Twitch is rapidly growing in viewership, and esports organisations are joining in by signing streamers. (Photo from wuestenigel/Flickr)
With millions of people watching Twitch every single week, gaming livestreamers are increasingly becoming a regular feature in the lives of many people.
According to the Global Web Index, 38% of gamers responded that they “watch gaming streaming on Twitch or YouTube,” and a whopping 73% of viewers on Twitch, the most popular gaming livestream platform, are Gen Zers or millennials, aged 16-34.
It’s no secret that video game livestreaming has already become a very dominant form of media, and esports organisations are taking the opportunity to sign streamers onto their teams.
Streamers like Ali “Myth” Kabbani, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, and Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp have all joined esports organisations like TSM, Complexity, and T1 respectively. This not only brings exposure to the streamers, but the organisations also bring in more revenue and can make collaborative content between the streamers and their professional players.
For example, T1 published a YouTube video in February 2020 starring streamer Tyler1 and League of Legends mid laner Faker. The video features the two esports celebrities playing several arcade games, and it has gained over one million views.
This type of content engages fans who are both interested in the competitive esports team as well as creative and entertaining video game streamers.
Some streamers have even taken it upon themselves to create their own organisations. Offline TV, founded by Imane “Pokimane” Anys, Christopher Chan, and William “Scarra” Li, is composed of nine streamers who all collaborate on content. The group’s YouTube channel has gained over 400 million views.
The main takeaway is that video game livestreamers on Twitch, YouTube, and other platforms are quickly becoming a common part of many esports and gaming organisations.
While esports is commonly seen as the industry for competitions between the best video game players in the world, it is quickly taking notes from the entertainment industry to bring in more fans and revenue.
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