'I'm very obsessed … you could say addicted': Former heroin user enters spotlight livestreaming video games from the Chicago suburbs
CHICAGO - As Aaron Travis neared his 28th straight hour of streaming, even the people watching online as he played "Fortnite" begged him to go to bed.
Travis' dark hair was plastered to his forehead. His eyes were glazed and his voice, normally a scratchy baritone, was barely a mumble. He slumped in his $500 gaming chair like a fighter who had barely survived a round against Conor McGregor.
But this was a big opportunity. Tfue, the most popular streamer in the world, had turned over his Twitch channel to Travis - the video game equivalent of Elvis lending his stage to a wedding singer. Travis had drawn a peak audience of 22,000 online viewers, more than 100 times his normal numbers, and he didn't want to let them go.
Finally, someone typed in the chat box that Tfue had just reclaimed the channel. It was time for Travis, a 29-year-old known by the handle Ac7ionmannn, to sign off.
"All right, everyone," he said. "It has been an amazing stream. ... Peace out. Take care. God bless. I love you guys. And I'll see you guys another time."
Ten hours later, freshly showered but still a bit wobbly, he was back.
"Damn," he said to his webcam. "I'm really live again, dude."
Such is life for a streamer - someone who earns a living by playing video games on the internet for a virtual crowd. The $10 billion industry made big news this month when Ninja,
