Last March, Kris Lamberson, better known by his competitive gaming name, FaZe Swagg, posted “Swagg – One Million Subscriber Montage” to his YouTube channel. The 10-minute video opens with a clip of the late rapper Nipsey Hussle explaining what allowed him to break through: “That’s why I call my thing a marathon. I’m not gonna portray this ultimate poise like I been had it figured out. Nah, I just didn’t quit.” From there, Lamberson’s subscribers see clips of the professional gamer as a child, and then as a basketball prospect, and then as an upstart streamer finding his voice. Through it all, Lamberson, via voiceover, walks through his journey from the bottom to the top of the gaming world. Near the end, over footage of him holding his Gold YouTube Play Button, the award sent out to commemorate reaching one million subscribers, Lamberson says: “I’m a perfect example of what hard work, determination, and having the right friends — what it can lead to! I’m not anything special, man. I just wanted it more than the next guy.”

 

The video perfectly encapsulates the strange double life of gamers, existing in the liminal space between competitor and influencer. There are shots of Call of Duty gameplay, but also of Lamberson buying his mom a car, of getting a Gatorade cooler dumped on his head, and of breathlessly watching as his subscriber count ticks past the one million mark. The viewer invests in the Swagg come up as much as his kill count. They might find his channel after seeing a memorable headshot, but they’ll stick around because they want to be like Swagg.

 

For the modern sports fan, the double life of the gamer isn’t as hard to grasp. Winning is a factor in an athlete’s fame, but a blend of gameplay aesthetic, personality, and proximity to greatness is what makes a star. The NBA is a sport, sure, but it’s a multi-billion-dollar business because it’s also a TV show and a live event; a well-timed defensive rotation can win a game, but on- and off-court personality is what keeps the lights on.

 

More than any other eSports team, FaZe Clan has grasped and amplified the dual life of the modern gamer. The gaming collective competes in eSports events, but is better known for the interplay between its members, many of whom have spent time living in the mansions they’ve rented around Los Angeles since 2016. Since its inception in 2010, FaZe Clan members have streamed their gameplay, but also uploaded viral content. A prank video from November where 13-year-old FaZe H1ghSky1 is punked into believing he’s been evicted from his new $3.5 million mansion had 1.9 million streams as of March. The gaming organization also sells merch — moving $2 million in 24 hours via exclusive drops that mirror the hypest of hypebeast culture — and has endorsement deals with Verizon, Beats by Dre and G FUEL. As CEO Lee Trink explained in an interview on the Vergecast, he views the FaZe Clan as a hybrid of the Los Angeles Lakers, Supreme, and MTV.

 

Lamberson had spent years building his YouTube following independently, posting a mixture of Call of Duty highlights and explainers of the best class setups for players. In the videos, you see what Swagg sees while also seeing his face as he plays; you hear the game accented by a running dialogue of trash talk and notes on his performance. Imagine experiencing a pick and roll develop from inside Kyrie Irving’s head — you could watch to get better, or you could watch for the chance to ride shotgun with greatness.

 

A month after he hit the 1 million subscriber mark — which Data Driven Investor’s Jacob Bates estimated only about 24,000 global users had ever reached as of January — Lamberson got a DM from FaZe Apex, one of the FaZe Clan co-owners and one of the earliest members. He told Lamberson he was a fan and then asked him if he was part of any eSports team. “I was like, ‘Nah, man. Wait, why do you ask me that?’ And then he said, ‘Do you want to join FaZe?’” Lamberson says over Zoom from his house in Phoenix. “It’s almost like getting drafted. Everything just kind of skyrockets, because now your name’s out there. You’re associated with the biggest team in the world.”

 

Lamberson joined FaZe in April 2020, and by May his YouTube subscriber count had hit 1.36 million. Today, it’s up over 2.2 million. He’s also watched as his other social media followings ballooned by “triple, quadruple type shit.” He’s become the #1 subscribed to and most viewed Black gamer on the Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch. His first merch drop sold out in under two hours.

 

He started getting DMs from Odell Beckham, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox and many more pro athletes asking if he wanted to game. “It comes full circle because all the athletes that I looked up to when I was playing basketball now want to hit me up to play video games,” Lamberson says. “It’s fucking crazy.”

Last March, Kris Lamberson, better known by his competitive gaming name, FaZe Swagg, posted “Swagg – One Million Subscriber Montage” to his YouTube channel. The 10-minute video opens with a clip of the late rapper Nipsey Hussle explaining what allowed him to break through: “That’s why I call my thing a marathon. I’m not gonna portray this ultimate poise like I been had it figured out. Nah, I just didn’t quit.” From there, Lamberson’s subscribers see clips of the professional gamer as a child, and then as a basketball prospect, and then as an upstart streamer finding his voice. Through it all, Lamberson, via voiceover, walks through his journey from the bottom to the top of the gaming world. Near the end, over footage of him holding his Gold YouTube Play Button, the award sent out to commemorate reaching one million subscribers, Lamberson says: “I’m a perfect example of what hard work, determination, and having the right friends — what it can lead to! I’m not anything special, man. I just wanted it more than the next guy.”

 

The video perfectly encapsulates the strange double life of gamers, existing in the liminal space between competitor and influencer. There are shots of Call of Duty gameplay, but also of Lamberson buying his mom a car, of getting a Gatorade cooler dumped on his head, and of breathlessly watching as his subscriber count ticks past the one million mark. The viewer invests in the Swagg come up as much as his kill count. They might find his channel after seeing a memorable headshot, but they’ll stick around because they want to be like Swagg.

 

For the modern sports fan, the double life of the gamer isn’t as hard to grasp. Winning is a factor in an athlete’s fame, but a blend of gameplay aesthetic, personality, and proximity to greatness is what makes a star. The NBA is a sport, sure, but it’s a multi-billion-dollar business because it’s also a TV show and a live event; a well-timed defensive rotation can win a game, but on- and off-court personality is what keeps the lights on.

 

More than any other eSports team, FaZe Clan has grasped and amplified the dual life of the modern gamer. The gaming collective competes in eSports events, but is better known for the interplay between its members, many of whom have spent time living in the mansions they’ve rented around Los Angeles since 2016. Since its inception in 2010, FaZe Clan members have streamed their gameplay, but also uploaded viral content. A prank video from November where 13-year-old FaZe H1ghSky1 is punked into believing he’s been evicted from his new $3.5 million mansion had 1.9 million streams as of March. The gaming organization also sells merch — moving $2 million in 24 hours via exclusive drops that mirror the hypest of hypebeast culture — and has endorsement deals with Verizon, Beats by Dre and G FUEL. As CEO Lee Trink explained in an interview on the Vergecast, he views the FaZe Clan as a hybrid of the Los Angeles Lakers, Supreme, and MTV.

 

Lamberson had spent years building his YouTube following independently, posting a mixture of Call of Duty highlights and explainers of the best class setups for players. In the videos, you see what Swagg sees while also seeing his face as he plays; you hear the game accented by a running dialogue of trash talk and notes on his performance. Imagine experiencing a pick and roll develop from inside Kyrie Irving’s head — you could watch to get better, or you could watch for the chance to ride shotgun with greatness.

 

A month after he hit the 1 million subscriber mark — which Data Driven Investor’s Jacob Bates estimated only about 24,000 global users had ever reached as of January — Lamberson got a DM from FaZe Apex, one of the FaZe Clan co-owners and one of the earliest members. He told Lamberson he was a fan and then asked him if he was part of any eSports team. “I was like, ‘Nah, man. Wait, why do you ask me that?’ And then he said, ‘Do you want to join FaZe?’” Lamberson says over Zoom from his house in Phoenix. “It’s almost like getting drafted. Everything just kind of skyrockets, because now your name’s out there. You’re associated with the biggest team in the world.”

 

Lamberson joined FaZe in April 2020, and by May his YouTube subscriber count had hit 1.36 million. Today, it’s up over 2.2 million. He’s also watched as his other social media followings ballooned by “triple, quadruple type shit.” He’s become the #1 subscribed to and most viewed Black gamer on the Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch. His first merch drop sold out in under two hours.

 

He started getting DMs from Odell Beckham, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox and many more pro athletes asking if he wanted to game. “It comes full circle because all the athletes that I looked up to when I was playing basketball now want to hit me up to play video games,” Lamberson says. “It’s fucking crazy.”