You’re Next(Makers.)
On August 27th, 2021, 2K Games revealed their NextMakers program to the world for the very first time. It’s the culmination of years of planning, followed by three years of proto-programs, followed by a deep seated desire to create and develop something hereto unseen in the industry. The following day, I wrote a ten tweet thread explaining a bit of what the program is and what it means to me. Over the past few weeks however, I’ve fielded many complimentary tweets and DMs from in-industry folks and content creators of all sizes asking more specifically what the program is, what my experiences are, and what they can do/what NextMakers can do for them. As a result, this seemed like as good a time as any to write a bit about how I got started in the program, what it’s done for me, and where it’s going.
A Personal History Lesson.
Back in 2019, I was still somewhat fresh off the heels of my father dying. My stream wasn’t doing so hot as a result of what was likely severe depression, so a two years prior, I’d begun working for Starbucks (as cliché as that tends to be, starving artist turns to Barista and whatnot.) I’d maintained friendships with people in the creator space, both creators and industry professionals, but I had somewhat resigned myself to the idea that my career in content creation was likely over, aside from the yearly hosting of then GuardianCon, now Gaming Community Expo (GCX.) I’d begun enjoying my work at Starbucks, hard as it was, and was seeking to move up in the company, especially to help support my wife as we were planning to get married and have her move to the United States from Canada.
It wasn’t a life I had imagined, but I was settling into it and resolved to make Starbucks my focus for the years to come… until one day I received an e-mail from 2K. In it, I was asked if I would be willing to become a part of a team they were building based around streamers in the Borderlands 2 community to prepare for something big. After discussing it extensively with my wife and industry friends, we came to an agreement, and I joined a team of eleven other streamers who formed The Borderlands Stream Team. Some of the names I shared space with from that original team included Char, Gothalion, and Tessachka, among others, all streamers that I respect and love in the space. I considered myself very lucky to have been chosen; in terms of raw metrics and numbers I was more likely than not at that time objectively the smallest streamer out of all of them.
Quickly I realized that I could not balance the responsibilities of being on the team alongside working more intensely day in and day out at Starbucks, especially with the idea of moving up. So, I took a chance on myself and trusted the vision that 2K and Gearbox had laid out for us in what the next six months would look like. On the eve of my interview for my promotion at Starbucks, I instead told my manager that I would be leaving in a month and a half to pursue this new venture full time.
First came the big L.A. reveal of Borderlands 3 on May 1st, taking place in the heart of Hollywood. Next, PAX West. Suddenly, it was September 13th, launch day. During all of these events, I’d begun discussing what my future with the team could look like beyond just streaming on the official Borderlands channel (of which I was the inaugural streamer to.) Ideas were tossed around before we settled on a sister show to The Borderlands Show, which at the time was being produced by Kinda Funny Games and hosted by long time fans of the series Greg Miller and Fran Mirabella III.
The BorderCast, as it would come to be called, would be hosted by myself, another team member, and produced entirely in house by members of the team. Eventually, we concluded that Tessachka would be a fantastic fit, and we started work on some proto shows, including E3 coverage (which was a brave chance for 2K and Gearbox to take on me, since my E3 coverage is… bombastic, to say the least.) The BorderCast was well received and took off.
Over time, the show expanded with more guests and some insights and assistance from Gearbox’s at the time New Media Manager and voice actor for Tyreen Calypso, Elisa Melendez. Elisa’s insights into writing and hosting helped us immensely refine the show, and led us to have a more professional and refined broadcast every week. This was really the first of many mentorships being on the team provided me.
After pushing for a bit, fellow streamer Liz “SchviftyFive” Olin was brought on the team as well to do some sponsored stream work, but I’d also had a vision of bringing a show to the platform where she and I could work together much like we do every year at GCX. This became Ultimate Vault Hunters, a show centered around end game builds and serious hardcore aficionados of the series to learn new builds and meet the expanding team roster. More names jumped onto the team including Moxsy, ThiccFilA, and TweetyExpert.
Tess and Liz were brought on The Borderlands Show, followed by myself in a series of crossover shows of sorts to help bring more grass roots to the big news program (The Borderlands Show) and promote the smaller, scrappy community-oriented podcast (The BorderCast). Getting to meet Greg, seeing Fran again, and learning from both of them how show production on a studio side level once again afforded me with a mentorship I could only dream of; Greg is a Game Awards recipient for Best Content Creator and Fran has been working in video production in the gaming industry for twenty years. They were kind enough to ask me back for subsequent shows as third chair host. Plus, I got to go to San Francisco several times, and I loves me some travel.
Since then, I’ve been made a team captain, been on The Borderlands Show several times, produced twenty two episodes of Ultimate Vault Hunters (which is currently on hiatus) and written, produced, and hosted as of this writing one hundred twelve episodes of The BorderCast. Not bad for a poor boy from New Jersey, as I like to say.
Where We Are Now.
We’re now nearly two years removed from the launch of Borderlands 3, and the team has expanded greatly. Over that time, several other games began to have similarly themed teams crop up slowly, including PGA, XCOM, and Civilization. However, 2K has several titles under it’s production banner, including WWE2K, Bioshock, and of course, NBA2K. These series of games are immensely popular (recent WWE setbacks aside), and it was clear that their respective communities were hungry for more involvement with developers and publishers. This is how NextMakers came to be.
In 2014 when I started getting “big” in the streaming space in the Borderlands community, I opined that one day streaming would become too big for developers/publishers to, in my opinion at that point, actively ignore. I was confident that the industry would grow to a point where, instead of just engaging journalists in the traditional method of game codes with a gift box for early access reviews, they could go directly to the community leaders of their games to bring them onboard and have them be a larger part of the process. NextMakers is that vision becoming a reality.
Through every step of the process, 2K and Gearbox were open and honest with me, personally, about what the vision of Borderlands 3 would look like, what our place as a team would be in it, and how we could engage in meaningful dialogue to make the game better. We were afforded the opportunity to speak directly to the developers, such as Graeme Timmins, Matt Cox, and Max Babin, to understand what their goals for the series looked like and how fans (and we on the team) were responding to the current state of the game. These conversations led to meaningful changes in the game, the effects of which are still felt and appreciated to this day. This is what I believe NextMakers to be, not just for Borderlands, but for all games under the 2K banner.
Why Become a NextMaker?
In my many, many years now creating content in the gaming space, I’ve not seen a publisher reach out so openly and earnestly to help content creators of all sizes have this level of access as I do now with the NextMakers Program. EA has (had?) their Game Changers program, but from conversations I’ve had with Game Changers, it does not seem like the program is rooted in two-way communication, with feedback from content creators being taken seriously and valued. Other developers and publishers have “Ambassador Programs” but I’ve noted that this tends to be on a title by title basis, not really reaching out across every title that a publisher may have to offer. These programs also tend to fade with opportunity after six months or so post-launch of a game.
NextMakers, like the Borderlands Team that preceded it, is a long term commitment to building connections that will last years between content creator and developer/publisher. This opportunity comes with many perks, that developer conversation access, inside information about upcoming games, a home to meet fellow content creators on equal footing no matter the size, and of course, the potential for paid opportunities. For smaller content creators, having a steady source of income can propel you to new heights and leave you feeling more free and less stressed to continue to pursue content creation as more than a hobby, it becomes a career. That is life changing, I know this because it was for me. There is much more to tell on what being a part of this process has done for me, but that will have to wait for another day.
Content creation has come a long way since the early days of YouTube and Justin.tv. Game companies have begun to realize the impact of creators big and small, whether they play games, create music, or just talk for hours about how much they love playing those games. Acceptance and encouragement of the creator space is now commonplace, with games incorporating ways for content creators to leverage their communities to enhance gameplay experiences innately inside those games.
There is no “final step” when it comes to content creation, it is an ever evolving and expanding space, but the NextMakers program is a great leap forward in what publisher-creator relationships can and should become. It’s a commitment from 2K to help those who are passionate about their games to elevate their profile, expand their skill set, and make a ton of friends in the process.
NextMakers is what’s next. You’re next.
-Mitsu
Need more of The Mitsu Show? Make sure to toss a follow on Twitter and consider checking out the show live on Twitch. Make sure to also catch The BorderCast on the official Borderlands channel every Thursday at 2:00 PM ET, 11:00 AM PT!
