“My audiences can look forward to a face reveal very soon along with a song”: Deepak Sharma of Free Fire Stories

Garena’s Free Fire has steadily grown to be one of the most popular mobile video games not just in India but in the entire South Asian region as well.

Deepak Sharma of Free Fire Stories has been a very influential content creator around the game and has also been quite vocal about the growing community that Garena’s title was able to enjoy over the last year.

In an interview with Abhishek Mallick of Sportskeeda Esports, Deepak opens up about the early days of Free Fire stories, the hurdles he faced, and what is in store for fans of the channel in the coming months.

Here is an excerpt of the conversation.

Q. Deepak, can you talk to us a bit about yourself and who you are outside the persona of Free Fire Stories?

Deepak: Apart from gaming, I also love many outdoor sports which include Cricket, Football, Basketball, and others. During my free time, I prefer watching other Free Fire content creators to help broaden my horizon and keep my creative juices flowing.

Q. How did you get started with your channel? What inspired you to take up a career in content creation?

Deepak: When I started playing Free Fire, I began to admire a lot of content creators who inspired me to start my own YouTube channel. Initially, Free Fire Stories began as just another fun project. It was only when the channel started to grow substantially did I look to invest a considerable amount of time and energy into it.

Q. What are some of the creative processes that go behind each of your videos? How do you generally come up with content ideas?

Deepak: When it comes to ideating, I usually come up with my own storylines after brainstorming for hours with my brothers and friends. I also try to keep up with the latest trends by following other content creators.

Q. What are some of the hurdles that you faced early on in the channel? How did you adapt to overcome them?

Deepak: During the early phases of my channel, my content was highly stereotyped by many critics, but I was eventually able to overcome the negativity with the support of my friends and YouTube family.

My first YouTube income was a major landmark in my career, as it was only after then that my parents started to back me up with everything that I wanted to do.

Q. What’s the atmosphere like back at home? Are your parents supportive of your passion and career choice?

Deepak: During the initial stages of Free Fire Stories, it was only my brother who supported me with my channel. I had to promise my parents that I would prove my worth in the field which I was, fortunately, able to do and now I have the support of the entire family.

I am very happy that my parents are feeling proud of the fact that their son is a YouTuber.

Q. You have modeled your entire channel around Free Fire. Especially in a region which is more PUBG Mobile (now Battlegrounds Mobile India) crazy, why did you pick Garena’s title over all other handheld battle royales? What makes you love the game this much?

Deepak: When I started playing video games, Free Fire was the first game that I had gotten my hands on. One of the reasons why I chose Garena’s IP was because of the amount of inspiration that I received from so many Free Fire streamers and content creators and how the game creates a connected community and a sense of belonging.

I gradually fell in love with the game and eventually mastered it over time. This is why I now prefer Free Fire over any other game, but that’s not to say that other games are bad. Each title is amazing in its own way.

Q. With Battlegrounds Mobile India finally live, how do you feel will this impact the Free Fires esports scene in the region regarding both viewership and community participation?

Deepak: As I said earlier, I feel all games are incredible in their own way, and it completely depends on the preferences of both the content creator and the audience.

I believe my audience follows me because of my content strength and the type of videos I make. Therefore, I don’t think Battlegrounds Mobile India launching will have a significant impact on Free Fire’s viewership. However, a healthy competition between the two is always welcome.

Q. What are some of the changes you would like Garena to implement in Free Fire in the future?

Deepak: I would definitely want Garena to work on bugs and glitches that can be quite irritating to deal with at times. Free Fire also has a small hacking issue and it would be great if the publishers started working around that in future updates as well.

Overall, I love every other aspect of the game and look forward to some quality updates in future patches.

Q. What are some of your thoughts on the Free Fire esports scene and where it stands today when compared to some of the competitive scenes that other battle royale games were able to create so far?

Deepak: I really feel that Free Fire should have more tournaments that help the grassroots of its esports ecosystem. It’s true that there are a lot of bigger competitions around the game, however, they are incredibly hard to qualify for and hardly offer newer teams much competitive experience.

Free Fire is a relatively easier game than other competitive esports titles. It’s one of the reasons why even kids love playing this game. As the legal age for participating in esports competitions is 16, having a structure that supports younger talent will eventually help Free Fire’s scene grow substantially.

Q. What’s the future like for Free Fire Stories? What can fans of the channel expect from their favorite content creator in the coming months?

Deepak: There are a lot of surprises in store for fans of Free Fire Stories. Though I will not spoil the surprise by revealing everything right now, what I can divulge is that my audiences can look forward to a face reveal very soon along with a song that I will be launching.