If you’re a fan of Rocket League, chances are you’ve seen a video made by SunlessKhan. He’s one of the game’s most popular content creators on YouTube and Twitch, and he mixes his signature deadpan humor with interesting concepts to create genuinely engaging content.

SunlessKhan is also an active member of the Indy Gaming League community, which is an excellent reason to get to know him just a little bit better. We had a quick conversation (Khan-versation?) with the man himself to learn about him and his experience as a content creator.

Q: What do you like about Rocket League versus other games? What about the game makes it “click” for you in ways that others haven’t, and made you pursue content creating for it?

A: I love soccer and used to play a lot of FIFA, and the idea of working the entire game to whittle away at your opponent to score a few goals for the win is so fun and appealing to me as a video game. FIFA has so many flaws from a competitive perspective though, and Rocket League was the perfect answer to the flawed mess that is FIFA, while still delivering all the amazing things about soccer. In some ways, I feel like Rocket League is more like soccer than FIFA is, as far as the control and creativity you have. The fact that I love the game and was already a content creator and video producer made the idea to make YouTube videos on Rocket League pretty natural.

Q: Do you have a normal process for creating videos? What’s the timeline and process like from having a video idea to publishing it?

A: I have kind of settled into a routine, and the basic process is: write, record voiceover, add music, capture footage, add graphics, mix all the sound and export! Then I make the thumbnail and finalize the title of the video. The main thing is to record the voiceover before I start capturing footage so I know the basic structure of the video and don’t waste too much time capturing stuff I don’t need.

Q: How did you initially get involved with the Indy Gaming League?

A: If you want to go way back to the origin, I initially got involved with IGL through the Meetup App. I decided to look up if anyone was doing anything with Rocket League in my area, and found the founders of IGL had organized a couple of Rocket League tournaments. After connecting with them through the app, we set up a phone call and they told me about their plans to start Indy Gaming League. Obviously, I was on board from the get-go, and it’s been a natural partnership and friendship since!

Q: Now that the dust has settled a bit, what are your thoughts of the Epic/Psyonix acquisition?

A: I think it’s still hard to say what the effects will be until the end of 2019 essentially. Anything else is purely speculation. I’m still cautiously optimistic about the future. But mainly I’m just confident in the power of Rocket League to keep itself alive for many many years in the future.

Q: Being a video game content creator is many people’s dream job. What are some aspects of being a full-time content creator that are much less glamorous than people think?

A: I don’t think people realize how demoralizing it is to be a full-time content creator and have a video flop, or just get lower views than average on your channel. As someone doing YouTube as a side-gig this isn’t really a problem, but when you experience even slight failure on YouTube as a profession, the effects are much harsher on your morale.

A lot of work is put into each video, and when you realize not as many people want to see that particular video as much as you thought, it can be a real eye-opener. Also, a traditional job can be a lot easier to sort of check in, check out of. But when you’re full-time YouTube, you have to always bring your “A” game or you’ll stop making money. It’s as simple as that.

Q: Finally, is there a video of yours that you’re particularly proud of or view as a personal milestone? If not, which video is your favorite?

A: I’m actually quite proud of my most viewed video, even though it’s actually not that great of a video, simply because of how many views it ended up getting (my Fiverr coach video).

Another video that I’ve now turned into a series that I’m very proud of is the “rank guess” videos, where I have people guess other player’s ranks. While the idea is somewhat simple, the logistics of showing five different people of different ranks a series of videos, recording their reactions, adding the right graphics to make it clear who’s speaking, and editing it all together is quite a challenge! It feels good to have a video like that that takes a ton of work end up also getting a ton of views and being worth it! That’s the best feeling.

Thanks again to SunlessKhan for speaking with us! Be sure to follow him on YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter.