League of Legends’ popularity has steadily decreased in recent years. Numerous streamers who gained fame through 101 have transitioned to other games or quit streaming entirely. Even Doinb, a world champion mid-laner, has moved on to DOTA, highlighting how LOL’s presence in the streaming world has plummeted. The majority who remain active mostly do so connected to esports, with higher popularity only when casting matches.

However, after Riot introduced the Hextech Mayhem mode this year, LOL’s popularity saw a significant rebound. In the February internet café game heat rankings, League of Legends still ranked first, with its heat value exceeding the hugely popular Delta by over 20 million. This clearly shows that Hextech Mayhem strongly attracts players, but this popularity is limited to the game itself; in the streaming domain, LOL remains largely unchanged.

Currently, LOL players mainly enjoy playing the Mayhem mode themselves but show little interest in watching streams. This likely explains why the game is popular but streaming viewership is weak. Moreover, many former LOL top streamers have gradually left the streaming scene, which has also impacted LOL. Veterans like Lu Laoye, Park, and Da Sima haven’t streamed in years, causing a significant loss of longtime viewers.

After taking a break for several years, Da Sima recently returned to streaming. As a former top streamer, many longtime fans showed up on his comeback day. Everyone was hoping he would play a few rounds of Mayhem, PUBG, or Delta, but instead, he started with a sponsored stream playing “Goose Goose Duck,” the game known for the “Eggplant Crying Ma” meme. While entertaining, the viewing experience was mediocre.

Compared to PUBG or LOL streams, Goose Goose Duck didn’t deliver well. During his debut, Da Sima also had computer issues causing a crash, and over 100,000 viewers faced a black screen. After years away, Da Sima’s appearance has changed noticeably—he has clearly gained weight during his break, with his most striking feature being his swollen cheeks, which look quite exaggerated now.

Longtime viewers know that after quitting smoking, Da Sima started chewing betel nuts. PDD mentioned multiple times during his streams that Da Sima loves chewing betel nuts and does so frequently. He hasn’t quit during his hiatus, which explains the swelling in his face. Now his mouth is even somewhat difficult to open. Betel nuts really shouldn’t be consumed excessively, but it seems Da Sima can’t give them up.

To cater to his old LOL fans, Da Sima even wore his “sickly cotton jacket.” Although his face looks different and his mouth isn’t as firm as before, wearing that jacket still brings back some of his old vibe. His comeback stream was both a success and a failure: before playing Goose Goose Duck, he had nearly 300,000 viewers, but after starting, the number dropped sharply to just over 100,000. Clearly, many viewers were not interested, though he still received plenty of gifts.

In future streams, Da Sima is likely to switch games. Street Fighter, PUBG, and LOL are his classic choices that always bring entertainment. Even streaming Delta might attract a good audience. However, at his age, aggressive playstyles are probably out of the question. He might play more stealthily, sneaking around and ambushing others, which actually suits older players well. Combined with his distinctive laugh, it could be quite entertaining.

Conclusion:

The platform Da Sima returned to isn’t really ideal for game streamers. Top streamers of various games like Buqiu Ren, Xuxu Baby, and Zhang Daxian have all lost some popularity after switching platforms. Yet Da Sima naturally has good entertainment value, so if he can bring fresh content like before, his popularity shouldn’t be low.

So, what game do you think Da Sima should stream for the best effect?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!