Athene (gamer)

Last updated
Bachir Boumaaza
Born (1980-06-09) 9 June 1980 (age 44)
Borgerhout, Antwerp, Belgium
Other namesChiren, Athene
Occupations
Years active2007–present
Twitch information
Channel
Followers253K
Last updated: May 2024
Website gamingforgood.net singularitygroup.net

Bachir Boumaaza (born 9 June 1980), known by the online pseudonym Athene, is a Belgian internet personality and Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is best known as a World of Warcraft content creator. He is the founder of Gaming for Good and has been involved in numerous charity gaming events to raise money for charities such as Save the Children.

Contents

Early life

Born in Borgerhout, Antwerp, Belgium, Boumaaza was born to a Moroccan father and a Belgian mother. [1] His mother, Nicole Ceulemans, is a writer of children's books. Both his parents worked in the Justice Department. Boumaaza claimed, in his book Mijn egotrip, that his childhood was chaotic due to the cultural differences between his mother and father. Being confronted with social issues, including racism and poverty, he says he was instilled with a sense of responsibility to change these conditions. [2] Boumaaza was introduced to video games at a young age. [3]

Political career and activism

Boumaaza entered politics in 2000, and joined the progressive party, Young Green. [4] The party was the youth organization of Groen, formerly known as Agalev. He was, at the age of 20, chosen as a political candidate for Agalev and participated in the Belgian local elections, 2000. [5]

In 2005, Boumaaza co-founded the Belgian political organization, NEE. Boumaaza operated as the official spokesperson and led the organization. NEE was a political movement aimed at voters who felt dissatisfied with the political climate. [6] As voting is mandatory in Belgium, NEE provided people with the ability to cast blank votes in dissatisfaction. NEE would therefore not occupy their seat in case of election. [7] NEE participated in both the Belgian local elections, 2006 and in the Belgian federal election, 2007 but did not receive enough votes to earn a seat in the city council or senate.

Boumaaza spear-headed protests against net neutrality in 2014 during events such as DreamHack. [8] [9]

YouTube career

Boumaaza began making YouTube videos in 2007. He initially focused on World of Warcraft videos. In his earliest video, he played a character called Athene, an arrogant, conceited gamer. Boumaaza has also supplemented his online video presence by broadcasting himself live on Twitch.[ citation needed ]

The original Athene series was created in 2007. Boumaaza played the role of a conceited World of Warcraft player named Athene. His YouTube video "Best Paladin of The World pwning nubs on My Heart Will Go On from Celine Dion" marked the beginning of the series. The original series revolved around the strange and fictional character, Athene, and included in-game commentary of World of Warcraft as well as a personal storyline that followed Athene's everyday life.[ citation needed ]

During his time playing World of Warcraft, Boumaaza attained four world records for reaching the game's level cap, and was the first person to reach levels 80 and 85. [10] [11] By 2013, Boumaaza's YouTube videos had been watched more than 382 million times, and his channel had reached nearly 600,000 subscribers. [12]

The series also featured a mockumentary named Wrath of the 1337 King which followed Athene's everyday life. [13] In 2008, Athene created videos with a group called iPower, primarily focused on his World of Warcraft character. The videos made frequent use of misleading titles such as "Sex and Porn is fun" and "Get free sex". Boumaaza's then girlfriend Tania appears in many of the videos and their corresponding thumbnails. Spokesman Reese Leysen said "The way to get lots of views on YouTube is to have a mix of sexiness and total absurdity." The channel's first 20 videos were viewed more than 20 million times. [6]

Boumaaza had been making some videos as part of a contract with Machinima. In 2013, Boumaaza posted a video to YouTube announcing that he would be leaving Machinima in response to its treatment of YouTube creators. [12]

Charity work

As part of the Sharecraft 2012 Save the Children Challenge, Boumaaza partnered with Razer and DC Entertainment to raise more than US$50.000 for charity organization Save the Children. [14] [15] In 2013, Boumaaza created the charitable project "Gaming for Good" to raise money for Save the Children. [16] The project partnered with video game publishers and developers to offer games in exchange for donations to the charity. [17] [18] Through streams on his Twitch account, Boumaaza raised more than US$100.000. [19] By March 2015 the project had raised more than US$150.000 in total, and Boumaaza was an official ambassador for Save the Children. [16]

In September 2013, Gaming for Good coordinated a fundraising event called "The Siege". The Siege was a World of Warcraft event where two top guilds, Midwinter and Method raced to complete a raid. The campaign raised over U$2 million over the weekend, quadrupling the initial goal of $500,000. [20] Boumaaza travelled to Liberia to film a documentary on the Ebola crisis. [21] In 2015, Boumaaza assembled a team of livestreamers called The Avengers - a reference to the Marvel superhero team The Avengers - who, over the course of 10 days, raised more than 320,000 euros. [22]

The Singularity Group

Boumaaza is currently the face of an organization called The Singularity Group. In 2019, video game journalist Chris Bratt of People Make Games published the result of a year-long investigation into Boumaaza and the organization, alleging that Boumaaza is responsible for emotional abuse, misogyny and manipulation of members of the organisation, quoting interviews with ex-members, and showing clips of Boumaaza himself making various statements. Boumaaza denied certain allegations, and called the report a "hit piece" despite the rigorous evidence provided. [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

Athene or Athena is the shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour in Greek mythology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machinima</span> Film production in graphics engines

Machinima is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words machine and cinema. According to Guinness World Records, machinima is the art of making animated narrative films from computer graphics, most commonly using the same engines used by video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeroy Jenkins</span> World of Warcraft character

Leeroy Jenkins is a player character created by Ben Schulz in Blizzard Entertainment's multiplayer online video game World of Warcraft.

Yogscast Limited, also known as The Yogscast, is a British entertainment company based in Bristol that primarily produces video gaming-related videos on YouTube and Twitch, and also operates the Yogscast multi-channel network for affiliated content creators. Initially a group of online content creators, the Yogscast began activity in 2008 and formally incorporated as a company in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CaptainSparklez</span> American YouTuber (born 1992)

Jordan Maron, known online as CaptainSparklez, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer mainly known for his Minecraft videos. As of January 2024, his main YouTube channel has over 11.4 million subscribers.

A multi-channel network (MCN) is an organization that works with video platforms to offer assistance to channel owners in areas such as "product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetization and sales, and audience development," in exchange for a percentage of the ad revenue from the channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syndicate (Internet personality)</span> English YouTuber and Twitch streamer (born 1993)

Thomas George Cassell, known online as Syndicate, is an English YouTuber and Twitch streamer. Regarded as one of the earlier known gaming personalities, his videography consists of Let's Play videos on Call of Duty and Minecraft. Born in Manchester, Cassell had passion for a career in the gaming industry, which he started by purchasing gaming equipment using his money from McDonald's. On 3 September 2010, Cassell registered his gaming channel "TheSyndicateProject", where he found success and an online community. His prominence online was recognized by Call of Duty publisher Activision and multi-channel network (MCN) Machinima, where he signed to the network to monetize his content. Cassell's channel achieved substantial growth, passing one million subscribers in June 2012 and one billion views in late 2013. He further expanded his career into livestreaming on Twitch, hosting the same commentary over his gameplays. His Twitch channel became the first to reach one million followers in August 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reckful</span> American professional esports player (1989–2020)

Byron Daniel Bernstein, better known as Reckful, was an American-Israeli Twitch streamer and professional esports player. He was best known in the gaming community for his achievements in World of Warcraft and Asheron's Call.

Adam Montoya, better known as SeaNanners, is an American YouTuber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curse LLC</span> Network of gaming websites

Curse was a gaming company that managed the video game mod host CurseForge, wiki host Gamepedia, and the Curse Network of gaming community websites.

jacksepticeye Irish YouTuber (born 1990)

Seán William McLoughlin, better known publicly as jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber whose videos focus on gaming, comedy and vlogging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kripparrian</span> Romanian-Canadian Twitch streamer

Octavian Morosan better known by his online username Kripparrian, is a Romanian-Canadian Twitch streamer, YouTuber and video game personality. He is known for his achievements on Diablo III, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone, as well as winning the "Favorite Hearthstone Stream" and Most "Engaged" Viewers categories, and coming second in the "Highest Stream View Average" category at the Blizzard Stream Awards in 2014. In June 2017 he achieved over one million followers on Twitch and as of October 2024, he has over 1.5 million followers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TimTheTatman</span> American streamer (born 1990)

Timothy John Betar, better known as TimTheTatman, is an American live streamer and YouTube personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Wyatt</span> American gaming executive (born 1986)

Ryan Wyatt is an American gaming executive. He is the former global head of gaming partnerships at Google and head of gaming at YouTube, where he also led their virtual and augmented reality business. Wyatt now serves as the CEO of Polygon Studios.

The Z Event is a francophone charity project created by Adrien Nougaret and Alexandre Dachary whose goal is to bring together French streamers to collect donations that will support a charity. It is hosted on the Twitch streaming platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Ahgren</span> American YouTuber and streamer (born 1995)

Ludwig Anders Ahgren, known mononymously as Ludwig, is an American live streamer, YouTuber, podcaster, comedian, esports commentator, and competitor. Ahgren is best known for his live streams on Twitch from 2018 through late 2021, and on YouTube beginning in late 2021, where he broadcasts video-game-related content as well as non-video-game-related content such as game shows and contests. He is also known for his work as an esports commentator at various Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. He is the co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports. He began streaming full-time on February 16, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asmongold</span> American Twitch streamer and YouTuber

Asmongold, also known as ZackRawrr, is an American YouTuber, content creator, and Twitch streamer. His content primarily focuses on World of Warcraft, but he has covered other video games and topics related to gaming culture. He is a co-founder and co-owner of the streaming, gaming, and content creation organization One True King (OTK), based in Austin, Texas. He is also a co-owner of Starforge Systems, a computer company specialized in selling prebuilt gaming PCs. In October 2024, following industry backlash to controversial comments regarding Palestinians, he stepped down from OTK and Starforge Systems.

Kayla Marie Sims, also known by her YouTube handle lilsimsie, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer. Sims is best known for playing The Sims 4, her collaborations with EA on projects such as The Sims 4: Snowy Escape and The Sims 4: Growing Together, and her charity work for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One True King</span> Content organization based in Austin, Texas

One True King (OTK), legally OTK Media, Inc., is an American media organization based in Austin, Texas. The organization primarily focuses on online content creation and has previously competed professionally in World of Warcraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esfand (streamer)</span> American Twitch streamer and YouTuber

Tim Esfandiari, known online as Esfand or EsfandTV, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is a founding member and co-owner of the gaming organization One True King.

References

  1. ↑ Tilkin, Kristoff (22 September 2015). "De man van 20 miljoen: Bachir 'Athene' Boumaaza, gamer en activist". HUMO.
  2. ↑ Lasonrisa. "Mijn Egotrip". LaSonrisa's boekentips. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "My Life As a Gamer". YouTube. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Boumaaza, Bachir. "Draw My Life #4". YouTube. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  5. ↑ Gollin, Rob. "Fatima houdt wel van Borgerhout". de Volkskrant. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 Sarno, David (7 May 2008). "Here's how to game the system". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "NEE FAQ". NEE-Antwerpen. 2007-12-25. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Staff (18 June 2014). "DreamHack Protests Against Net Neutrality". Gamer Headlines. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Sarno, David (7 May 2008). "Here's how to game the system". LA Times.
  10. ↑ Hamilton, Kirk (24 July 2012). "Athene, The 'Best Gamer In The World,' Is Taking Your Questions Right Now". Kotaku. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  11. ↑ Kollar, Phil (7 December 2010). "And The World's First Level 85 Character In World Of Warcraft Is..." Game Informer. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  12. 1 2 Stuart, Tessa (9 January 2013). "Rage Against the Machinima: YouTube's Stars Battle Networks". SF Weekly. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  13. ↑ Talamasca, Akela (6 January 2008). "Wrath of the 1337 King: seriously, wtf?". Engadget. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  14. ↑ Mitchell, Richard (2 July 2012). "Razer, DC Entertainment and Athene raise over $50.000 for African hunger relief". Engadget. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  15. ↑ Devore, Jordan (2 July 2012). "ShareCraft 2012 brings in over $50.000 for Save the Children". Destructoid. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  16. 1 2 ""World's Best Gamer" takes on a new mission: charity". CNN. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  17. ↑ Gera, Emily (25 July 2013). "Gaming for Good charity offering download keys for donations". Polygon. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  18. ↑ Cowan, Danny (28 December 2013). "Gaming for Good raises over $100.000 for Save the Children". Engadget. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  19. ↑ Pitcher, Jenna (27 December 2013). "AtheneLive raises more than $100.000 for Save the Children charity". Polygon. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  20. ↑ "Gaming For Good's Siege raises over $2M for Save The Children". Engadget.com. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "'World's Greatest Gamer' Takes Up The Ebola Fight". Bloomberg. 5 March 2015. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015.
  22. ↑ Wuilbercq, Emeline (14 March 2016). "Les " gamers ", ces nouveaux philanthropes". Le Monde. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  23. ↑ Grayson, Nathan (7 October 2019). "Investigative Report Digs Into The Strange Story Of A YouTuber Who Founded A Religion". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  24. ↑ Bratt, Chris (7 October 2019). Investigating Athene, the Youtuber Who Started a Religion. People Make Games. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.