The growth of the gaming industry has really ramped up over the last few years and it doesn’t look like it will be stopping anytime soon. Going back 10 to 15 years ago, gaming had nowhere near the same level of exposure as it does now. Its community was much more of a tight-knit group than what we know it to be. Today, gaming has become mainstream. The question is, do we have influencers to thank for that?
The gaming industry’s growth is explosive and is set to continue through 2022. According toFinances Onlinethere were 2.69 billion video game players worldwide in 2020, with this rising to 3.07 billion in 2023 based on a 5.6% year-on-year growth forecast. As well as more global gamers,Newzooreported that the global esports audience will grow 8.7% year-on-year to reach a whopping 532 million viewers. Although you would be forgiven for thinking that this audience must consist of die-hard gamers, 271 million of this segment are occasional viewers who consume esports content less than once a month.
More gamers and viewers around the world comes with more opportunities for revenue.Accenturereported that in 2021, the value of the gaming industry had surpassed $300 billion, which is more than the markets for film and music combined.
多亏了锁定以及香蕉面包烘烤，老虎国王和在线酒吧测验的日子，有更多的人随着时间的流逝而在家。因此，视频游戏娱乐或消费周围的内容飙升。实际上，英国62％的成年人played some form of video game during this time, the most popular being Nintendo’s Animal Crossing.
我们都知道，游戏行业目前正在蓬勃发展，但是问题是，是什么导致了以前被认为是利基市场的流行程度？好吧，影响者和内容创作者可能是答案。
We have seen an influx in influencer and content creator culture over recent years. The influencer marketing industry is predicted to reach$16.4 billion仅在2022年，借助Tiktok，Instagra188滚球地址m和YouTube等平台就可以充当影响者和创作者创造全职工作的宽敞空间。
通过这种扩展，您几乎可以想到的任何类别中似乎都有一个影响者。对于游戏玩家而言，影响者和创作者不是一个新概念，而是一个继续迅速发展的概念。
游戏的增长和影响者发挥的作用：
The start of YouTube Gamers
The early 2010s were coined as ‘The YouTube Era’ as many people started to realize the benefits that could be reaped from making content online. People want to pay you for playing Call of Duty and making videos about it? Result.
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One creator who has seen this type of success isDistortion2, who is a gaming creator making content across YouTube and Twitch. Since 2014, he has been creating videos based on the popular action series, Dark Souls and more recently, Elden Ring. The concurrent viewership of his Twitch channel rose sharply to 9,645 and after achieving world record speed runs, his YouTube now has a V30 of 600k+.
另一个看到成功的创作者是Kairos Group的首席执行官Mike Craddock，他的职业生涯始于内容创作者。从2010年到2015年，他扮演《使命召唤》，并参加了世界上一些最大的电子竞技活动，记录了YouTube上的旅程。在此过程中，他在YouTube上成功获得了5500万次观看次数和500,000个订户。到他的职业生涯结束时，迈克（Mike）在几个频道上单枪匹马地拍摄了近3,000个YouTube视频。
一种新的观看方式
在许多游戏创建者（例如Mike在YouTube上找到成功）之后，该平台在2015年推出了一个名为“ YouTube游戏”的新应用程序，以帮助游戏玩家找到更多相关的内容。这是在2018年合并到YouTube的主要站点的，但仍然为游戏玩家和创作者提供了专门的空间。
在2021年第2季度，YouTube游戏had an average of 699 thousand concurrent viewers and remains to be one of the most used platforms for live streaming games. This was also followed by 11.4 million channels broadcasting live content in Q2 2021 on the popular streaming platform Twitch.
Twitch是一个致力于视频游戏流的平台，在2014年被亚马逊收购后，它在2020年估计赚了23亿美元，并在2021年平均有284万次观众。
188滚球地址YouTube Gaming和Twitch等平台为可以从Adsense，品牌交易，赞助和商品付款的创作者打开了有利可图的收入机会。
每个人的游戏
Today there are even more people seeing incredible success from creating gaming content, with viewers continuing to increase rapidly. So much so that2020年，游戏视频内容观看者的数量达到了创纪录的12亿。
当以前的游戏与拥有最新技术相关联时，可以通过流媒体渠道（例如YouTube）在线消费游戏内容的能力使游戏更容易访问。
However, many platforms noticed this gap in the market and decided to lower the barrier to entry into the gaming world. This introduced freemium gaming models, where an app or game was completely free to download but included in-app purchases.
After the launch of YouTube gaming, many companies started to strategize how they can play a role in making gaming more accessible.
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最近，Netflix于2021年11月将游戏介绍到其流媒体平台上。对于流媒体巨头来说，这是一个很大的举动，使其更像是娱乐枢纽，而不仅仅是另一种电视和电影服务。
At the moment Netflix offers 17 games that are free to subscribers, with another four set to launch in May 2022. Part of Netflix’s gaming offering includes a game based on Stranger Things, which is one of the biggest Netflix original shows. Recently this was removed from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, ahead of a move to Netflix Games exclusivity in Q4 2022. It’s not the only streaming service to offer this however, with Amazon Prime launching ‘Prime Gaming’ in 2020 after previously offering ‘Twitch Prime’.
Mobile gaming has also become increasingly popular and more people than ever have been using their phones to play games, whether it be Temple Run or Fortnite.68% of mobile gamers自从Covid-19以来，大不列颠就在手机游戏上花费了更多的时间，开始报告说，在大流行结束后，他们很可能会继续以相同的速度玩手机游戏。在美国，有77％的移动游戏玩家报告了同一件事。
The accessibility to gaming can also be measured by how many households in the UK now have gaming consoles in their homes. In Q1 2010, there were 8.7 million households with a gaming console in the UK alone but this number dropped to 8.2 million in Q1 2020. This is still great news though as it shows a huge demographic of gamers, but there’s even more people now who are able to game without owning an Xbox, Playstation or gaming computer.
Gaming is no longer just for the tech-savvy.
What do influencers have to do with it?
As the world went into lockdown in 2020, opportunities to see our friends and family in real life lessened and instead we looked to keep our connections alive through digital means, in which gaming played a fundamental part.
2020 was the biggest year for the previously mentioned YouTube Gaming, which peaked records for watch time with more people online than ever. However, as the world began to open up, the numbers didn’t drop drastically. In fact, many people realized that their newfound enjoyment for gaming wasn’t limited to lockdown and they stuck around to watch their favorite creators play their favorite games.
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这个好消息让品牌寻求市场的梦想ger audiences is that gaming influencers have got that audience segment covered. A somewhat difficult demographic to tap into, the coveted 18 to 34-year target market tends to follow at least one gaming influencer according toreports.
对于这个年龄段的男性，游戏影响者是他们积极消费的少数有影响力内容的类型之一。YouGovsurveyed 17 countries and found that 12 of these countries see gaming influencers as the most popular, more so than sports influencers in 14 of these countries.
不要忘记微型创造者
还有一个被称为“微创建者”的创作者的小节。这些是游戏中相当陌生的创作者，通常只有不到10,000名关注者。
如果您打算在营销策略中使用有影响力的人，并且希望针对游戏行业，那么您的第一个想法可能是直接去找大量追随者的大型影响者。这是一种策略，但值得考虑与微型创建者建立联系。
Unlike those with a larger following, a smaller and less saturated audience is more likely to take action when it comes to advertising served to them. As the audience is smaller, the creator has more opportunities to build a deeper relationship and connection with them - meaning they’re more likely to trust their opinion when it comes to sponsored content or partnerships with brands.
Not only do micro creators have a better relationship with their audience but they also have higher engagement rates, whereas having a large following means it’s more unlikely for 100% of your following to engage with the content you post.
As a result of so many creators getting impressive watch times and engagement, brands quickly hopped onto this trend and realized that it was the perfect way to speak to a switched-on audience. Partnerships, collaborations and placements have become commonplace in the
creator economy for brands to connect gamers with their products and services.
钱钱钱…
More brands are connecting with gamers to increase the visibility of their products and services, especially as digital platforms continue to evolve such as the concept of the Metaverse being introduced. With all this being said, it’s not surprising that the biggest revenue for the gaming market was merchandise and advertising. In 2020, the majority of revenue within the gaming industry came from the sales of digital products, with the revenue from advertising within free-to-play video games coming second.
同时，据报道，在电子竞技行业中，赞助是电子竞技的最高收入来源，2022年的预测为8.37亿美元，占所有电子竞技收入的60％。其他收入来源来自商品发行，数字资产（NFT/Web3.0），投资回合和忠诚度计划。
The amount that brands are spending on sponsorships within the gaming and esports market is growing year on year, which is great news for creators. In 2019, businesses within the technology sector alone spent $15.9 million on sponsorship deals within the esports market.
It’s not just for gaming companies
Non-gaming brands are also on the roster of people seeing huge success from activations or partnerships within the gaming industry.
KFC is a great example of a non-endemic brand that has truly connected with gamers to create successful relationships and the results have been huge.
As part of an activation led byKairos Media该机构利用包括Twitter，Instagram和YouTube在内的游戏玩家最受欢迎的频道来推出“ KFCONSOLE” - 一种游戏机，还可以让您煮鸡肉。改变游戏规则。
The campaign overall had 8.5 million keyword searches across Google, 4 million+ engagements and 35.1 million+ organic impressions. The potential for advertising within the gaming industry really is no joke and this is just one example of it.
什么是判决？
It’s hard to deny the colossal growth of the gaming industry. In terms of the role influencers and content creators played in this, it’s a significant one.
如果没有创作者流式传输自己的内容，那么Twitch或YouTube游戏之类的产品可能已经不复存在。这个市场中的创造者经济与该行业迅速发展，因此可以肯定地说，游戏创作者有一个基本的空间。
总体而言，成为游戏行业的有影响力或创作者的激动人心的时刻，现在是时候让更多品牌获得回报了。
Drew Townley, Managing Director, Kairos Media
游戏和意大利专家德鲁已有运行os Media and works with endemic and non-endemic global brands looking to enter or expand into the gaming and esports space. An expert at authentic and credible activation, their creative-led team provides consultation and support across: creative strategy, social strategy, paid media, influencer marketing and tournament creation. Drew has been at the heart of competitive gaming for over 10 years from competing in some of the earliest online esports competitions to developing award winning global esports activations & entry to market for the likes of KFC and Vodafone.
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