"I play League off-stream, as well as Valorant and Nintendo games with my friends" - Emiru talks about OTK co-ownership, LoL, and downtime (Exclusive)
It was certainly a major week for Emily “Emiru” from OTK, a major American media organization based in Austin, Texas. During the organization’s latest shareholder meeting, it was revealed that One True King has a brand new co-owner in the variety streamer. She’s known for creating quality content and joined OTK back on January 2, 2022. Now, just a year later, she’s a co-owner of one of the most popular content creation organizations around.
I recently sat down with Emiru to speak about her career, how it felt to be the inspiration for a League of Legends character, OTK, and much more. In general, it seems like it’s going to be an exceptional year for Emiru as the new co-owner of One True King.
Emiru introduces herself to Sportskeeda and discusses becoming OTK co-owner
Q. Emiru, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us! For those who might not be familiar with your work, could you introduce yourself, please?
Emiru: I’m Emiru, I’m 25 years old, and I’ve been streaming gaming, cosplay, and variety content on Twitch for almost eight years now. I joined OTK last year as a streamer and I'm now a co-owner of the org!
Q. It's been a pretty eventful week for you and OTK at large. Perhaps the biggest announcement has to be that you were made co-owner of OTK. How did it feel to see that announcement go live?
Emiru: Everyone at OTK worked super hard all month for all of the announcements to finally go live on our shareholder's stream, so I was super excited to see reactions to the video that we made for my ownership announcement.
It’s meant to be an alternate timeline of the video that we made for my announcement of joining OTK a year ago, and I hope people noticed that. The most fun part of our announcements is always planning, filming, and editing the skits that we do to go along with it.
Q. How long was this in the works? Were you in on the conversation or was it a pleasant surprise?
Emiru: The invitation of joining the owner’s team was first extended after the success of my first League of Legends tournament, OTK Rift. The discussion and officiating took a while, but I’m glad things went the way they did.
Q. What do you think the future of OTK is? In the next few years, what kind of growth, in terms of content creation do you see happening?
Emiru: My wish for the org is that we keep producing content that a lot of people enjoy watching and that all members find their own individual success and happiness. OTK is also made up of a lot of talented artists, producers, social media people, editors, etc. and I wish for their prosperity as well.
Our upcoming slate of content that we just announced for 2023 is really exciting. I look forward to hosting the Cosplay Clash and getting back into podcasting with Steak and Eggs. I hope that we also continue to find talented creators that are amazing to work with and want to produce good content to bring onto the team.
Q. You've been streaming for several years now and you're perhaps best known for your incredible cosplays and League of Legends streams. What would you say was the big key to your success and growth?
Emiru: I owe a lot of my success and personal growth to the incredible people I’ve met along the way in the League of Legends community, cosplay community, and the OTK circle of streamers. I wouldn’t be the person or streamer that I am today without them. TipsOut, Melissa at Ader, Bonbibonkers, Hai Lam, Mizkif, and many others who I’m grateful for meeting and being part of my journey.
Secondary to that is not being afraid to show the parts of myself that are weird or awkward. A lot of people are blessed with exposure, but don’t see lasting success, and I think the main reason for that is being afraid to be themselves and instead, they become what they think people want to see.
Q. As one of the most popular MOBAs, League of Legends can always improve. Is there anything in particular you think could improve the overall player experience?
Emiru: Bring back the ADC meta. I don’t give a fuck.
Q. What about your downtime? What do you play or work on when you aren't on the air?
Emiru: I go to a lot of meetings and spend a lot of time trying to think of collabs or things to do on stream. I still play League off-stream as well as Valorant and Nintendo games with my friends. I read books and pet my animals. I also stare at the ceiling a lot.
Q. You were also, at least partially, the inspiration for Gwen in League of Legends. What is it like as a long-term League player to have a character modeled after your makeup style?
Emiru: Awesome, but I bring it up so much that my community makes fun of me for it. I can’t help it, I’m going to brag about it forever. Having a tiny piece of me, even if it’s just some splash art, in the game that changed my life means a lot.
Q. There are so many people that want to see the growth and success you've had on Twitch. Do you have any advice for smaller content creators that are struggling?
Emiru: The grind is never-ending. If you don’t accept that the most important thing is having fun and making content that you'd want to watch yourself, you'll never feel happy, no matter how much you grow.
Also, nothing is more powerful than finding people you can relate to, who you want to see succeed, and want the same for you. I’m a big believer in being a team player and lifting each other up.
Q. On that topic, what does OTK look for in content creators? Do you guys look for up-and-coming streamers that have what it takes?
Emiru: Yes. Always. OTK is all about content creators who want to grow and improve so that we can provide exposure, resources, and support. We’re also like a family, so it’s big that it’s someone who's fun to be around and easy to get along with. There are a lot of streamers we would love to bring onto the team, and we hope everyone stays tuned for more announcements in the future.
You can find Emiru streaming regularly on Twitch, as well as posting on Instagram and Twitter. Alongside her normal content creation, she will also work on the Steak and Eggs podcast alongside Asmongold and Tectone. This will begin on February 17, 2023 and will air every Friday.
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