The reach of gaming influencers globally

Rishad Dsouza
January 05, 2022, 8:15 PM GMT+0

A YouGov survey across 17 markets, which forms the basis of a three-part gaming whitepaper, reveals that gaming influencers are the most popular influencer category among men aged 18-34.

Overall, gaming influencers are followed by just one in 11 consumers globally (9%), making it only the 11th most popular category of influencers followed. The list is led by categories such as food (16%), health (12%) and celebrity (12%).

But gaming influencers rise to the top spot among men, with around one in eight males saying they follow this kind of social star. That compares to just one in five women, for whom gaming is the least popular category when it comes to social followings.

It is among men aged 18-34, specifically, where gaming influencers really sparkle - they are followed by a quarter of all members of that demographic (23%) to surpass categories like sports (20%) and music (20%).

The tendency to draw a significantly higher level of following persists across each of the 17 markets, as you can see in the chart below. In fact, in certain markets like Italy, Denmark, Germany and Spain, men aged 18-34 are four times as likely to follow gaming influencers than the overall population.

Overall, though, it is in Asian markets that gaming influencers have a stronghold. A fifth of all consumers in both China (20%) and Indonesia (20%) follow gaming influencers. India (17%), Hong Kong (14%) and UAE (13%) are next on the list. Hong Kong (42%) takes the top spot when it comes to the highest levels of gaming influencer penetration among men aged 18-34.

On which platforms do gaming influencers reach their followers?

Seven out of nine gaming influencer fans (77%) follow influencers on YouTube, which takes the first spot by a comfortable lead. Instagram is the second-most popular channel, with three in five gaming influencer followers (60%) using the smartphone-centric platform to keep abreast of influencers. Facebook claims third place (51%).

Amazon-owned Twitch, which is a platform devoted to video game live streaming, is almost three times more likely to be used by gaming influencer followers (23%), compared to followers of influencers in general. And not surprisingly, gaming influencer fans are twice as likely to use Discord (13%), the group-chat app built for gamers.

The whitepaper explores the profile of followers and the marketability of gaming influencers in more elaborate detail.

Click here to download the three-part whitepaper – Game-changers: the power of gaming influencers