ROSLINDA Embran is no ordinary homemaker. Recently, she was the talk of the town for earning RM18,000 by playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), an online multiplayer battle royale game.

Known as Lynda Embran on social media, she livestreams her matches on her page, MissRose Gaming, which has some 133,000 followers.

Roslinda told The Malaysian Insight that her husband, Farid Zakaria, was the one who introduced and influenced her to play the mobile game.

As an amateur player, PUBG was supposed to be a time-killer for her. But, it became a source of income after her brother-in-law said she should stream her matches on Facebook.

“When I first saw the game, I felt it was weird to play it as my husband was just shooting, but he told me to give it a try.

“One day, when he was at work, I installed and played the game. I managed to get 10 ‘kills’ in my first attempt. I felt that the game was good and I got addicted.

“Then, my brother-in-law, who is also a streamer, said I should stream instead of just playing (for fun). On March 22, 2019, I created a Facebook page and started streaming my matches.”

Roslinda said she used to play for nine hours a day to achieve her target, but after partnering with Facebook, she streams only three hours daily.

As a mother of six, with her eldest child aged 15 and the youngest just 2, she said it was hard to manage her time initially.

“When I first started streaming, I struggled because I had to go live three times a day. Each session is about three hours, so in total, it took about nine hours a day to achieve my target.

“Usually, I would have these sessions after I’m done getting my kids ready for school, after they’re back from school, and the last session would be around 10pm, ending at 1am. That was my schedule when I began.

“Now that I’ve partnered with Facebook, I stream for only three hours a day.”

She said the hours invested have not gone to waste as they helped increase the number of viewers and supporters of her page, which is what provides her with income.

She added that fans share her page on other PUBG pages on Facebook, helping expand her online presence.

Now, her live videos get about 500 views, with post-live views of between 15,000 and 100,000.

“Previously, I had very few viewers. In three hours, I would get only 40 viewers. That was the reason I had to stream three times a day. But now, I usually get 200 to 500 viewers (during livestreams).

“The payments we get are based on our viewers. When I stream, viewers would give ‘stars’, which are a form of salary. The same goes for supporters, those who subscribe to my page for RM12.90 a month.

“By partnering (with Facebook), we get a fixed income, but the overall income varies depending on the supporters and viewers,” said the Sabah-born Roslinda, adding that it took her nearly seven months from when she started streaming to get her first pay cheque.

Besides being a streamer, she has also formed teams to take part in offline tournaments as the prize money in e-sports is getting more attractive. But, she rules herself out from participating, saying she is an amateur still.

She said her two teams, MissRose e-Sport Ladies and the all-male MissRose e-Sport, have reached significant heights within just three months of their formation, with each winning one offline tournament and entering a few finals.

“E-sports, or electronic sports, have grown. If we go for a tournament, the prize money is very lucrative. A lot of e-sport gamers are making good money.

“I’ve formed my own teams with some professional players and sent them for offline tournaments. There are a lot of professional players out there, but they lack guidance. That was why I decided to form my own teams and help them.”

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is a strong advocate of e-sports, and has said he aims to tap into the billion-dollar industry and encourage its growth in Malaysia.

He has vowed to transform the country into an e-sports powerhouse.

When tabling Budget 2020 last year, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the federal government would allocate RM20 million for e-sports this year.

Roslinda’s success has courted criticism, however. Some social media users have rapped her for purportedly failing to fulfil her duties as a wife and mother.

She said she does not get offended by such comments, as her family support what she does.

She also encourages other housewives to take up e-sports because not much investment is required.

There are other games besides PUBG they can try out, she added.

“Housewives who want to become streamers but don’t have the budget just need to own a mobile phone and stream using that. Install (online broadcasting app) omlet arcade and livestream the game. That was the basic step I followed. You don’t need a computer or webcam to start out.

“If one doesn’t know how to play PUBG, they can play Worm Zone, Mobile Legend, anything. There are plenty of platforms they can stream on, like Facebook, Twitch, YouTube and more.”

Although the income from e-sports is not consistent at the moment, she said, she believes the booming industry will become a serious career option soon. – January 26, 2020.