Battle royale games and massive online battle arenas such as League of Legends and Dota 2 dominate Twitch viewership, but a group of players known collectively as the Fighting Game Community — or FGC — have managed to attract their own audience with high-level play in series like Street Fighter and Soulcalibur. Among the most popular is Maximilian Christiansen, known online as “Maximilian_Dood,” and Digital Trends had a chance to chat with him at TwitchCon 2018.

Maximilian told Digital Trends that the goal of his fighting game streams is to “emulate the arcade experience,” bringing people together to make new friends as they face off in the same types of fighting games they’d encounter in a real arcade. He found his way onto YouTube and then Twitch after previously working as an online games producer, and before that he was working as an animator and illustrator.

You’ll find a host of different fighting games available on Maximilian’s streams, including the latest fighters like Soulcalibur VI, but his heart still belongs to the cult classic Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Nearly 20 years old, it has managed to build a niche for itself despite never seeing the same popularity as Street Fighter II, Street Fighter IV, or Street Fighter V, and Maximilian played it competitively for about six years.

Maximilian has seen his viewership balloon over the past few years, with hundreds of viewers eventually turning into thousands. With the help of his friends in the community, he continues to see the number increase and loves his job, particularly because he only plays the games he wants to play.

“That growth has blown my mind, and I literally owe everything to everyone that’s watching,” he said in an interview with Digital Trends.

For those interested in the continued development of fighting games rather than live-streamed gameplay, you can check out Maximilian_Dood’s YouTube channel. There, he reacts to new character announcements, talks about the latest features coming to fighting games, and occasionally produces videos on games that have nothing to do with fighting games. He also has Facebook and Twitter pages so you can easily stay up to date on all of his content.

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