Nicky Romero is one of the world’s leading producer/DJs. The progressive house legend has done it all from playing every major festival in the world to charting on the DJ Mag Top 100. Despite having major success in the dance music world, Nicky wants to expand his brand into the gaming scene.
After the COVID-19 pandemic began, every entertainment industry took a turn for the worst except for one: the gaming industry. Music master, Nicky Romero, is now testing his skills in the scene. He’s been at multiple gaming tournaments, both DJing and competing alongside professional players. In addition, he’s also a ReKTGlobal partner. I was fortunate enough to sit down and talk to Nicky about his plans in the gaming industry and got a deeper look at another passion of his aside from music. Here’s everything he had to say.
Concerts are on hold right now, and video games are a nice way to pass the time at home. Have you found video games helpful during this time?
“The most important thing is that [DJs] usually travel all the time, and right now we have the time to develop different interests and I’ve always been a big fan of gaming. I just wanted to incorporate a little bit in the business model as well. I was like ‘why don’t we invest a little bit in gaming?’ which we have done with Rogue and ReKTGlobal, the team of Call of Duty. We just found a way to add a little bit of gaming to the Nicky Romero music industry and I think it’s been a lot of fun since then.”
What are your personal goals in terms of being involved in the gaming industry?
“I just started recently so I need to gain some following first in order to be on the level that I am with music, for example. I have a lot of fun, but there are a lot of achievements that we have to reach in order to be on the level we are with music.”
In my interpretation, I believe that Nicky Romero’s goal in gaming is to be at the same level he is with music. This includes everything from skill level to popularity. Nicky’s a pretty ambitious person, and I’m sure he’ll get there soon.
With your twitch channel growing every day, what can fans expect to see from you and your guests during your streams, currently and in the future?
“For twitch, the first thing we want to achieve is to gain a stable following. We already have that, I think, but we want to grow it a bit. It all starts with good content, so I focus on playing cool matches with people that I think [fans] want to see me playing with. I don’t have just the one goal, but I do want to grow and see where it takes me.”
Expect to see some great content and gameplay from Nicky Romero in the future. Already, he’s streamed with the likes of KSHMR, Steve Aoki, and even competed in a HyperX Call of Duty tournament. In addition, he regularly streams FIFA 20 and Call of Duty: Warzone with the Protocol Recordings family. You can catch all of this on his twitch channel right here.
Are there any video games that have influenced the Nicky Romero sound?
“It’s interesting you say that because as we speak, my PlayStation is caught up in the FIFA main screen and I always think that FIFA has great songs when it comes to music selection. I think they’re music selection for the game is always perfection. If you listen to the old ones with ‘Funk Soul Brother‘ by Fatboy Slim, ‘Chumbawamba‘ by Tubthumping, they’re all big anthems and they all remind me of the game. Listening to all the songs in FIFA throughout the last 10 years, all those songs motivated me to develop my own sound. Now my next goal is to get one of my own songs into the actual game. Every time I listen to a song of FIFA I’m like ‘wow this is a good tune!’ and it’s always stuff that I don’t know from the radio. For me, the ultimate FIFA song is ‘Rockafeller Skank‘ by Fatboy Slim. It was the main tune of the game, and from that moment I as like ‘wow I wonder how this guy made that song. It’s so sick and so inspirational. So I realize FIFA was huge in influencing the music market.”
Are you more excited about the PS5 or the Xbox Series X?
“I’ve always been a PlayStation gamer, so for me, it’s definitely the PS5. I’m not that up to date on the Xbox evolution. I used to have an Xbox. But I recently got back and bought a Nintendo 64 again. I wanted to play the Mario Kart original series. I started playing that again, which is fun. At my office, we have a setup of four PS4s that are all hooked up together and we play a lot of Call of Duty: Warzone with friends or with streamers. Other than that, I’m very excited for what the PS5 is bringing. But if you think about it, the PS4 has maintained for so long. I think it’s been on the market for 6 or 7 years or so. It’s interesting to think about it.”
Looks like Nicky Romero is on the PlayStation side of things when it comes down to the console wars.
Is there any video game soundtrack or theme song you would love to remix or sample?
“I’m getting back at FIFA probably because I think the FIFA songs are the best. I think that would be either ‘Funk Soul Brother‘ by Fatboy Slim or ‘Chumbawamba‘ by Tubthumping. I think that was the tune of FIFA World Cup 1998. Such a good song. Anyway, I would pick that one.”
So there you have it. This is just a small snippet of what Nicky Romero has in store for us in the gaming scene. Being the most successful entertainment industry, it’s awesome seeing dance music spill over into it. Now that concerts are on hold, it’s time for the introverted gamers and music lovers to unite and take over.
I want to give a special thank you to Nicky Romero for taking the time to talk to me about something that isn’t music. He was a huge influence on the music I listen to now, and I will forever be grateful I got the opportunity to sit down and talk with a personal legend in my eyes.
Remember to work on your craft and never give up. Nicky Romero is a music master, and now he wants to go into gaming. You’re never limited to just one thing, and there’s always a glass ceiling that you can break out of. Stay blessed and always be grateful for another day!
