Zachary Chay (born April 4, 1996), with a gaming alias of ZachWGTV (also known as Zachary World Gaming Television) is a Singaporean web-based comedian and producer. Zachary is known by locals and many foreign countries for his YouTube videos. Most of his contents are by the Let's Play and Product Review. Zachary also produces Vlogs about life and the hot topics happening in his country, Singapore. On top of that, he is also a social media influence on Twitter and Instagram.
Background
Born in Singapore, Zachary originally intended to pursue a Diploma in Games and Entertainment Technology at Temasek Polytechnic. After completing his GCE Ordinary Level Examination in 2012, he successfully enrolled into the course that he wanted. Unfortunately, he dropped out in less than a year and claimed that the course was not something he wanted to pursue as a career in the distant future. After dropping out of school, Zachary started to spend his free time watching YouTube videos based on unvealing and reviewing gaming gadgets with the intention of purchasing new gaming peripherals. Only after that, he decided to create a YouTube channel named "dudekiller78" and started uploading Product Review and Unboxing videos of every gadget he got his hands on. At the same time, Zachary started working several odd jobs just to fund for your YouTube channel. Occasionally, he would watch funny gaming videos and happened to stumbled upon both Pewdiepie's and Markiplier's YouTube channel. Only after watching how both individuals made the day of many, Zachary deleted his channel and created a new one, ZachWGTV after much consideration. Hence, started producing and uploading videos of the gaming genre. By 2014, his videos were quite well known in the local gaming market and he started creating Gaming Reviews to help boost the sales revenue of various gaming companies. Only in mid 2015, Zachary was showcased on FamousBirthdays, a site where famous celebrities get their acknowledgement from.
Early life and education
Zachary Chay (ZachWGTV) was born and grew up in Singapore. He was born on 4 April 1996 and resides with both his parents and an elder brother. His mother, an OCBC Executive, was awarded the CSM of the Year in Singapore in three consecutive years, 2001 to 2003 . His father is also a Chief Executive of another company. Zachary graduated from Teck Ghee Primary School in 2008 with his Examination Certificate, and moved on to studying in Chong Boon Secondary School and became the President of Multimedia Club in his third year. He graduated smoothly in 2012 and obtained his O Level Certificate.
Internet career
YouTube channel format
The main focus of ZachWGTV's videos is his commentary and reactions to various games as he plays through them. Due to this, his videos fall under the Let's Play category. Unlike most walkthroughs, his Let's Play videos are dedicated to sharing his personal gaming moments on YouTube. He begins his videos with a peculiar hand gesture and a very deep and strict voice and ends them with a toast to sponsoring brands.
Style of content
The nature of ZachWGTV's video content is seen to be energetic, fun and original. His videos are also filled with profanity. However, many of the individuals and companies concede that ZachWGTV's channel and contents are genuine and unfiltered.
History
Early years (2012)
Zachary originally registered a YouTube account under the name of "dudekiller78" which was later explained that is was meant to attract teenage adults who are in the stage of getting their own gaming gadgets just like himself at that point of time. After dropping out of Temasek Polytechnic, his parents refused to support him financially and as a result he had to work odd jobs such as waitering and even office administrative jobs just to funded for his YouTube channel. Zachary stated, "The tough part isn't about working to fund for my channel but the toughest part is in fact thinking of new contents." Having said that, he stressed many times on his social media that contents are not as easily thought of than expected. Also, he commented that YouTube was not going to be his career and was doing it as a hobby and also to past time.
Fresh start (2013-2014)
After stumbling onto Pewdiepie's and Markiplier's YouTube channel decided to start a new channel, ZachWGTV with the thought that these videos would be much more cheaper to produce as compared to Product Reviews and Unboxing. Hence, Zachary started to produce Gaming Walkthroughs and Gameplays to upload them on his new YouTube channel. Impressed of his previous Product Review portfolio, Logitech decided to step in and started sponsoring ZachWGTV with their latest gaming peripherals. At the same time, ZachWGTV was partnered with Fullscreen. With the help and support from both Logitech and Fullscreen, Zachary managed to further grow his channel. And by the end of 2013, he hit 10,000 subscribers count.
Style change and decline (2014-2016)
At the end of 2014, Zachary was enlisted into the Singapore Armed Forces by Singapore's conscription law stating every male who are not less than 16.5 years of age are required to serve a two-year period as National Servicemen Full-time. Upon entering the force, Zachary did not have enough time to product and edit gaming videos and switched the Vlogs instead as they were much easier to edit. He commented, "My fans used to watch a ten minutes gaming video which took me at least seven hours to edit and upload. It ain't easy being a content creator." With the change in genre of his contents and the low frequency of uploads, ZachWGTV came to a decline and eventually, a momentarily halt.
A new beginning (2016-2017)
A few months before completing his service, he had more time to himself and started to produce and upload gaming contents with the hope that his fans would revisit his channel. At the same time, Zachary partnered with Wix, a web hosting company and started a new series dedicated to website newbies. This series includes videos of how to create websites, online stores and even blogs. In December 2016, Zachary was discharged from service. Weeks after, he managed to secure a sponsorship with a beverage company called Mountain Dew and with their support, new viewers came to watch his videos. With the support of a huge company from the Food and Beverage industry, Zachary decided to start a new variety show called Hunt for Gaming Fuel. This series is intended to give back to the gaming industry to enlighten gamers of what food goes well with gaming. By March 2017, ZachWGTV is a registered business under the Government of Singapore.
Filmography
| Year(s) | Series or Show | Role | # of episodes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | How-to with Wix | Himself | 3 | |
| 2017 | Hunt for Gaming Fuel | Himself | 2 |
Charitable
- Held a Christmas Giveaway in 2013.
- Held a fundraising event for Charity: water in 2014.
- Held a fundraising event for Extra-Life in 2014.
- Held a Christmas Giveaway in 2015.
- Held a Tom Clancy's: The Division Giveaway in hands with Massive Entertainment in 2016.
- Held a Resident Evil 7 Giveaway in hands with Green Man Gaming in 2016.