Twitch, YouTube Influencers Are Becoming Video Game Publishers

Influencers in the video-game industry are evolving from playing games to making them. From a report: Over the weekend, One True King, a media company focused on gaming content, launched Mad Mushroom, a new publishing division. 'We have a unique competitive advantage in this space,' said OTK co-founder Asmongold, a top streamer on Twitch, Amazon's live-streaming platform. 'We can give games the push they need to actually go out to market, get eyes on the game and give [developers] insight.' Moving forward, OTK's stable of gaming influencers will collaborate with lead adviser Mike Silbowitz, a gaming industry veteran who has previously worked at Square Enix, to publish, distribute, test and market games.

Currently, publishers pay top influencers tens of thousands of dollars to demo new games in front of their sizable audiences of live viewers on social media platforms, particularly Twitch and Google's YouTube. According to company executives, by reducing such marketing and user-acquisition costs, the organization can take a reduced cut of sales, say, 30% rather than the regular 40% or 50%, potentially benefiting the makers of independent games. 'Twitch streamers have a large tool that is effectively a non-cost, which is their time and their audience,' Asmongold said.

Influencers are increasingly diversifying their income streams beyond social media networks, which can be culturally and financially volatile. Popular gamers have said they anticipate that selling products directly to their audience will eventually form a larger fraction of their revenue. Top streamers, particularly those who have carved out a niche within a specific genre, are looking to publish and advise on both top tier and indie games that might appeal to the specific tastes of their fans.

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