Who is fl0m?
Livestreamers have recently risen to pop-culture fame, but who are they? I've been obsessed with gaming and an active user of Twitch and other platforms for many years and want to spotlight the streamers you may or may not know of. If you're interested in more deep-dives into your favorite content creators and the broader gaming industry, make sure to subscribe!
Erik Flom is known just as fl0m online; He is a former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) player who has made his mark as a creative influencer. Known for his clips of 1v5 clutch round wins followed by his signature giggle, fl0m is not only an excellent CS:GO player but also an engaging and entertaining streamer.
The beginning
Fl0m grew up in Ohio, attended The University of Ohio, and always played games. His mom was supportive of his gaming, even focussing much of her career around gamifying education. In the past, fl0m has even talked about her concept of building a World of Warcraft type environment for education after observing her kid's love of video games. Even while still full time in school, fl0m would make time for CS:GO whenever possible. In 2011 fl0m started streaming on Twitch but didn't go fulltime until 2015. When he first went full time, he was averaging around 550 concurrent viewers per stream. At the time, Counter-Strike was the second most watch game on Twitch, contrast that to today where CS:GO is the 7th most watch game and nearly half the viewership of the number 1 game (It is still about 50% less viewership that #1, but there are more games being watched overall).
The entertainer
Outside of Twitch, where fl0m averages around 2,000 concurrent viewers per stream and has over 600k followers, fl0m also has a strong YouTube presence with over 8.1M video views and nearly 100k subscribers. On YouTube, he's created several educational series, such as Scoped Up, where he explains different tips and tricks with the AWP (his specialty in CS:GO). While Counter-Strike is his main game, he's also explored many other FPS games. For example, since releasing the beta, fl0m has consistently been one of the top 100 streams for Valorant, the latest (and one of the most anticipated) in FPS games. In the past, he's also played games like Fortnite, PUBG, Overwatch, and Call of Duty.
As an influencer, fl0m has most notably become a staple partner of brands like NZXT and GFuel. The thing that makes fl0m such an excellent brand ambassador isn't necessarily his viewership, though having the audience helps, but it's his commitment to transparency with his audience. Watching his stream feels less like watching an untouchable celebrity and more like hanging out with friends. Without fail, fl0m plugs his daily GFuel flavor choice, casually injecting the brand into the conversation rather than having a stale ad read.
The businessman
In 2012, fl0m founded the professional CS:GO team that he is still a part of, Mythic Reborn. Mythic's unique thing is that it was founded with the premise that they would not only be a competitive force but also stream everything. The emphasis on transparency has lent itself to deeper engagement with their fans and the broader community. In addition to the competitive team, fl0m also organized the private CS:GO league, Mythic League. Mythic League is partnered with Faceit, one of the largest platforms for professional competitions within online multiplayer video games. As a partner with Faceit, top performers in Mythic League can earn a place in the Faceit Pro League, where top players in the world play; it's a great way for amateur players to get started in the competitive scene.
The success story
Where he's been to where he is now is wild! Last year he tweeted out an excellent summary of his career to date.
It would be unfair to call him an overnight success, he's put years into building everything he has, but in his own words,
Things change quicker than you may think.
As an outside observer, it's impressive to see how far he's come, but even more exciting to think of what will come next. He's been known to play games with larger streamers like TimTheTatman, Shroud, Myth, and even mainstream celebrities like Dillon Francis. At 27 years old, fl0m still has much more ahead of him, whether as a streamer or other business ventures, the future is bright!
Fl0m streams most days starting around 5am PST, and on days with Mythic practice or competitive matches will stream them in the evening as well. Be sure to follow fl0m everywhere:
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/fl0m
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fl0mtv
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/fl0m
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fl0mn0m/
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