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So many students were told by teachers that they would never make money spending so much time playing video games. Fast forward 20 years and these teachers are being forced to eat their words. For the lucky few, there is an incredibly lucrative way of life that harnesses the power of your passion to become a professional, and financially lucrative, gamer.
Not everyone can succeed in the industry, though; it comes down as much to who you are and how you market yourself as much as it comes down to how good you are. Channels that gamers favor, like YouTube and Twitch, are the bedrock of becoming a professional and noticed gamer. So, how can you become big on an overcrowded platform?
YouTube Gaming Professionals
YouTube provides a unique opportunity to become known for gaming with its YouTube Gaming sub-platform. For instance, MMG, best known for playing sports games such as Madden NFL, and with an alleged net worth of $600,000, peppers his gaming with challenges, interviews, and collaborations. This has given him more than 1 million subscribers, with each his videos averaging 200,000 views per day.
The personality behind MMG is what helps makes fans so enamored with his gaming channel. Another strategy, adopted by Seatin Man of Legends very successfully, has been to be able to predict what’s going to be popular with fans. His focus on the Marvel universe, which has developed a legion of followers that expands with each film release, has given him a respectable following. He posts walkthroughs of games such as Marvel Contest of Champions and Marvel Strike Force, as well as tricks, tips, and live streams.
Twitch Gaming Professionals
Twitch also provides a platform for professional gaming with its focus towards building eSports teams. One of the biggest success stories, Tyler ‘Ninja’ Bevins is a professional gamer who found his gaming feet once he began streaming live on the Twitch platform. In 2017, when he began streaming Fortnite, his viewership exploded, and he announced that he was earning around $500,000 per month just for streaming the game.
There are approximately 5 million daily active users who spend an average of 106 minutes a day watching live gaming. With 5.5 million subscribers, Ninja is the most-watched streamer. Well, was – in late July of this year, Ninja left Twitch to begin streaming on the site, Mixer. With nine million subscribers on YouTube, Ninja would stream on Twitch and then upload it to YouTube to hit both target audiences. Furthermore, his new partnership with Adidas shows that the career path of the streamer knows no bounds.
The rise of video gaming channels has provided an opportunity for people to further change the gaming industry themselves. In this exciting landscape, being a good player with a compelling personality can skyrocket you to fame and fortune.
As sites like YouTube, Twitch, and Mixer show, there is a fertile ground for furthering this industry, with the figures seeming to rise with every new release. The future is certainly bright for those who play and also for those who enjoy playing vicariously through others.
