomes got the opportunity to organize a private tournament and broadcast it on his channel. The event, called CBOLÃO — the story of CBLoL ( Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends, Brazil The covenant sponsorship) – he had no funding, and Gomes had low hopes. However, the event found more than 1 million unique viewers with a peak of about 100,000 on Twitch, raising 125,000 Brazilian reais (about $30,000 USD in 2020) to help fight COVID-19. His initiative was recognized and supported by international names such as T1 CEO Joe Marsh and Eefje three European “sjokz” Depoortere. After years of success, Gomes finally knocked on the door.
Understanding the culture of the Brazilian League of Legends scene
Now an established streamer, Gomes plans to start finding formats for new shows and adapting them to the Brazilian audience. “The species that appear in each ecosystem are capable of adapting to something in the community, in the region,” Gomes says.
When it comes to Brazil, the first element is a more casual, back-and-forth approach to content delivery. CBOLÃO describes this spirit, combining expert players in competitions, alerts in questions, while at the same time running a show full of memories and jokes.
For Gomes, the affinity of the Brazilian audience and the people on the river is the secret to encouraging the fight. “In Brazil, you are either a world champion or the public needs to sympathize with you,” he said.
Gomes brings his streams back into practice, where he constantly shares from his life. The trajectory of Gomes’ life and all his experiences were unique, but at the same time relatable, because they can easily find points of connection. “Sometimes I share with my chat that I was in a famous bar in a certain city and they say, ‘I can’t believe Baiano is here,'” says Gomes.
From this approach, he shows what Do the crime laterin which Brazilian professional players have a place to discuss the game and talk about themselves, opening a new space for players and players to interact. In the show, players can talk about what they think about the current season or their opinions about the teams competing in CBLoL while also playing with each other and mocking their opponents. Gomes strengthens the bonds between the Brazilian community and the game.
Gomes also extends the playful nature to other types of content.
In 2022, during the day League of Legends At the World Championship, where the Brazilian team was going to London, Gomes started a campaign called “#RobsDay”, referring to the unstable story of a competitor named Robo, as a public way to support the team. Who didn’t think viewers would be forced into the fun by turning the hashtag on? a mini phenomenon. #RobsDay has also reached other countries, where companies such as Cloud9 have taken up the cause.
In push and pull
Despite his success, Gomes says he struggles to find a balance between work and personal life.
Because a streamer’s success is usually built around their personal image, taking time off to rest and not hurt their monthly income is almost impossible. Gomes’ health issues — complications from a tumor caused by ongoing anxiety — meant he needed to take some time off, though. To support this possibility, Gomes created the Ilha das Lendas project, a collective of ex-professional players who participate in his national and international interpretation shows. lol equal
“Creating a project like Ilha das Lendas is a more difficult road than the rivers because I need to teach everything I know to all people,” says Gomes. But he says that he has a team and allows me to come out as needed to find that balance.
Having this team also allows Gomes to spend time on new ideas, as he wishes to develop his design with international needs. “My idea is not to attract viewers from other countries, but with influential figures from other countries that can connect with the Brazilian community,” said Gomes. He sees a global unification League of Legends community not only as much as possible, but also the future, which must be done.
When talking about the next, Gomes excitedly says that he has many things in the works for the Brazilian community. He says he might slow down sometime, but right now he has too many plans to worry about.
“I always remember to thank the viewers for being able to buy my parents a new house,” he said.
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