Tesco shelf stacker becomes YouTube superstar making £12million fortune playing computer games

Dan Middleton used to stack shelves at Tesco but quit when he realised he could make more money being paid to let people watch him play computer games.

His videos have been watched more than a billion times - but you may not have heard of him if you're over a certain age.

Dan Middleton, 26, has managed amass £12million in just five years simply by uploading films of himself playing video games on YouTube.

He is the leader in a new breed of YouTube gamers who have made a fortune from their own bedrooms by outlaying little more than the cost of a video camera, microphone and computer.
Now more than 17million people subscribe to his YouTube channel where he plays a game while offering a chatty commentary.

The gamer, known as DanTDM to his millions of young fans, has even been on a 97-date world tour which included the second fastest-selling show of all time at Sydney Opera House in Australia where he was for four nights.

Dan, from a middle class family in the Midlands, started playing computer games aged six like many children when Nintendo's Super Mario Bros was his favourite.

Dan in one of his videos (Image: DanTDM/Youtube)

His background was pretty unremarkable: his father was in the army and his mother worked for a charity.He had always enjoyed playing with a video camera and making home movies but took that to another level when he discovered Minecraft.

For the uninitiated the game offers players to create their own world and try to survive in it.

Older gamers will recall scanning instruction manuals for how to play computer games - and perhaps even the tips and cheats in magazines.

However, in 2011 when Minecraft launched, fans instead turned to watching online videos taking them through the game, step by step.

This is where Middleton's success came , with his easy style of presenting halfway between a kids TV presenter and cheeky banter.

The gamer, who lives near Aldershot, went to Northampton University to study music production and worked as a shelf stacker in Tesco to help pay his way.

But it was there his gaming really took off and by the time he graduated aged 21 he was earning more money playing the game Minecraft.

He told his parents he was quitting to pursue his gaming career full-time.

He told The Times : "It was a difficult one to explain.

Credits @DailyMirror