by Google
From 20 crowns to streams worth thousands. Astatoro is one of the most authentic streamers in Slovakia. In the interview, he recalls his gaming beginnings, his first streams, we also talked about friendships with Dušan and Viktor and reveals why live interaction is key for him. You will also learn how the legendary "Zipu" meme was created and what his plans are for the future.
Hello, how are you?
I'm doing well. I slept well today, so I think we'll have a positive conversation. I just woke up, haha.
Do you go to bed later when you wake up later like this?
I go to bed around two, well. It depends on how it works out for me, sometimes I go to bed at three.
When did you start playing and streaming games?
I started playing really early. It was around nine or ten years old. My cousin introduced me to games and we played together on his computer. And back then, there were those computer cafes where you had to come and pay 20 crowns an hour and play. So, because it wasn't as accessible and you had limited time, it was more appealing. You had an hour to play a lot of games and you had to choose just one specific one to play, and then the guy came along and said, "That's it." It was a fad and we appreciated it more back then. Later, PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 came into fashion, and I also went to my cousins' for that, and so on. And then when I got my own computer from my dad, it all started.
As for streaming, I may have seen videos from Restt on Mojevideo in 2014-2015. At that time, I didn't even know what streaming meant. I only saw a guy playing FIFA, screaming, shouting, banging on the table and all that. is talking to someone and I didn't understand who he was talking to, if there was anyone next to him. So I scrolled through the comments and noticed that everyone seemed to know him and it was some kind of community. There I also got to the Twitch link and found out that it was a live platform where you stream, play games and talk to the chat.
I followed Restta, or resttpowered, from about 2015 to 2019. At that time, I had already graduated from college and had nothing to do with my life. I was going to interviews and so on, but none of it appealed to me. Even if an interview went well, I didn't know if that was what I wanted to do. However, I had worked in America for four months before and I had some money saved from there, so okay, if I stay home for a year now, nothing will happen. So I said to myself that I would give myself a year to try to start streaming and if it didn't work out, I would go to work normally. But that year I set myself up so that I would give streaming almost every day, a normal eight, as if I were going to work, regardless of how many people were there. So I started streaming.
What university did you go to and what jobs did you apply for in those interviews?I went to the Technical University of Košice, Faculty of Mining, Department of Earth Resources Management with a focus on minerals. So, if I wanted to get a job in the field I studied, there weren't many options around Košice. We only have one quarry and I think they were full at the time, or they turned me down. If I wanted to work in the field, I would have had to travel to the Czech Republic or more to central or western Slovakia for work, but I didn't want to leave Košice.
I also tried some other things in this area, for example, I worked for a pawn shop for a while, appraising gold, then I regulated some refrigeration machines and so on. I also did part-time work on the side, but none of that appealed to me enough to make me want to build a career in it. If I had gotten a job in a quarry around Košice at that time, because it was a field that I enjoyed, I might have stayed there. I didn't count on the fact that streaming could somehow explode, I just wanted to try it. If it hadn't exploded, it would have remained a hobby for me besides work. 
Since you succeeded in streaming, haven't you thought about creating videos on YouTube? You have some recordings of streams there, but I mean creating directly on YouTube.
It never occurred to me, because I myself have never been a classic YouTube user and I didn't get used to watching it much, because I grew up in that gaming world. Now I'm somehow getting back to it and watching Dušan's podcasts and from there I learn that Henten did it and that he has such content. So no, it didn't appeal to me, because the main thing that appeals to me about streaming is the live interaction.
For me, the problem would be that if I were playing something and no one could see me doing it, I would have a hard time getting excited about it. I don't know how to explain it, but those YouTubers have to imagine that they are doing it for someone at that given moment, that there is an audience watching them and they are not watching. Several people are actually watching me, so it's not that uncomfortable for me to start enjoying it, or to f*ck myself at that given moment. Over time, however, I am starting to get more interested and enjoy YouTube. I think we have one channel up and running and now we are going to start a second extra channel, where I would like to add different content, more talk and non-gaming content.
And isn't the advantage of YouTube that you can cut out what you don't want to be there? When streaming, if something slips up, you don't cut it out.
Well, yes, but honestly, over the years of streaming I've learned to censor myself, because if we say something on stream that we shouldn't, we get banned for it. So there's no such thing as saying something that's against the ToS (Terms of Service) and I have to do it in a way that's cool. As for swearing, you can cut it out, but I leave it in because for me it's part of gaming.
What do you think about viral compilations of you and videos on TikTok? Do you mind?
No, I'm happy when people enjoy it. That's how it all started with Dušan...so, overall my streaming career went along a certain line, for half a year I streamed for a community of about 10-15 people, then I got caught by a bigger streamer, his name is Sweezy, with whom I started playing games. Restt noticed me at that streamer, with whom I started playing, then the game Among us came out and I exploded there extremely. But when the hype of Among us fell, I fell with him. Then I realized that okay, the problem is when people follow the game and not me. But I had about 200 people, so I worked with them.
So I continued on, until one day I was sitting at home and looking at my follow list and suddenly my followers started coming in...but one every second. I thought someone had botted me, but suddenly I started getting messages on Discord and stuff. Everyone was writing to me asking if I had seen the new #ME, that I was there, and then Dušan made a #ME and almost half of the followers were just me.
You didn't know each other yet?
He knew me, I didn't know him very well. He followed me a little bit because Roman played it for him in the studio and they laughed at my clips. I kind of knew him as a person, that he was a YouTuber and created content, but we didn't know each other personally, that's what I thought. Well, these #MEs were the biggest promo for my stream and that's where the "Zipu" meme was created.
But to get back to the question, that how I perceive it, I perceive it positively, because if people enjoy it, that's why I do it.
And how did you meet Dušan and later Viktor?
Well, with Dušan, to define it more precisely, he was filming #ME, even before the ones where I am, in which he went to streamers and gave them challenges. Then he came to me and gave me a challenge for some subs. When I saw him in my chat, I was surprised that he knew me. So this was our first interaction.
Then, he did the #ME and after #ME we both went to Madmonq and I don't even know how it happened, but we somehow agreed to play Phasmophobia together. I have a vague idea, but it was probably Phasmophobia. And I think Viktor was also invited at that time. The audience will remember that we played the legendary Phasma back then - me, Viktor, Dušan and Jickson. That's where we somehow started building the group and started playing together.
Have you built such a friendship that you spend time together outside of gaming?
Definitely, definitely. I would say that I have the most personal relationship with Dušan, because I spend the most time with him in person, when I'm in Prague and generally off stream. Dušan also gave me the most advice on streaming, but of course I want to give credit to other people, like Viktor, who also gave me a lot of advice.
I think that our group also spends time together on a more personal basis, it's not just for creating content. When we're off stream, we're on Discord, for example, where we chat and discuss various topics.
Viktor recently had a tour of Slovakia and jumped out at me on TikTok, where the audience in Košice was screaming your name, how did that feel?
I had mixed feelings. The first thing that came to my mind was, "what's going on", how is it possible that there are so many people here who know me or are they all chanting just because they joined the others and don't know what they're chanting, you know. So I had such mixed feelings about it. Then I realized that there are probably quite a few people there who know me.
On the one hand, I was wondering if it was deserved, but in the end, if these people like me, then I'm happy. On the other hand, it was strange, because having two thousand people on a stream is absolutely comfortable, but when you see two thousand people in an arena chanting your name, it's something completely different. I think every streamer would agree with me that two thousand people on a stream are not as uncomfortable as having two thousand people in front of you. It was a massacre, I felt like Caesar somewhere in Rome in the Colosseum. It was a hallucination and a strange mix of feelings that I, as an introvert, had to deal with. But the people were definitely great.
What do you do when you're not streaming?
Fu, streaming only off stream, haha. But mostly I try to do accounting stuff, stuff for the YouTube channel, reelska, plan things for the next day and so on. When I have more time, I spend it with the guys on Discord, watch a movie or a series, or I'm in Bratislava. In the summer I usually spend time fishing, because I'm a fisherman and that's about all for now. The last two years have been so hectic overall, because I was off stream and basically on stream and I tried to give it my all, but it paid off.
Is the stream still great for you? Have you thought about starting to create more content on Instagram, for example?
I think I've added a lot to Instagram, because I used to have zero content on Instagram and then Dušan advised me, "Dude, if you don't like posts, at least post reels." So since I started posting reels… I even have to brag to you that I have a reel that has 17 million. I started to enjoy the algorithm a lot more than on TikTok, for example, I find it much more rewarding, TikTok is terribly random. Thanks to those reels, my following grew from about twenty thousand to ninety thousand. Of course, I could add more regularly, but sometimes it's harder to be my own judge and decide what's funny and what's not. For example, when I watch one of my videos, many things are less funny to me than to some viewer who watches me, you understand.
I understand, it's hard to judge for yourself whether something is funny or not.
Yes, sometimes it seems to me that people click on a thing just because it has a lot of views and share it with each other, and I don't find it funny. I usually choose it based on the most viewed clips for a given day or I click through a recording and think about what I could do with it.
But to get back to the question, I would definitely like to have Instagram up and running in such a way that I could have some collaborations there and it could work on its own and not depend on another platform. 
What does your typical day look like?
Simple. I get up in the morning, do my hygiene, then I either have a coffee at home or go for a coffee with a cousin or a friend. I have lunch, some classic or kebab, then I come home, get some inspiration or watch a series, edit the reel, write off the accountant. And then I wait for the stream, which comes very quickly. I stream those eight hours, about from 2:30 PM to 10:30 PM - 11:00 PM, and then I have freestyle until two.
What other plans do you have for the future?
The plan for the future is probably not to stop, so that I don't rest on my laurels, not to take everything for granted, to continue creating, to continue inventing and not to do things just from a stereotype, because so many people have burned out. I've been working like this for five years, so I'd like to go full throttle like this for at least another five and then maybe scale back. And of course, personal things like one day I would like to have a house, my own studio, a garden and drink coffee on the terrace, haha. But otherwise I don't like to make long-term plans because everything changes and nothing is certain.
