The Rise and Rise of the Gaming Influencers

Influencers have taken the marketing world by storm. Fashionistas, mommy bloggers, outdoor enthusiasts and a myriad of other amateurs and pros are cashing in on their followers to promote handbags, bikes, soft drinks, diapers or even eyeglass nose pads to their audiences. And the gaming world is fast one-upping the game - no pun intended. 

Sure, there’s Instagram and TikTok. Facebook has kind of missed the boat on this one. But in the gaming world, there’s a whole other platform where gamers across the world are tuning in to see the latest winning techniques in Twitch, the gaming streaming platform Amazon acquired for $970 million back in 2014. 

Twitch streamers come back home from a busy day at work - or at home, as the case may be - and start streaming from the late evening and well into the wee hours of the morning. Live streaming their techniques and tips to let everyone else into how to up their games. Or what the latest cry may be in gaming accessories like extended thumbstick or controller grips from brands like Setex, Kontrolfreek, or numerous others. Or just merely socializing and sharing their passion.

It is a large, but seemingly tight community, that has equal parts competitiveness and comradery. Many know each other and can clearly tell the real deal from the empty promisers. The sessions are not short, streams can go on for hours on any given Wednesday evening, well past midnight. There are approximately 9 million active Twitch streamers that engage some 15 million viewers that watch 71 million hours of gaming streams on any given day. That’s a whole lot of Twitching. Not to anyone’s surprise, the bulk of these are male Gen Zers and Millennials, with three out of four being young males under the age of 35.

Studies show that Twitch stands at about 14% of Instagram or TikTok monthly average users. That’s a staggering number, considering the endless list of topics people discuss or share on the other platforms. Surely, Twitchers occasionally engage on other topics outside of gaming, but still that speaks volumes about the popularity of gaming as a whole, which these days account for close to 2.7 billion gamers, or one third of the world’s population. 

The global pandemic has surely contributed to this growth. The rise of the Metaverse will further accelerate it as gaming and streaming will take on a more “real” feel. 

The 60’s were about rebellious peace and love. The 70’s about jamming. The 80’s about pop. The 90’s was all about grunge. The aughts were all about reality TV and bubble gum celebs. The 2010’s gave way to the explosion of social media and influencers. It seems the 2020’s will be largely about gaming. Not just Fortnite, Apex or Minecraft. But as we enter the Metaverse, gaming and gamers are poised to take a disproportionate amount of attention and influence. Are you ready to play the game?