LAKELAND, Fla. — From nine to five, seven days a week, Robert Schill plays video games sitting on a brown couch in central Florida. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people watch him. His web channel has more than 35 million views in a year. And Schill gets paid for it.

He's a shift worker, a cog in a brave and strange economy that rewards a Big Brother-like existence combined with entrepreneurial drive.

Schill isn't alone in this venture, not even in his own house. When the 26-year-old ends his shift, he unplugs his game controller and his roommate, Adam Young, 29, sinks into the couch and plays until 1 a.m. Then a third roommate, Brett Borden, 26, enters for his eight-hour shift.

They're the stars of StreamerHouse, broadcasting continuously on Twitch.tv. The house operates around the clock, with someone always live and entertaining viewers from around the globe.

Their income comes from multiple sources:

• Twitch advertising revenue (approximately 3 minutes per hour)
• Monthly subscriptions at $5 each
• Commissions on game sales through their channel
• Direct donations from fans, sometimes reaching thousands of dollars

The Mercury News syndicated this Associated Press story to bring Silicon Valley readers insight into how gaming was becoming a legitimate career path, with StreamerHouse blazing trails in the emerging streaming economy.