Los Angeles not only dominates the film and television industry but also the video game scene. It is home to renowned esports organizations such as 100 Thieves, Sentinels, and Team Liquid, but L.A. is also where many streamers have made a name for themselves simply by gaming from home for thousands of viewers.
Below is a list featuring ten noteworthy gamers based in L.A. who have risen to popularity and established their thriving gaming careers here. Many of the gamers on this list also shared advice for the casual gamer who is aspiring to become a streamer or competitive gamer—read on to see what they have to say about becoming a success story in the world of gaming.
TTK AKA TOPTIERKID
TTK, whose real name is Eric Arraiga, is a Mexican American competitive gamer who recently competed in the international “Marvel Rivals” Ignite Mid-Season Finals Tournament at WePlay Studios in Inglewood. TTK, who is currently signed to L.A.’s prestigious 100 Thieves esports organization, told L.A. TACO that it took him two years to go from a regular gamer to a professional competitive gamer.
He originally played on console, mostly “Overwatch,” but then decided to pursue competitive gaming by focusing on first becoming a skilled player at “Marvel Rivals” on PC. He loved watching gamers play on PC so much that it inspired him to make his own pivot.
“I won a few tourneys, the very first ones, and then I started getting known,” he says.
His gaming style is very nonchalant and calm, very uncommon in the gaming world, where players are known to crash out, scream, and have sporadic outbursts. His Twitch videos show him keeping a mellow demeanor as he tactically takes down enemies using characters like Magneto and Devil Dino.
According to TTK, you don’t need to be a popular streamer or have a big social media following to become a competitive gamer.
“I was nobody,” he says of his own path, noting that he didn’t actually start streaming himself until he joined 100 Thieves.
His advice on becoming a competitive player?
“Just spam play the game,” TTK says. “I played 10 hours a day.”
LYSS
Alyssa Campos, known by her gamer name Lyss, rose to popularity by playing games from the “Call of Duty” franchise on her Twitch stream, where she currently has over 95,000 followers. After graduating from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Lyss started streaming for fun while also attending a five-year doctorate program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. This is when she reached a crossroads.
“I had to choose either streaming or grad school. Grad school was going to put me into $280k of debt, so I chose the streaming route. I felt I had a calling to do it,” she tells L.A. TACO.
“I had to choose either streaming or grad school. Grad school was going to put me into $280k of debt, so I chose the streaming route. I felt I had a calling to do it."
Lyss has been a gamer since she was a child, and her passion for “Call of Duty” began after her mom broke up with a boyfriend who left behind his PS3 and copy of “Call of Duty: Black Ops.” She was instantly hooked, and for Lyss, nothing beat the feeling of playing the popular first-person shooter game — so much so that she became a little obsessed.
“I played every single COD since ‘Black Ops 1,’” she recalls. “And was so addicted I would stay up for 24 hours and get yelled at by my mom to turn off the game or come eat, but I wouldn’t leave my room.”
Lyss shared this advice for gamers who want to become streamers: “Before putting hours into streaming, please work on your consistency, posting at least [two to three] times a day on short-form platforms such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts and TikTok. Do not JUST stream.”
NIXSTAH
Nixstah is a Black and Salvadoran gamer who was born in L.A. and grew up in the San Fernando Valley. A UCLA alumnus whose real name is Nicholas Maldonado, Nixstah is a streamer and competitive gamer who has played in major tournaments including Twitch Rivals, the Samsung x Call of Duty: Mobile tournament, and the Warzone Total Frenzy x Black Ops 6 Resurgence tournament in 2025, where he came in second place.
His gaming style is aggressive and dynamic, evident in the videos he shares, like in this recent YouTube video, which details his quest to become one of the top 250 players in “Warzone.” The video shows him intensely hunting down his opponents and shooting them down before they ever get a chance to aim at him. His passion and drive come across to viewers, especially once he finally achieves his goal.
“Let’s go! Top 250!” he shouts energetically in the video. “This is a message to everybody watching this: Never give up on your dreams. They kicked me down, they said I can’t handle ranked . . . but guess what? I stood back up, and I got to [the] top 250.”
Nixstah is best known for playing games from the “Call of Duty” franchise, but he has continued expanding into other franchises such as “Halo,” “Grand Theft Auto,” “Gears of War,” and other major game releases, with the goal of becoming a trusted voice across the entire gaming industry.
Nixstah posts his content on several platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch, and collectively, with an audience of over three million followers.
His advice for aspiring streamers: “The most important thing is to get the ball rolling. Do not wait until you have expensive equipment or the perfect setup. Start with what you have, upgrade when you are able to, and consistently post content that accurately reflects your streams so viewers know exactly what to expect when they tune in.”
ARREOLA PHOTOS
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jonathan Arreola’s photography and graphics business slowed down drastically. That’s when the Boyle Heights native began making comedic content on TikTok, quickly gaining over 120,000 followers. He now makes skits on a modded “Grand Theft Auto V” server called “GTAV - LSPDFR MOD,” active on a single-player game where he roleplays as LAPD and creates comedic scenarios with NPCs set in L.A. County.
“I knew my actual passion was gaming,” he tells L.A. TACO. “That’s when I completely changed my niche from photography/videography and skits to bringing my personality into GTA LSPDFR and telling a story about what many people in L.A. County can relate to, as well as bringing my personal interactions with police into a game and making skits out of it.”
Arreola does all the character voiceovers himself and posts his content across most platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. In the latter, he streams live three to four times a week. In a recent video, he plays a cop pulling over a bunch of cholo-looking dudes and says, “Wassup, any of you foos on parole or probation?” before doing a hilarious arrest scene with the cruising foos.
Arreola says he’s been a gamer for as long as he can remember, and that the first game he ever played was “Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.” Despite the M for Mature (17+) rating, Arreola played the game as a five-year-old, and says his love of gaming really grew there, leading him to play games like “Call of Duty,” “Gears of War,” “Assassin’s Creed,” and “Halo,” among others.
Arreola has this advice for gamers: “Don’t focus on going viral every time. Focus on creating quality content over quantity. Be original and always remember there will be more supporting people than haters.”
JAYDEN AKA JYDNLOL
Jayden Diaz is a half-Chinese, half-Cuban streamer who rose to popularity by playing “League of Legends.” As a female gamer, she empowers other women in gaming by hosting a panel event called Press Enter, which highlights women in the gaming industry and their achievements. She has hosted this panel event several times over the years, including at the “League of Legends” Worlds Fan Fest in San Francisco and at the Guildhouse in San Jose.
Jayden first started streaming at 16 but decided to pursue it professionally at 18. She says it took five years before she was able to make streaming her full-time career. Jayden has competed in many “League of Legends” creator tournaments and official events by Riot Games, telling L.A. TACO, “My biggest competitive achievement was finishing second place in Twitch Rivals as an ADC player.”
As a female gamer, she empowers other women in gaming by hosting a panel event called Press Enter, which highlights women in the gaming industry and their achievements.
But for Jayden, gaming isn’t just about entering tournaments or her business and career.
“One of the things I appreciate most about streaming is how it has shown me the power of meeting people online, ” she says. “I’ve met some of my best friends through the internet, and streaming has given me opportunities I never imagined, including traveling the world for [the] ‘League of Legends’ world finals.”
Jayden’s advice for casual gamers looking to pivot: “Get inspired by the creators you enjoy watching, stay consistent, seriously, and make the kind of content that you would genuinely enjoy watching yourself. If you’re excited about what you’re creating, that passion comes across to your audience.”
MAXIMILIAN DOOD
With over 18 years of experience streaming and creating gaming content focused on fighting games, Maximilian Dood is one of the most prominent gamers to ever do it in L.A. The prolific gamer, whose real name is Maximilian Christiansen, rose to prominence in the late 2000s by posting his gaming videos on YouTube, playing classic fighting games like “Street Fighter” and “Marvel vs. Capcom,” while also sharing reviews, guides, and walkthroughs for the fighting game community.
Maximilian Dood’s videos are very sophisticated and educational, and he never misses an opportunity to teach his viewers the best moves in a game. But his content isn’t simply informative. His lively gaming style brings plenty of energy to his content.
Maximilian Dood has genuine fun playing fighting games, and it comes across to his viewers as he cracks jokes and laughs at the zany and wild moments that take place. In this recent Twitch stream, Maximilian pre-games for a game of “Halo” with the boys by eating Doritos and drinking Mountain Dew, engaging in a hilarious ritual before wrecking enemy teams in the game.
But before he was an acclaimed gamer, he had to start somewhere. His first YouTube video was uploaded on June 7, 2007, when he pointed a camcorder at an arcade machine while playing “Street Fighter III.”
Today, Maximilian Dood has over 9000 videos uploaded to YouTube and close to two million subscribers on the platform. He has competed in several fighting game tournaments over the years and streams on Twitch, where he has over 1.4 million followers and has recently been playing “Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.”
ULUSOKA
“I wanted to represent my Polynesian people in the gaming space since there are so few of us,” Ulusoka, a Hawaiian and Samoan gamer from Gardena, tells L.A. TACO.
Ulu, who does not want her full name published for privacy reasons, says she first started streaming in 2021, and it took her over a year before she started streaming full-time in October of 2022.
“I got into this to create a fun and safe space for people to meet and make friends and game together whilst representing my Polynesian people and creating a space for us in the gaming space. The most important thing that will carry you through your career is your community. Without them you’re nothing. Appreciate them and support them and just enjoy the ride,” she shares with L.A. TACO.
She now has over 138,000 followers on TikTok and 30,000 followers on Twitch. Ulu mostly plays “Fortnite” and “Marvel Rivals,” though she primarily made a name for herself playing “Fortnite,” and she has competed in several Twitch “Rivals” and eFuse “Fortnite” tournaments held exclusively for women gamers.
Of her gaming career, Ulu says that she owes it all to “Fortnite,” which brought her many opportunities and led her to meet new people and make connections that she didn’t have before. She says the game changed her life “tremendously” and has opened up many paths for her.
“I will forever be grateful to Fortnite and everything it has given me,” she says.
“My advice if you want to take your streaming to the next level is to be consistent, have fun, and play what you enjoy,” Ulu says. “A lot of people get into this thinking about the money. You’ll never be satisfied with that mindset. While you should always be ‘hungry’ for success and pushing yourself to the next level, if you focus just on the money, it sucks the fun right out of it.”
TIFFYQUAKE AKA IHASCUPQUAKE
Tiffyquake, whose real name is Tiffany Herrera, is a Mexican American gamer from East L.A. who first started creating gamer content on YouTube in 2010, posting videos of herself playing “Minecraft” in its early alpha stages and making videos where she talked about common gamer issues.
Cupquake, as she’s also known, tells L.A. TACO that the videos started out as a fun hobby, and after a year of uploading, she decided to try it full-time, but it wasn’t until 2013 that she found success. Fast forward to 2026, and she now has over seven million subscribers on YouTube and over 244,000 followers on her Twitch channel, where she has remained loyal to “Minecraft” by frequently streaming herself on the game.
Cupquake’s streams are full of cute energy and lively pink and purple color schemes in her graphics and gaming environment. These underline her sweet demeanor, as she greets her viewers at the top of the streams and shares personal updates, like in this recent video where she talks about her pregnancy before diving into a fun “Minecraft” session.
Other games that Cupquake has played for viewers include “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “The Sims,” “Roblox,” “Just Dance,” and “Animal Crossing.”
Her advice she has for gamers who want to do what she does: “You can absolutely be a casual gamer and still create content and stream. There are niches for every type of game possible, and I would say to follow whatever games bring joy to you.”
SWAGG
Swagg, whose real name is Kris Lamberson, is one of the most eminent Black players on Twitch, where he has over 2 million followers. A month after reaching 1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel—where Swagg frequently posted his “Call of Duty” highlights and explainers—Swagg was asked to sign to the FaZe Clan in 2020, becoming the first Black member of one of the biggest esports organizations in the world.
Swagg originally aspired to be a professional basketball player, but after tearing his labrum during his first preseason in college, Swagg began playing “Call of Duty” to pass the time. That’s when he discovered his passion for gaming, and it changed his life. Swagg not only streams, but he also plays competitively, and in 2021, he won the $100,000 prize from the Toronto Ultra $100K “Warzone” Tournament.
Swagg not only streams, but he also plays competitively, and in 2021, he won the $100,000 prize from the Toronto Ultra $100K “Warzone” Tournament.
Swagg’s videos are explosive and riveting, as he is very expressive and will call out players for bad gameplay, making his content a blast to watch.
In this YouTube video, aptly titled “Average Black Ops 2 Experience 😭,” he hilariously screams at a teammate who grossly underperforms by having more deaths than enemy kills in the game.
“How we going negative? You played comp for 15 years!” Swagg shouts, triggering his teammate into a comical tirade.
AYYTRAE
Angelica Trae is a versatile gamer who can do it all. The sci-fi-obsessed content creator, who is originally from Northern California but has been based in L.A. for several years, does everything from streaming to cosplaying, and even posts comedy skits on TikTok. In a recent Instagram post, she pretended to be an NPC from the popular “Elder Scrolls” video game, comically making fun of their vacant expressions and blank stares.
Ayytrae, however, is truly passionate about gaming, and she frequently streams on Twitch by playing RPGs and horror games such as “Red Dead Redemption 2,” “The Last of Us,” and the “Resident Evil” games.
Lately on Twitch, though, she’s been streaming her gameplay on “Halo” and “007 First Light.” She recently finished “007 First Light,” celebrating her proud achievement and the climax of the story to her viewers. Ayytrae showed her personality as she smiled widely, chuckling here and there, going “Whaaaat?” during important dialogue, and then proceeding to dance to the famous James Bond jingle that plays at the end.
Ayytrae calls herself a “lifelong nerd” and has been a gamer since she was a little kid. She first started streaming in 2017 and currently has over 144,000 followers on TikTok and over 69,000 followers on Twitch. She says she’d never entered a tournament or tried competitive gaming because she games for the fun of it.
Her advice for those who want to pivot from casual gaming to streaming and content creation?
“Start small, and always optimize for fun if things scale up, because it’s gonna be a lot of time spent doing it and life is short, so have fun,” she shared with L.A. TACO.
