TimTheTatman Talks Call of Duty’s Future, Streaming Landscape, And More (Exclusive)

Tim “TimTheTatman” Betar is one of the biggest streamers in the world, charming people with his positivity and incredible sense of humor. He’s the kind of guy you’d want to watch sports with or invite to liven up a party. The former Twitch streamer, now YouTube content creator has amassed over 4.5 million subscribers on his main channel on the Google-owned platform. He primarily streams shooters like Call of Duty and does it in style, partnering up with other fan-favorite creators like DrDisrespect. In between his busy schedule, ComicBook.com got to sit down with TimTheTatman for a rare interview to discuss his ongoing partnership with AT&T to promote the provider’s 5G internet service via the AT&T 5G Roadshow.

In addition to that, we talked about his views on the future of Call of Duty and the streaming landscape. The interview was conducted shortly after a massive stream where TimTheTatman and DrDisrespect streamed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II at the AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play. During the interview, Tim sat in front of the stadium’s massive jumbotron, really showcasing how far he has come since the days of duct taping his webcam to his wall. You can view out interview and the aforementioned stream down below.

Man, all of what you’re doing right now is crazy.

TimTheTatman: Yeah, it’s pretty awesome, man. It’s fun. We did it last year and I will say I was a lot more nervous last year than I am this year, because doing it once and kind of having the idea of what you’re doing versus just kind of getting into it for the first time, it was a little more, little crazier last year, but it was fun, man. It was great.

What happens when you go tell your wife like, “Hey, AT&T wants to do a crazy event inside AT&T Stadium. What’s the reaction there?

She’s happy for me knowing I’m a Cowboys fan and stuff like that. Obviously a dream come true. So she’s more than supportive to be like “Absolutely, obviously go out there and do it” because being a Cowboys fan on top of that and then doing it last year and doing it again, it’s been great, man. It’s been great.

Man, that’s so crazy. And you’re streaming from a diner next month, is that correct?

Yeah, I don’t actually officially know which diner yet. All they told me was diner in Atlanta, and then College Football Playoff National Championship, which I learned it was called that now through this. I thought it was just college playoff, like College National Championship. We’re doing it in a tailgate area out there, it’s going to be fun for the last one. That’ll be in January.

That’s sweet. Well I’m so happy to get to talk to you, man. This is great. Thank you for making the time.

Yeah, absolutely.

I wanted to start by asking you about your positivity. You obviously yell a lot, you’re very competitive, but you’re also an incredibly positive person. You try to pass that along to your viewers as well, telling people to go tell someone you love them or whatever. Where does that come from?

I think at the end of the day I just grew up, and the situations that had happened to me, it’s like life’s too short to really be down. I think every day is a gift. I always try to approach that mentality when I wake up. Every day that I got, that’s a gift, you know what I mean?

Absolutely.

That’s just the mindset I wanted, and I just happened to fall into when I was younger. And I try to maintain now throughout my life as an adult and try to obviously encourage that on my streaming, on my videos, and stuff like that.

Yeah, I think it works. I think your audience obviously gravitates towards that. And there’s an open communication. You’re very open with people, you talked recently about how we all need a break sometimes and stuff like that. And it’s important for people to understand that. Is there something you think creators need to talk about more, whether it be that or something else you’re passionate about?

I would say that break thing, I really do come back to a lot just as someone that’s been in this space for a long time. It’s been like a decade now. When I first started out, man, I was going. Burnout is funny, because you’re just sitting there playing video games, stuff like that, but burnout is a real thing, man. A lot of creators just will hit this wall and I truly believe it’s because for one, I think people are afraid to take a break. There is a level, it’s like, “Okay, should you do one stream a week?” and hey man, if it’s working for you, maybe that’s what you do and that’s working for you, that’s great.

But I guess the point I’m making is, there was some times where I first started out that I was just gassed, and I probably should have not been on. Just taken the day. It’s okay to take breaks. I think that’s the fear that a lot of people have becoming a broadcaster, a YouTuber, whatever it might be. And at the end of the day, man, I especially now, and just have learned, I truly believe that a big reason I’m still able to do this 10 years in and not have that burnout is because of the breaks I take with my family, friends, taking four or five days off at a time here or there. I know it’s a thing where people are scared, but at the end of the day I think it’s a very important thing for mental health, lifestyle, all that, so.

Yeah, I was 14 or 15 when I started writing about games, because I knew when I became an adult I would want to immediately jump in and have a career going. And by the time I got to the point where I could start making real money, I was like, I’m exhausted. So there’s a trade off of that grind, but also making sure it’s sustainable.

Yeah, I think you can say that for anything, honestly. Really get your time into it is still important to wherever that is. No matter how much you love it there are times where I think it’s important to disconnect a little bit.

Obviously when you started Twitch was in its very, very, very early stages, pretty much just starting almost obviously justin.tv exists and stuff, but it’s changed a lot from people sitting in their bedrooms with crappy setups to Ludwig has extravagant game shows. You’re in fucking AT&T Stadium.

Absolutely evolved, man.

It’s pretty nuts. What do you think the next 10 years looks like? 

Dude, I don’t know. And it’s funny you say that because you’re right. 10 years ago I had to duct tape a camera to my wall. And now here I am AT&T Stadium. So I mean, 10 years from now, man, I mean, sky’s the limit. You brought up Lud, he loves doing that too. And that’s something he’s really passionate about. I see him do that, man, I could never do that. The amount of work that he probably puts into that, but it’s something he loves doing, you know what I mean? And seeing that branch off of streaming, I mean, you’re right, who knows where we’re at 10 years from now? Who knows, man, because I still think we’re still early.

Yeah, it is.

I still think this is early streaming, video game streaming, all that. We’re definitely, and I think a lot of people think that, to be honest. Just looking at it, it’s still in its infancy, if you will. And I definitely think that there’s some serious potential. All I know is in the next 10 years I’ll be very interested to see the direction that stuff starts just going.

Yeah. I remember how big of a deal it was when Ninja had Drake on, right? That was crazy.

Oh dude, right. For the very first time that was kind of breaking that wall that, oh, you got hip hop artists or music. And now, I mean, after that dude, it’s like, you see a bunch of streamers now like Adin and all those guys having all these incredible artists on it. It’s crazy, man. It’s crazy.

What do you want to see from Call of Duty going forward? Obviously the Microsoft acquisition’s coming in, a lot of changes being made. There’re rumors that they’re going to take a year off every other year and do alternating schedules. What do you want to see?

I think for me, that’s a big question. I love CoD ultimately, at the end of the day. I played it my whole life. When I was a kid, started streaming Black Ops 2, so it’s like CoD’s a big part of my career and just me growing up in general. All I know is, obviously the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve just enjoyed BRs. I think myself, I can say that, it’s just when I started playing Arma 3, and H1Z1, into PUBG and all that, it’s just what I enjoy doing. And so Warzone is obviously a big deal for me. The multiplayer, if I’m honest, I think it’s solid. I think it’s good. Would I have liked a ranked mode on release? Maybe. Just little things like that. But I will say the maps in this… there’s a couple maps I’m starting to get used to, but I obviously loved MW2 maps years and years ago. 

You know what I mean? But ultimately, man, my main focus is going to be Warzone 2. But there were some things that I think a lot of the community are talking about as far as feedback goes. Ultimately, I guess what I want from CoD, and they said that they were going to do this too, is just listen to the feedback that the creators and the people that play the game are giving them at the end of the day. So we’ll see how it goes.

Because there were certain things with the robots, which I’ve heard they changed, but I don’t know yet. It’s little things like that, but at the end of the day, I want to see Call of Duty be successful. And there’s stuff that obviously I think they can do as far as a rank system in Warzone, I think that gives you something to play for. I think that’d be great. Honestly, I’m really interested in DMZ, which they’re going to reveal as well. I think that has a potential as well to be a really cool thing that they could do. But once again, it’s all kind of just up in the air right now because it’s not out yet.

I’m obviously going to know more on November 16th when it’s actually out. But all I can do is hope that they’re listening to some of the feedback that they’ve already gotten and make some changes. And after they roll it out, also do that as well. So we’ll see how it goes.

Yeah, that’s a new era. Well, thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Before I go, tell me a bit about this big 5G AT&T partnership?

I mean, at the end of the day, man, without 5G I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing here. I wouldn’t be able to stream and play from the AT&T stadium, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, if this is something that I can do… this is a core memory for me, and 5G is what made that happen.

Yeah, it’s a pretty ballsy way to show their internet capability.

That’s what I mean. It’s pretty confident if you ask me. We had Doc going in today too, Doc’s stream, my stream, gameplay, and it’s crazy, man. 

Thank you again for your time!

Thank you, man. It’s very nice to meet you and I’ll talk to you, alright? Take it easy.