Black Excellence in Gaming Presents: Dipped_Gaming

“When Black History Month comes around, it affects not only the gaming industry, but other industries. And you see the way other industries treat it. And it’s the exact same thing in the gaming industry. There’s a lot of reaching out. There’s a lot of opportunities thrown your way. And it can be very tempting to take. But it’s like, is it based on the fact that, ‘Hey, you noticed my achievements or you just knew of me anyway?’ Or is it just, ‘Hey, it’s February. Let’s go look for the Black people.’ So while that can be beneficial to creators to finally get that attention, it’s like a double edged sword.”

Dipped_Gaming

With the arrival of Day 8 of our ongoing series, it’s almost hard to believe that we’ve had the opportunity to sit down and chat with so many amazing people already and still have more in store for all of you. That being said, we’re excited to showcase yet another amazing content creator who is a variety streamer on Twitch, Dipped_Gaming. 

Having been gaming since he was three years old, Dipped has always been around video games with his father being a gamer as well. His earliest memories include his dad using his TurboGrafx-16 NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) to play games like Duck Hunt and Galaga. Whenever a new system would be released, they would upgrade and expand their games library, which helped to fuel Dipped’s interest in gaming throughout his childhood, then high school, and college. He would find like minded people who shared his interest in video games to have discussions and talk about them. 

Since starting his live streaming journey on Twitch back in 2016, Dipped enjoys playing an array of games on his channel. Some of his favorite genres include Open World Games such as Sonic Adventure 1, platformers, and RPGs. Anything from Nintendo can always count on having Dipped as a fan, with the Super Mario and Legend of Zelda series being just a few of his favorite titles. He also mentioned that with the resurgence of retro games and pixel themes in the gaming and streaming world, if a game looks like it has good gameplay and an interesting story then he would be open to giving those a try. 

One such game that he has enjoyed live streaming to his channel lately has been the online multiplayer social deduction game that took over in 2020, Among Us. Dipped share with us that this is one of his and his community’s most enjoyed games, as it allows everyone to participate and have fun with each other, whether you are playing or watching. He enjoys playing with older and new community members alike and says that it gives you a chance to see people’s true colors.

“So it’s a fun thing and we kind of just go at each other’s throats; jokingly, of course. But we really have a good time accusing each other, trying to defend ourselves and accusing each other based off of nothing. Those are the best games where he’s like, ‘I don’t like the way you said that. I’m going to vote you off.’ There’s no evidence here…It also gives you a chance to show your character, too. So when people are usually quiet and they don’t get to say much or do much, it’s more about the people you’re playing with than the actual game a lot of times.”

Dipped_Gaming

In addition to spending time fostering his own community, Dipped_Gaming is a member of various other online communities as well, mainly those that help to uplift and support other Black creators. It was through one of his friends and fellow content creators Moosh that he was introduced to Black Gamers Revolution, the first Discord server and community that he joined. This organization helped him to meet and connect with other Black live streamers and content creators, as well as learn from them and support their work as well. Being able to continue to connect with and uplift more Black creators is one of Dipped’s personal values as a content creator, and he hopes to continue to do this for as long as he can.

Dipped_Gaming has put effort into further developing his personal brand and setting professional goals for 2021. He recently became a partner with Hyper X, a company that produces high performance gaming equipment and accessories, such as headsets and solid state drives. When it comes to live streaming, Dipped plans to push for Twitch Partner this year, an achievement that he hopes will open the doors for more partnerships and opportunities within the gaming scene. All the while going after these milestones, he plans to continue to support and uplift other Black content creators whenever he gets the chance, whether it’s through sharing their projects, connecting them with others who could help, or collaborating for live streams and other content.

We asked Dipped_Gaming to share with us a little about their thoughts on Black History Month and how the industry treats this time of the year. He shared with us that it’s not too different from how most other industries treat February, and how Black creators can have a tricky time navigating BHM when it comes to their content and their work. 

One the one hand, there are a lot of opportunities that can be optioned to Black creators and it can be a time to promote one’s brand and one’s content in front of a larger audience. On the other hand, some may struggle with their own thoughts regarding this promotion during Black History Month, asking themselves if this is the way they want to gain a larger audience/following or recognition. Dipped also shared that it’s taken him time to learn his own worth and know which opportunities are worth taking and genuine and which opportunities are not. 

“You can’t let stuff pass by, but it depends on who it’s coming from. There is like a level of integrity you want to have when negotiating these different deals, opportunities and things with these larger platforms. Because you want to deal with somebody that’s reputable, somebody who’s actually going to respect you and your work. And I’ve seen a lot of that over the past year, as far as opportunities offered to people. You want to…you have to stand your ground and know your worth in a lot of these cases.”

Dipped_Gaming

While many companies and organizations are beginning to do better, Dipped spoke on how there needs to be more Black and other people from marginalized communities behind the scenes in these gaming spaces. It’s all well and good for opportunities to be presented to creators, but it is when there is more inclusion within these spaces themselves that more real and effective change will start to take place.

We appreciate Dipped_Gaming taking the time to speak with us about themselves and their goals when it comes to content creation for this year. Both for himself and for those he plans to support. We hope to follow his example of continuing to uplift Black creators throughout all of 2021, and wish that all those reading will do the same as well.

On behalf of the Off Colour team, we thank him for taking the time to chat with us and share more about his path as a creator!

You can be sure to support Dipped_Gaming by visiting their Twitch channel and other socials as well. Be sure to check back soon for when we share our full interview on the Off Colour site! 

Thank you so much for reading, and we hope you enjoy the rest of our series!