Ludwig talks gaming in your 30s, his streamer dream team, and Season 4 of State Farm Gamerhood

There are a handful, at most, of Twitch streamers as well-known as Ludwig Ahgren, and nothing reflects this better than his numerous achievements in the livestreaming space. He’s the fourth most subscribed Twitch streamer in history (originally claiming the top spot from Ninja back in 2021), he was crowned "Streamer of the Year" at The Streamer Awards in 2022, and, by my estimation, he’s raised somewhere over 1.5 million dollars for various charities since he began streaming full-time in 2019.

So, how’d he do it? What drove Ludwig to widespread success, while so many other streamers flounder in obscurity? If you want my two cents, I think the answer is simple: he’s a workhorse. Pointing a camera at yourself and being funny a few times a week may be derided as easy work by some, but Ludwig’s career spans multiple occupations. Video game publisher, eSports commentator, Mario Party 4 button-mashing world-record holder, and, of course, bidet entrepreneur– the man has truly done it all.

Yet, these achievements were only possible due to the true secret behind Ludwig’s fame: collaboration. Even if you’ve never watched his streams, even if you’re not subscribed to his YouTube channel, you’ve seen Ludwig. If he’s not shaving his head and cosplaying as a bald man on Northernlion’s own channel, he’s vlogging his journey through Japan beside Michael Reeves, or forcing CDawgVA to rank every variant of fast food in America.

And nothing encapsulates this focus on collaboration better than his appearances on State Farm Gamerhood, the gaming reality show that sees teams of internet personalities compete against each other in a bid to win money for charity.

State Farm Gamerhood returns to our screens for its fourth season on August 1st this year, and Ludwig is returning along with it, alongside the likes of Kai Cenat, Mark Phillips, Berleezy, Cinna, and Sydeon. Season 3 saw State Farm Gamerhood garner a record-breaking 23 million episode views, but what does Ludwig think is the reason behind the show’s increasing popularity?

“I think if you zoom out the idea of it, you might not think it’s a show that people would watch– but when you actually start watching the show, you realise how much effort State Farm puts in to making sure that the people who participate have a good time, that they have a good roster that connects well, authentically,” Ludwig explained.

“And then also, and I think most importantly, they let us be ourselves. You know, I think the reason it's getting that many views, and I think the reason we'll get more this season too, is because we got a good group of people. State Farm loves to throw some curveballs at us, and I think every time we do it, there's a little more comfort. It’s my 3rd season getting to do it. So, I think I'm able to be at my best because I know a little bit of how to be myself to the highest degree, even though it's on set and on a location and all that.”

Each year, State Farm Gamerhood manages to amass some of the biggest names in streaming, including the likes of ImDontai, Ninja, and NickEh30. So what goes into picking the roster each season, and are the video games featured meant to appeal to certain participants' specific strengths?

“I can't say I know, cause I'm not obviously like the one who gets to pick, but… I don't know if they pick maybe the participants first and then make sure the games align, or if they have games and then pick people who align with the games, but there's like a level of competitiveness and skill that basically every participant has, which makes it more fun.”

“When people have a baseline understanding of how to play Fortnite, you’re going to have a better time in that competition. It's going to be more competitive– more hype. I'm sure that's a factor that goes into it.”

During my research, I spotted some chatter online about Season 4’s promotional material. Unlike State Farm Gamerhood’s promos for previous seasons, the kits that participants are wearing seem to be intentionally vague, with contestants merely sporting black and white clothing. Many have theorised that this means the teams are being obfuscated on purpose, so I asked Ludwig if he could give us a clearer answer.

“Yeah, I wish I could, but damn… State Farm threw a curveball at us, ‘cause we go in and it's captains, it's me, Mark [Phillips], and Berlin [Berleezy], and we have a certain expectation, and day one that was thrown out the window. You know, I almost think it's better for you to see us melting in real time, on that first episode, when you see what they do.”

Understandably, he couldn’t spoil what appears to be the layup for a twist of sorts. However, we can speak in hypotheticals, so if Ludwig could choose from any of the potential contestants, who would be his number one pick?

Well, they’re not a streamer, but you may be familiar with their work if you’ve played NBA 2K22.

“Jake from State Farm. Yeah, that's a pretty easy one, to be honest. Jack of all trades, master of all, too… I think his speciality is probably basketball. He's pretty nasty at video games, I think he's a bot at most of them, but the spirit he brings outweighs maybe his lack of skill.”

Alright, that one is on me, so let’s get more specific: What if Ludwig could draft his streamer dream team from outside of Season 4’s roster?

“Any streamer in the world? Mm… I would go Northernlion for the brains, Felix Baumgartner for the bravery, and then… that's tough. Live stream celebrity, hmm… I mean, I don't know if he counts, but… Jake from State Farm. I don't know if it counts, but he’d be one for the physical challenges, yeah, for sure. It's really his team spirit– It's unbeatable.”

The fanboy in me took hold, so I couldn’t resist asking: Given all of their recent collabs together, does this mean Northernlion, Ludwig’s idol, won’t be showing up in Season 4?

“I think I'm fair to say that Northernlion will not be making an appearance– he’s too busy racing horses for that.”

Speaking of Umamusume: Pretty Derby, what other fiercely competitive and high-octane free-to-play games might show up in State Farm Gamerhood’s fourth season? We already know Marvel Rivals and Fortnite will be seeing some play, but can Ludwig reveal any other titles?

“I'll give away something right now; I'm bad at all of them, OK? I don't know what level of ego I came into this contest with, but I lost it. I was humbled quite quickly. I'm realising the catalogue of games that I would need them to have for me to be good would be like… chess, backgammon, rock, paper, scissors… But I don't think I'm the most skilled at the games they brought, which is why, as a captain, I had to bring out my other strengths.”

No chance of Umamusume: Pretty Derby popping up in one of the rounds, then?

“You know, I throw out the ask every year– I throw it out, but it goes in one ear and out the other. But we’ll see, maybe next year.”

With the confirmation that the horse girl racing simulator won’t be featured, it seems that Ludwig is going to need another game he’s good at to fall back on. So, considering the games we know so far, is there one he thinks he’s best at?

“Lewis, I’m butt at them all. I don't know how to convince you otherwise. I'm genuinely, truly, authentically butt. I wish it was not the case. I don't know if it's a case of the 30s, or a case of the ego, but yeah… it's certainly a game of “How do I do as well as possible, knowing I am a handicap to my team?” That's the mentality I go into it with, but sometimes that can also work to your advantage.”

"That's the cool thing about the Gamerhood: there's like a game within the game”, Ludwig continued. “You can't just be good at Fortnite or Marvel Rivals and win, you know, ‘cause there's always like curveballs. Last year, there were the Buffs and the Hacks [rounds], so it's stuff like that that makes it more complex than just being good at Fortnite.”

One of Ludwig’s excuses for his poor performance resonated with me a little too hard, because I, too, am old.

The more youthful among you will doubtlessly be unable to relate, but playing video games in your senior years comes with some issues. Reduced reaction time, hearing loss, fading vision, and a disgust for Roblox– all things that can affect your competitive gaming performance. Considering Ludwig and I are the same age, I had to ask: Has reaching 30 affected his ability to compete?

“Yeah... I think I have the ability, still. But what happens is you have less free time. Your, I think, experience playing games is more about enjoyment than improvement, and the bravery to be really bad at something disappears a bit. I think part of the reason why children are so good at learning is cause there's no shame if they're bad at a language or bad at a game; they're just excited to learn it. But when you're an adult and you're, you know, paper one at Fortnite... It gets a little harder, especially if you're on stream too, to show that vulnerability.”

“I mean, that's one of the amazing things about being a captain, is that I get to work with some people who can't make up for my shortcomings. So, it's about a well-rounded team, and there's not just the video game challengers; there's the physical challenges you have to consider. That's a whole different realm, you know, someone who's amazing at Marvel Rivals might not necessarily be good at Trivia Drop, and so that's, that's kind of like something that they have to consider, and they're both weighed equally.”

I knew I’d get him eventually, so I circled back to my previous question. I know I slip of the tongue when I see it.

Ludwig may have managed to evade spilling any of the video games in Gamerhood’s fourth season, but I rephrased my question just enough to catch him out: What specific challenges in the latest season does Ludwig think he’ll be best at?

“Oh, I already said it, and I'll leak it– It's Trivia Drop. That's my favourite game of all time. If I could play that every summer, I would. I think it's just a great concept. It's timeless. Trivia rules– then you add like that physical sort of twist to it… it just makes it a lot of fun.”

State Farm Gamerhood has already revealed the line up of charities that Season 4 is set to support, including the likes of Extra Life, Feeding America, Gamers Outreach, Habitat for Humanity, and the American Red Cross, but I was curious if there was a specific one closest to Ludwig’s heart.

“Habitat for Humanity,” Ludwig revealed.

“I mean, I think especially after the Texas floods. We actually just recently did, with my girlfriend [QTCinderella], a charity stream for a lot of pet animal relief, specifically in the Austin, Texas area. I think that's something that can always use funding, much like all the other great charities. I find that's one I always go back to.”

Ludwig had been a good sport during our interview, so I decided he deserved a nice, easy question to round things off: Are there any specific surprises or potential guest appearances he can just straight up leak to us about Gamerhood’s fourth season?

“Yeah, I mean, to be honest, the answer is all of the above. I think there are curveballs that we didn't expect on set… I think our reaction to finding out the curveball State Farm had for us is as good as the curveballs themselves. So, you know, just make sure if you watch episode one, you at the very least tune into episode two, cause that's when things get a bit crazy.”