A prolific streamer who ditched Twitch to become a pallet handler returned to the gaming industry just two weeks after securing the ‘real job’.
If you ask a games historian when the first eSports event took place, they’ll point to the 1980 Space Invaders Championship event Atari held in Los Angeles.
Four decades on from the tournament that crowned Californian Rebecca Heineman as the first national video game tournament champion, eSports has simply flourished.
Last year, the industry was valued at a staggering $1.72 billion and according to Fortune Business Insights, eSports is projected to grow to $2.06 billion by the end of this year.
One man who was previously involved in the profession was Daniel ‘Dafran’ Francesca - a Twitch streamer and ex-pro Overwatch player.
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If you’re unfamiliar, overwatch is a team-based, multiplayer first-person hero shooter that demands teams work together to complete map-specific objectives within a time limit.
In 2016, Dafran represented Denmark in the 2016 Overwatch World Cup before going on to be included as a player on both Selfless Gaming and Atlanta Reign rosters.
Despite retiring from the Overwatch League in March 2019, the 30-year-old continues to stream World of Warcraft, Spectre Divide and more on his dedicated Twitch channel.
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The star boasts a solid following of 896,000 fans on Twitch but before finding internet fame, he used to work at a McDonald’s restaurant.
As well as holding down a position at the popular fast-food joint, Dafran has reportedly moonlighted as a delivery man and has also been working on getting a forklift license.
In 2020, he temporarily quit streaming to become a farmer and in May 2024 he took the plunge once again and exited the internet.
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For two weeks he became a pallet handler but quickly reverted to streaming once the going got a little tough.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce his career move, Dafran posted a selfie outside in a hi-vis vest.
“I got real life job. First work day finish,” he typed to his 112,000 followers.
“37 hours a week handling pallets and using truck certificate.”
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13 days later though, the streamer issued another update, this time announcing his return to the gaming industry.
“I quit my job. I lasted 2 weeks,” he wrote. “Working 37 hours a week job is WAY harder than streaming. I am glad I tried it.”
Despite cutting his manual labor carer short, Dafran claims it wasn’t time wasted.
Instead, handling pallets has allowed him to discover a new-found appreciation for his online community.
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“Now I can appreciate how good I have it streaming,” he confessed. “I will stream until I cant anymore.”