If you are interested in the gaming industry, you probably know about Twitch. Even though the pandemic has caused many businesses to fail, Twitch is still growing and is the uncontested front runner of streaming platforms. It has seen a 97% increase in hours watched year on year. In 2020, Twitch had more engagement and viewership than ever before. Gamers stuck at home turned to Twitch as their go-to destination.
Since it started in 2011 and Amazon bought it in 2014, Twitch has become very successful. Lots of people have become famous because of it.
The social effect of Twitch
Twitch and similar platforms have allowed gaming communities to grow and socialize more than ever before. Gaming was once seen as a single-person activity, but now it is more social than ever.
Twitch created a “Community Room” area. This is an online chat where you can talk about new games, meet new players, and chat with your favorite streamer. In addition, their “just chatting” category has grown a lot in the past year. This category accounted for 754 million hours in Q1 2021 – a 44% increase from the previous year.
In Brazil, one of the biggest names for this category is Casimiro Miguel. The streamer, part of the TNT Sports network or journalists, saw his boom during the pandemic while he was streaming himself reacting to different clips on the internet and chatting with friends. In April 2022, he became the account with the most subs in the world.
The marketing effect of Twitch
EA released Apex Legends on Twitch in February 2019 without much warning. This led to the game gaining more than 2.5 million players within 24 hours of release and racking up 25 million players by the end of its first week. The game also generated more hours watched than any other game on Twitch in its launch week.
Using Twitch for marketing can be difficult to know if it would have gone well without it. However, this shows that using Twitch is a good idea for studios. There are many marketing opportunities through Twitch, but also through partnerships with influencers and brands.
There are two common forms of marketing on Twitch:
- Dedicated Livestream, where the creator will dedicate a whole Livestream (usually between 1-2 hours, depending on the product) to a brand. This is very common in the gaming industry, as the streamers will be testing the games and showing them to their community.
- A shoutout, where the creator will talk about the brand for 1 to 2 minutes and promote it on his or her channel.
The coming of events to Twitch
Twitch has also become a place where people watch company announcements and get involved in games industry events. Companies now have dedicated Twitch channels at almost all games industry events. This allows people who can’t attend the event to feel more included.
One of the most successful Twitch events so far was when 2.5 million people tuned in to watch the famous Fortnite streamer, TheGrefg, unveil his new Fortnite skin. Events like this help to keep enthusiasm high for games that could have started losing momentum without Twitch.
The nostalgic effect of Twitch
Twitch lets older games be played and enjoyed by people who remember playing them and also by new people. When a popular streamer plays a game, it can bring life back to the game and also help the developers. This makes developers think about culture and history when they make new games.
Twitch has had a big impact on players, gamers, celebrities, and game studios. It has helped games get in front of more people more quickly than ever before. Twitch has created a community of people who love games and it is inspiring the next generation to work in the game industry!
Bold Creators Club can help you reach your goals
To have a successful Instagram account, you need to put in the time and effort. You can’t just set up your account and expect people to start clicking on your links. You need an engaged audience that is interested in your brand. This is why running Instagram ads is still a good idea – it will help you build up a following and figure out what engages your target customers best.
Dealing with social media influencers is not always easy. Actually, most of the time, companies and influencers can’t communicate clearly, as there is a lack of a cultural, linguistic, and social bridge that connects both.
When it comes to Latin influencers, this communication barrier is even bigger. Not only because a lot of people in countries like Brazil or Colombia don’t English, but also because these countries are highly multicultural, with cities with completely different styles, slang, and social and cultural movements within the country.
In the case of Brazil, this aspect is so strong that there are even completely different cultures within the same city, in big metropolises like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.
It is really hard to keep up with the constant changes in pop culture and in the internet world, so contacting an agency whose job is to always be updated about what the influencers are doing, how is the stability in the country, and more important information for your company, is the best strategy.