Though Perth local Natalie Acquisito, now 27, played The Sims for hours on end as a kid, she gave up gaming in her teens and only picked it back up in her early 20s.
“Some friends suggested I try Fortnite [the free-to-play battle royale game],” she says.
“Initially, I wasn’t very interested, however, I was open to trying it out and it turned out to be a great way for me to socialise with my friends from abroad.”
As Acquisito began to play Fortnite and other games more and more, her profile in the gaming space — under the handle NatChats — grew. Working as a small-time makeup artist at the time, she eventually quit to become a full-time girl-gamer.
In the space of less than two years, Acquisito went from having a following of 9K to 500K and to becoming the first Australian gamer to be signed to Facebook Gaming as a partner. Income-wise, her revenue increased by a whopping six-fold and she now generates hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
We were fortunate enough to be able to ask Acquisito about her gaming journey, why she feels more women should get into gaming and where she sees the future of it. Here’s what she said.
POPSUGAR AUSTRALIA: What does a typical day look like for you?
Natalie Acquisito: My day begins at 8am when I wake up. I’ll get up, check my daily emails and get a nice cup of coffee. After this, I’ll get ready for my stream at 10am, putting on makeup, listening to some music to get me in the mood. In the early afternoon, I’ll check out any new emails, admin work and have a small relax until my second stream begins at 7pm. After my second stream, I’ll relax with some Netflix until I fall asleep.
PS: Why do you think you’ve seen overnight success?
NA: I think the reason I’ve been able to achieve success in such a short time is that I’ve always remained genuine and authentic. I also make sure to acknowledge my community and that their support is the reason I’ve gotten where I am. I also bring a lot of humour to my streams which can be quite rare.
PS: Why do you think more women should be jumping into this space?
NA: I think women have just as much to offer as men. There are great females out there that have content and are waiting to be discovered. There’s no advantage to being male in the gaming space, it’s an equal opportunity for everyone.
PS: What’s been your experience as a woman in the gaming space?
NA: It can be difficult to be a female in the gaming space at times. I’ve got tough skin, so it’s been tolerable for me. However, I regularly have to deal with rude comments about my appearance, the quality of my gameplay and people who will attempt to attribute my success entirely to my gender.
PS: Where do you see the gaming world in five years?
NA: The gaming world is set to continue its expansion and It will become larger than most people will ever expect. I think the space will continue to become even more competitive too, with new and more competitive games being released. Online gaming and content creation is the future.
