“Gaming is not only just a hobby and wasting time, but it can be a career and a job that can also make money,” asserts Mohamad Amir Afdhal bin Ruzlan, also known as Sinobu online, a nickname he derived from a game character in King of Fighters. Only 19 years young, this passionate Malaysian Youtuber enjoys first person shooters, and often plays on mobile instead of PC. “I don’t have (a) high specification PC or laptop to run high graphic games,” he admits.
Despite this, Sinobu is a rising star on Youtube, with over 800 subscribers already on his channel. He also vividly remembers how he started even wanting to be a gamer.
“I started in gaming when I was 5 years old, after my father bought me a PS1. Back in the day, I was very active playing outside until I didn’t go back home at night,” he laughs. “So that’s why my father bought me a PS1. Since then, I knew what a “game” was, got addicted, and ended up not playing outside at all.”
At ten years old, Sinobu’s father bought his family a netbook, which then led to him playing web browser games, which progressed to Sudden Attack SEA two years later, after a promoter at Times Square gave him a free CD. “We got 4 CDs in total,” he related. “After I got back home, I installed and played the game on my father’s PC. It was my first time playing an online shooter on the PC, and I started to get addicted on that game.” Oddly, Sinobu then did not play any other game because of large file sizes and his lack of exposure to PC gaming. It was only after the Sudden Attack SEA contract came to an end and the game closed in October 2015 that Sinobu ventured into several other FPS games like Blackshot, A.V.A., Special Force 2 and finally his main game, Counter Strike: Global Offensive. On the side, Sinobu also plays other games such as rhythm games and MMO games. His first online game on Android was MMO Star Legends. “That was life changing,” he noted. “I got exposed to new friends and learnt a lot from that game.”
Due to this detailed history, and probably because gaming was such a big part of his life, Sinobu’s dream is to become a successful gamer that will lead to him joining tournaments for the first time, and winning in these tournaments, especially in FPS gaming. He also wants to be the next successful Malay Youtuber in Malaysia, following in the footsteps of some successful local Youtubers such as Rezzadude and Ajay.
“I also want to meet a lot of people in gaming,” he said enthusiastically. “It’s one of the best ways to meet new friends! Plus, gaming is not wasting time – gamers can make money if you are on the right track and know how to generate money while gaming. That’s why I started to upload gaming videos on Youtube, to prove to my parents that gaming is not only just a hobby.”
He grows solemn.
“Parents nowadays only want us to focus on studies. Most parents don’t support gaming, therefore there are only a few true gamers where I live,” he says. “We could probably solve it if we have supportive parents, more events locally, more tournaments for anyone to join, and a community or group that talks about gaming in this region.”
Despite not having been successful yet in converting his parents to being 100% supportive, Sinobu has managed to make his parents proud on his editing skills. “I’m still not successful yet, but I believe if we work hard on it, we can be successful by uploading gaming videos on Youtube, just like Pewdiepie, Markiplier, Jelly and more. They are all successful Youtubers because they worked hard on it and nothing is impossible,” he says.
“My advice to other gamers if they want to start their career on Youtube is to learn the basic needs. After that, you can partner with Google Adsense or a (Multichannel) Network. Enjoy what you’re doing, try to take it seriously as a job, try to engage as many people as you can, try to serve better quality content, and take a long time to prepare before publishing something on Youtube. Be careful with copyright materials, watch successful Youtubers and try to study how they managed to be successful in this career.” He paused briefly before continuing. “Last but not least, never give up. Honestly, I always feel like I want to give up, but I decided that if I give up, I will lose all of my efforts and my main priority is just to make my parents proud. I’m just trying my luck, but if I don’t succeed, it’s okay – I will accept it.”
“By doing Youtube, I managed to inspire someone to follow my path, even just a little. I made my college friends proud of me and they want to be in my videos as well.” Sinobu smiles.
“I just hope my dreams come true. I want to make my parents change their minds that gaming is not a crime. This is my dream.”
Follow Sinobu on social media here:
Fundeavour: https://fundeavour.com/SinobuPlayZ/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SinobuPlayZ
Personal Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmirConan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SinobuPlayZ
This feature was written as part of a partnership with Fundeavour, a site that helps aspiring gamers around the world to get a head start on beginning their journey as content creators, streamers and eSports players. Want to be featured and share your stories with over 20,000 readers? Check out more info here or sign up with Fundeavour.com!