Another year down, and I have to say that 2024 has certainly been one full of ups and downs. I wanted to give a few thoughts about the past year, as well as some goals for the next year.
Back in 2023 I set myself some goals for 2024. These were:
- Get on stage at the Six Invitational
- Small licensing agreement with Ubisoft
- 200k followers on TikTok
- Work with Ubisoft on more projects
- Work with more cosplayers
- Work with more eSports organisations on new projects
- Cut out junk food & lose weight
- Build a community
- Become debt-free
Admittedly, I thought that these were pretty ambitious goals to achieve within 365 days. But, thankfully, I’ve been able to tick a few of these off. A few remain incomplete, but are achievable within the next year, and so are part of my goals for 2025. Which did I do? Which remain?
Well, first and foremost, ‘Get on stage at the Six Invitational’. This was my goal since 2020, and 4 years later I achieved it in spectacular fashion – I received my Community Commendation at the Six Invitational 2024 in February for my work within the community as a cosplayer, propmaker and liason between the community & Ubisoft.
While I did write a blog post about this back in February, I wanted to touch on it again almost a year since the event. It was the highlight of my career, so far, the culmination of all my efforts, but not the end. Not by a long shot.
While I have yet to achieve a full licensing agreement with Ubisoft for R6, I was close to possibly getting something for xDefiant – sadly, with the death of that project, that’s no longer going ahead. But, we live in hope, and my long-standing agreement with Ubisoft remains. Who knows? You might end up seeing “Official Rainbow Six Merchandise” on my store one day.
Hitting 200k on TikTok also remains elusive, but I’m only 70k away from hitting that goal! I can’t say if it’ll happen for sure, given that TikTok is apparently going to be banned in the USA. But I would like to instead morph this goal into achieving better and bigger engagement numbers on my social media platforms. Whilst numbers don’t really mean much, as a small business I do require word-of-mouth to survive and social media is an invaluable tool to achieve that. I want to do more streaming on Twitch, which I’ve started already. I’m also gonna be producing more content for BlueSky and Instagram respectively.
I did hit my goal of working with Ubisoft again this year, and I’m hoping to keep that going for 2025 and beyond. Siege is turning 10 years old in 2025, and it’s in the best place it’s been for years. I’d be a fool if I didn’t get involved somehow, and given how ingrained I am within the community and connected with Ubisoft itself, I’m hopeful! I’d love to do more work with Ubisoft UK especially, but also branch more into Ubisoft Japan’s territory too.
Imagine Doc and Sledge as your bodyguard š#ICICESTPARISš“šµ#SOARWITHTALON pic.twitter.com/8pBTqqwBPZ
— PSG TALON R6 (@psgtalonr6) June 3, 2024
As always, I’ve had the pleasure and honour of working with some of the most skilled and dedicated cosplayers around. I’ve pushed more into my Meet the Cosplayer series, in which I attempt to shine the spotlight on some of the hard-working people within our community. This coming year, I’m hoping to work more with community artists too, and already have a few lined up. But don’t fret – cosplayers will always remain my priority, and at the forefront.
While I didn’t manage to work with eSports organisations this year, I did have a brief liason with PSG Talon at the Manchester Major, and potentially have some work lined up with the incredible crew behind an amazing organisation that I’m extremely stoked for! More news to come when I can tell it.
The weight-loss was more of an intimate goal, and one I did achieve for the most part – but not without a few hiccups. In December 2023 I was the heaviest I had ever been; I weighed 101kg, which is classed as morbidly obese for my height/age. I resolved to make a change. The year prior, I had completely cut out soft drinks. 2024’s resolution was junk food. Sadly, stress and various life-events contributed to me falling back on that, but I have (for the most part) hit my weight goals by simply watching what I’m putting into my body. From 101kg, I am now at 79-80kg (tho the Christmas period has me sat around 82kg atm… thank you, turkey). My goal is 75kg, after which I plan on building up muscle and exercising properly within the limits of my health.
My final goal from 2023 has remained elusive, and one that I hope to achieve in 2025. 2023 was my most profitable year as a business, to-date, and the success of which enabled me to purchase my home from my ex-landlord. Unfortunately, it drained all my savings and with a very hefty tax bill of over Ā£10k I have been left in a financial hole all year round. If it wasn’t thanks to the assistance of wonderful people, such as KudosOnYT and RoyalPenguin, I wouldn’t have been able to attend the Montreal Major. My finances are still quite dire, and I’m hoping for some big projects to help tide me through until my taxes are completely paid off, but I am going to work harder on managing things and get some savings again.
So, with all that addressed, what can I look forward to in 2025?
Darny3D has been my sole focus since 2018. I’ve been working on Siege 5 years now, half of the game’s lifetime. I have no intention of giving up on Siege at all. I built my business up from nothing, I’ve worked hard almost 7-days a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months a year. I’ve improved, I’ve reached out, and there’s so much more I can improve on and heights I can reach.
With my admission to the Ubisoft Creator Program, I’m hoping to make more digital R6 content for Siege, and I’ve got a few new physical projects lined up that I know you guys are going to like. I’m looking forward to the new gadgets that’re coming with the new seasons of Siege, and bringing them to life. While I won’t be attending the Boston Invitational, and likely not the event in Brazil, I am hoping to attend the French Invitational in 2026 and the Majors beyond that.
On a personal level, I have a few goals for myself that I’m wanting to achieve this year. 2023 ended with me fresh out of a relationship, and 2024 saw me lose yet another relationship that broke me again. This year I’m focusing on myself, my mental health, my physical health, and making connections without commitment. I have no intention of dating, but if I get sidestruck by someone who knows? Aside from that, I have a few personal projects for my home that I want to sort out – and a few personal projects that I can’t really talk about publicly.
Whatever 2025 has in store for me, I hope that it is wonderful to you, dear reader.
