Austin Ekeler talks Call of Duty: Next and the rise of streaming for athletes

We talked to Austin Ekeler about Call of Duty and why so many pro athletes are getting into streaming.

Los Angeles Chargers RB Austin Ekeler has always been a man of the people. His Twitch stream has over 30K followers and regularly streams video games such as Call of Duty. On Oct. 5, Ekeler participated in Call of Duty: Next, a special event that gave COD streamers such as Ekeler a chance to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and share some exclusive content with his followers and fans. Ekeler was one of hundreds of other popular streamers in the event, sharing their love for COD with each other and enlarging a community that was already massive.

Ekeler talked with SB Nation’s JP Acosta about Call of Duty: Next, his love for streaming and some of his favorite aspects of the COD community.

J.P. Acosta (JA): How long have you been playing Call of Duty?

Austin Ekeler (AE): That is the question that I can’t answer because that’s as long as I can remember. Back when like, I didn’t really have internet or anything like that. And I used to play multiplayer with like my little brother and we do the split screen and I would put a piece of cardboard you know, on the screen. So he couldn’t screen peek me. So yeah, back in those days, you know, pretty much ever since I’ve been keeping up keeping up with the series and then now getting into the War Zone era has kind of changed the game. Man it’s it’s been a whole journey, you know, with Zombies was really popular there for a while so it was I really heavy into Zombies back in college. You know, like Black Ops Two Origins, Zombies was like my favorite one where it’s got Easter eggs and stuff like that, but been playing for a long time.

JA: I have to ask who is the best Call of Duty player on the Chargers? And you can’t say yourself.

AE: Oh, okay. I mean, I was gonna say definitely me. Ok, who is the best at Call of Duty on the Chargers. Keenan Allen I don’t know if he even plays that much. I mean, I’m probably the best not gonna lie. But I would go Keenan, he’s into some other games as well. Some other shooters so I would probably say him.

JA: What are some of your other favorite video games to play outside of, you know, Call of Duty shooter games?

AE: Yeah, I like like different MMOs and stuff like that. I’m kind of all over the place with my games, but if it’s ever shooters it definitely is Call of Duty. Especially now with Warzone I feel like it’s been the go to and every year they have a new you know, re-up of something: new games, new guns or new maps. I used to stream Call of Duty as well on on my stream and back when they had the gulag for them. We would do eight vs eight in the gulag showers with just rocks and fists. I have a lot of good memories with other games, but Call of Duty is definitely the one I’ve gotten the most out of my stream with.

JA: How cool do you think it is now that NFL players and athletes in general can have these streams where they’re interacting with fans through video games and kind of be able to connect with fans outside of like, playing on Sundays?

AE: Yeah, it’s it’s a great tool to be able to use. Whether it’s gaming, whether it’s streaming, just interacting with fans in general, it gives you some type of benefits, whether it’s a new companion, you know, more loyal fan base. We say fans but like these are actual people that do real things in the real world. So those might be people that you connect with and now you have a relationship you can grow with in the business space and like, all these different, you know, opportunities. I actually hired my CTO for my app that I have right now. Because he was my moderator from my streams, and that’s how I met him. So it’s an amazing tool being in the gaming space and streaming space.

JA: So tell me a little bit about Call of Duty: Next, the new thing that you’re starting up?

AE: Yeah Call of Duty: Next is obviously the launch of Call of Duty’s newest version of the game, and that includes some new maps and new guns, you know, the regular stuff but there’s also a new Warzone map which don’t come out very often. So that’s a big relief, where I know a lot of the streamers there. There’s 250 of us in this huge room and it was amazing, honestly a sight to see. But getting the first sight on the Warzone map was huge because we’re talking about like, “Is it seamless? How is the movement?” You know, what are the best guns now because there’s whole new meadows of guns. When we’re content creators, it’s crucial for us to be able to get our hands on the content and start pushing it out not only for Call of Duty but for our fans as well that are relying on our info or insight or information and so yeah, it’s It’s good stuff.

JA: That’s awesome. I always love watching streams and I’m a big walkthrough guy. So I normally play a lot of single player story games. So I always try and look at the walkthrough. See, like, oh, how did they play this game? And I’m gonna go and see if I can do it any differently.

AE: Exactly, and so there’s a blueprint, you know, to Call of Duty. Where it’s like, it’s new maps, it’s new guns, tt’s the metas of the guns. But the things that changed like all the collectibles that you can get like the skins, the achievements, and then really where the real stuff that makes Call of Duty great is the community right? Because you can have this tool but if you don’t have good people and have fun doing it and other people have fun, then it doesn’t really mean a lot, especially in the gaming space. So it’s not an individual game, right? It’s a multiplayer game, and so the community being around you, your friends playing together on teams and going through those challenges and having fun, is what brings it all together.

JA: What is your favorite map in Call of Duty warzone? If you had to choose one to play in, which one are you going with?

AE: I’m a fan of the First Call of Duty Warzone map. If we’re going like multiplayer, my favorite map is Nuketown. Shoutout to Nuketown as the OG but yeah I’m a fan of the first OG Warzone map because it was flat. You know, now we have like, you know, zip lines that take us to the top where we can go around and now people are zooming all over the place and there’s all these like cliffs and stuff, and I’m not much of a fan of it. We’ll see what the new Warzone map looks like. I like the flatter maps because I feel like it slows the game down a little bit more. I’m excited to see what they come out with next.

JA: Last question for you: What is your strategy in a battle royale or multiplayer? What is the strategy for Austin Ekeler when he drops in?

AE: Oh, yeah, we’re going guns blazing like we’re gonna strike we are about that action. Where’s the action? How can we get into it? How can we go about some stuff up? If you go down? I’ll revive you. If I go down? Revive me. If we get wiped, guess what? We’re in the next game right away. I waste no time trying to find the action, I don’t like to slow play it—like I’m not playing Warzone to be in a loot simulator and just pick up stuff off the ground for 15 minutes and then go right into this tiny circle and then get eliminated. I’m like no, let’s go grab something. I don’t care if you got a pistol or if it’s a rock. We’re going to find the next person. We’ll get them out.

JA: I’m definitely more of a, okay, I’m going to drop in right on the edge. I want to try and pick something up. I want to try to pick something up real quick but now I know what I’m doing. Now we can start moving.

AE: Yeah you play the slower games. I want to drop in the most populated place and duke it out with everyone.