When talking about Rumble gaming, it's important to note that it barely existed before 2022. A few names come to mind—PeculiarPineTreePlays, SuperSight, R3KONT3K, BlackBox, and others—but they were outliers in a space that was just starting to form. Back then, Rumble required streamers to pay $25 a month to even stream. That was eventually lowered to $10, but it meant that people who streamed on Rumble were essentially paying to be there. They truly believed in the platform and its goal of being a real alternative to YouTube.
I say YouTube and not Twitch because, up until recently, Rumble’s main objective was to compete with YouTube. The shift to focus on platforms like Twitch and Kick only came within the last year or so. For a long time, Rumble’s development was centered on video on demand, not livestreaming. But in 2022, things started to change—and that’s when I believe the golden era of gaming on Rumble really began.
In March 2022, I created the WhatUpIan channel on Rumble. It all started because a friend at work had begun streaming on Twitch. I saw Rumble as an opportunity and figured that, with so few gamers on the platform, I had a better shot at growing faster than I would on Twitch’s crowded stage. At the time, I wasn’t sure what direction my content would take, so I was just streaming with some good friends. Back then, my streams didn’t have the family-friendly tone I prefer now, but eventually, I adopted that style for my channel.
After a few weeks, I realized that someone needed to talk about the features Rumble was missing. That’s when I launched “The State of Rumble,” a monthly stream that addressed the platform’s lack of features and the slow rollout of new ones. Around this time, I connected with Behizy and launched my WhatUpIan.Locals.com community. That’s where my channel really started to grow beyond just gaming. Locals was a great place to share the code I had created for displaying chat on screen—a video that still draws in views. To this day, people are looking for an easy solution for on-screen chat, though my code is outdated now.
Things really took off in July 2022. That’s when Locals had Schuyler Winters as their head of gaming, and he was actively seeking creators who shared the vision of growing the gaming community on Rumble and Locals.
Here’s what most people don’t know: Schuyler actually set up a call with me to discuss launching the gaming.locals.com community. He asked if I could help moderate and how they could get me to stream more. At the time, I was working full-time with a wife and a 5-year-old son. Streaming more than one night a week meant sacrificing family time, so it was a tough ask.
In August 2022, Locals contracted me to help grow the gaming community by streaming at least 50 hours a month and providing support on gaming.locals.com. Some people might criticize Rumble or me for being “paid to game,” but it was about much more than that. I was helping to build support for a platform I believed in. While some might call me a sellout, I was never told to censor my opinions—good or bad—and I frequently voiced both. I know other streamers were also paid, though I don’t know how much or who exactly. My contract paid enough for me to stream 3-4 times a week, but not enough to quit my job.
That first contract lasted three months, from September to November, and then we renewed it through February. August 2022 was the true birth of Rumble Gaming. Over 250 members joined the Locals Gaming community that month, and Schuyler was giving free streaming access to any gamers who asked for it. I was even featured on the homepage while playing Rumbleverse (RIP). It was an exciting time, and it felt like the beginning of something big for Rumble.
The State of Rumble show continued to grow as Rumble and Locals introduced more changes. I was featured on the homepage multiple times, and Rumble’s CEO, Chris Pavloski, even stopped by one of my streams to drop a $100 Rumble Rant.
By the start of 2023, Schuyler had left Locals, and in February, I was offered a new contract with Rumble and Locals. This time, it was more demanding but also offered better compensation, though still not enough to quit my full-time job. We had over 600 members in the gaming community on Locals by then, and the Rumble gaming scene was growing fast. But Rumble was also making moves that some found controversial, like signing creators such as SteveWillDoit and Jidion, who had been banned from other platforms. They brought attention to Rumble but also stirred up drama.
By May 2023, I was exhausted, balancing my full-time job and the demands of my Rumble contract. I wanted to pitch going full-time as a content creator but needed Rumble or Locals to back me financially. Ultimately, the leadership at Locals didn’t go for it, and I wasn’t offered another contract. That was a hard hit, both financially and mentally. I had worked hard to grow the community, and it felt like rejection.
Looking back, I sometimes wonder if I pushed too hard for a full-time deal. Could I have kept going on a smaller contract? Maybe. But in the end, it forced me to take a step back and focus on my family and a new job. We moved to a place we’d always wanted to live, and while the new job isn’t perfect, I trust that God has a plan for us.
As for Rumble, I set content creation aside while transitioning to my new job, but I’ve kept up with the gaming community and the platform’s development. There have been great improvements, but Rumble still has a long way to go. Many people see it as a “game changer,” but it’s not there yet. Rumble is still viewed as a politically leaning site, despite their claims, and the gaming community will have to rebuild from the ground up with creators who are truly committed to helping the platform and community grow.
I might write another article on the "then to now" timeline becuase a lot has happened since May of 2023, such as the Rumble Raids and the partnership program. So until next time, thank you to all of you that have supported me in the past and still care about The State of Rumble.
