Growth of Gaming and the Influence of Influencers in the Gaming Business
The gaming industry’s expansion has accelerated in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Gaming didn’t have the same degree of exposure 10 to 15 years ago as it has today. It had a much closer-knit community than we’ve come to expect from the world of anime.
Gaming has become a part of everyday life in the modern day. Is it possible that influencers are to blame for this?
Through 2022, the gaming industry’s growth is expected to continue at an astronomical rate. A 5.6% annual growth rate predicts that there will be 3.07 billion video game players globally in 2023, up from 2.69 billion in 2020, according to Finances Online.
Newzoo estimates that the global esports viewership will rise 8.7 percent year-on-year to 532 million viewers, including more players from throughout the world. 271 million people in this demographic aren’t die-hard gamers, yet they nonetheless watch esports material fewer than once a month.
With an increase in the number of players and watchers throughout the globe comes an increase in income prospects. According to Accenture, the gaming business will be worth more than the film and music industries combined by the year 2021.
There were more individuals at home with time to fill as a result of lockdown, banana bread making days, Tiger King, and online pub quizzes. Consuming video game-related material has increased in popularity as a consequence. In fact, 62% of adults in the UK were playing video games at some point during this period, with Nintendo’s Animal Crossing being the most popular.
As we’ve all heard, the gaming business is booming right now, but what’s really driving this once marginalised area into the mainstream? Influencers and content producers may hold the key.
Recently, we’ve noticed an increase in influencer and content-creation culture. An estimated $16.4 billion will be generated by the influencer marketing business in 2022 alone, owing in part to the proliferation of platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
You may assume that there is an influencer in every single area that you can think of. In the world of video games, influencers and producers are nothing new, but they are one that is continuously expanding.
Influencers’ impact on the gaming industry’s growth:
- YouTube Gamers was born during this time.
- Everyone now has a new method to enjoy video games.
- In this context, what role do influencers play?
- Micro inventors should not be overlooked.
- You can’t get enough of it.
- You don’t have to be a game company to benefit from it
- What is the last word?
- YouTube Gamers was born during this time.
Many individuals began to recognise the advantages of creating material online in the early 2010s, and the term ‘YouTube Era’ was established. Is it really possible to be paid to play Call of Duty and create films about it? Result.
Distortion2, a gaming video maker active on both YouTube and Twitch, has seen this kind of success. In addition to Dark Souls and Elden Ring, he’s been making films based on the popular action series since 2014. His Twitch channel currently has 9,645 concurrent viewers, and his YouTube channel now has a V30 of 600k+ after setting global speed records.
Mike Craddock, the current CEO of Kairos Group, started his career as a content developer and has since seen success. His Call of Duty odyssey began in 2010 and ended in 2015, during which time he competed in some of the world’s major esports tournaments and posted videos of his experiences on YouTube.
His YouTube channel gained 55 million views and 500,000 followers as a result of this. Mike was the only creator of almost 3,000 YouTube videos spread across many channels towards the conclusion of his career.
Watching TV in a new manner
YouTube created a new app in 2015 called ‘YouTube Gaming’ after a number of gaming developers like Mike became popular on the site. For gamers and producers alike, this was included into the main YouTube site in 2018.
There were 699 thousand concurrent viewers in Q2 of 2021 on YouTube Gaming, which continues to be popular for live streaming games. In the second quarter of 2021, Twitch, the popular streaming network, has 11.4 million channels delivering live video.
According to Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch in 2014, the video game broadcasting network grossed $2.3 billion in 2020 and had 2.84 million concurrent viewers in 2021.
Creators may earn money through AdSense, brand agreements, sponsorships, and merchandise thanks to platforms like YouTube Gaming and Twitch.
Everyone can play video games.
Increasing numbers of individuals are making a fortune from providing gaming content, and the number of watchers is growing at a fast pace. So much so that in 2020, there were 1.2 billion people watching gaming video content.
Gaming has become more accessible because to streaming services like YouTube, which formerly required gamers to have the most up-to-date equipment to keep up with new releases.
Many platforms, on the other hand, have taken note of this opportunity and have opted to reduce the entrance bar into the gaming business. Freemium gaming models were established, where an app or game could be downloaded for free but had in-app payments.
After the advent of YouTube gaming, a number of firms began to think about how they might help make gaming more accessible.
Netflix began broadcasting video games in November of that year. With this shift, Netflix became more of an entertainment destination than merely a TV and film provider.
17 games are now available to members, with four more to be released in May 2022. Game based on Netflix original programme Stranger Things is available on Netflix’s gaming platform. Prior to Netflix Games being exclusive in Q4 2022, this was deleted from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu aren’t the only ones to provide this, with Amazon Prime introducing its own gaming service in 2020.
More individuals than ever before are playing games like Temple Run or Fortnite on their smartphones, which have grown more popular in recent years. Mobile gamers in Great Britain that had increased their gaming time since COVID-19 began reported that they were either extremely or moderately inclined to continue playing mobile games once the epidemic stopped. Seventy-seven percent of Americans who play mobile games say the same thing.
According to the number of gaming consoles in British homes, the accessibility of gaming may also be quantified. Only 8.2 million homes in the UK had a gaming console in Q1 2020, down from 8.7 million in Q1 2010. That said, the fact that so many people may now play games without having an Xbox, Playstation, or a gaming PC is still exciting news.
People of all ages and backgrounds may now enjoy gaming.
In this context, what role do influencers play?
We had fewer possibilities to visit our friends and family in person when the globe fell into lockdown in 2020, so we turned to digital methods like gaming to keep our relationships alive.
For the previously stated YouTube Gaming, 2020 was the most successful year ever, with more people watching than ever before. It’s true that as the globe became more open, the numbers didn’t plummet.
While many people just came to see the designers play lockdown, many others felt that their newfound love of gaming extended beyond the confines of the event.
The good news is that gaming influencers have covered that target segment for firms trying to sell to younger consumers. Gaming influencers are an important part of the 18 to 34-year-old audience, according to recent research.
There are few sorts of influencer material that guys in this demographic actively engage with, and gaming influencers are one of those few exceptions. According to a YouGov poll of 17 nations, gamers are more popular than sports influencers in 12 of the countries they studied.
Micro inventors should not be overlooked.
‘Micro creators’ are also a subset of the creative community. They’re fresh to the game and usually have less than 10,000 followers.
Think big-name influencers in the game business if you want to use influencers in your marketing strategy and you’ll likely think of them as your first choice. Connecting with micro creators is another option to keep in mind.
Those with a smaller and less saturated audience are more likely to respond to advertising than those with a bigger following. Smaller audiences provide the creator with more opportunity to establish a more personal connection with their followers, increasing their willingness to put their faith in sponsored posts and other forms of collaboration with companies.
If you have a huge number of followers, you’re less likely to get all of them to connect with your material, which is why micro-creators have a stronger relationship with their audience.
A brand’s ability to reach an engaged audience was rapidly apparent due to the large number of creators who were able to get high view times and levels of interaction. In today’s world, partnerships, collaborations, and placements are typical…
To help marketers link gamers with their goods and services, there is a “creative economy.”
You can’t get enough of it.
As digital platforms, such as the Metaverse, continue to advance, more marketers are reaching out to gamers in an effort to boost the exposure of their goods and services. With all of this in mind, it’s no surprise that merchandising and advertising generated the most money for the gaming industry. Sales of digital items accounted for the bulk of gaming industry income in 2020; free-to-play video games’ advertising revenue was second.
Sponsorships are expected to generate $837 million in esports income in 2022, accounting for 60% of total esports revenue, according to industry reports. Merchandise releases, digital assets (NFT/Web3.0), investment rounds, and loyalty programmes are all sources of additional income.
Gaming and esports sponsors are investing more money each year, which is good news for game developers and esports players. A total of $15.9 million was spent on esports sponsorship arrangements by companies in the technology industry in 2019.
You don’t have to be a game company to benefit from it
Non-gaming firms are also reaping the benefits of gaming-industry activations and collaborations.
As a non-endemic brand, KFC is an excellent example of how to successfully engage with gamers and reap the benefits.
To promote a “KFConsole,” a gaming console that also allows players to cook chicken on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, Kairos Media tapped into the most popular networks for gamers, including YouTube and Instagram. Game-changer.
Overall, 8.5 million Google searches, 4 million+ interactions, and 35.1 million+ organic impressions were generated as a result of the campaign. This is only one illustration of the advertising possibilities in the game business.
What is the last word?
It’s difficult to ignore the enormous expansion of the gaming business in recent years. One of the most important factors in the success of this was the impact of social media and content providers.
The likes of Twitch and YouTube Gaming may not have existed if it weren’t for the work of individual producers who live broadcast their work. To suggest that there is a fundamental market for game makers is an understatement, given that the industry has evolved significantly.
All in all, this is a great moment for gaming influencers and creatives since more firms can enjoy the benefits of their hard work.