Even before Amazon acquired Twitch for almost $1 billion, the live video game streaming site already has a huge following and was turning some of its users as world-renowned gamers, according to Perth Now.

One of those successful gamers is Australian native Mitchell "Gamersmack" Zahn. With more than half a million followers and earning a six-figure salary through Twitch, Zahn has gained the luxury to quit his day job to focus on his gaming.

Professional gamers like Zahn earn money from Twitch through ads posted on their videos and from subscriptions and donations from their followers, New York Times reported.

For over a year now, he has been streaming footages of his gaming on Twitch.

But like other gamers on the site, Zahn first realized how hard it is to gain substantial following and earn a living by simply playing video games for Twitch.

"I thought I'd have 100 people maybe," he said. "Now I have more than 2,700 people supporting me."

"I thought I should get a job, quit Twitch, but you push through and get rewarded for your consistency," he added.

Like Zahn, Jeffrey Shih also makes a living by streaming on Twitch. He started showing his videos in 2011 and now has around 15,000 viewers every day, according to Mashable.

"When I started, [my earnings] would definitely qualify as less than minimum wage," he said. "Now, I'm making a comfortable amount to live on."

With more than 55 million users each month tuning in to watch live feed of video games, Twitch has become known as the Fox Sports of the gaming industry.

Seeing how the site draws in millions of users especially during big gaming events such as The International and the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Amazon's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos immediately jumped on the opportunity to share Twitch's success.

"Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month - from The International to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3," Bezos said.