The top-earning full-time video gamers are all content creators on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, according to a recent report, beating out professional esports players for earnings in 2019. Streamers like Tyler "Ninja" Blevins and YouTubers like Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg bolster ad revenue with merchandise deals and sponsored content, which helped the top earners make more millions of dollars in 2019.
The game streaming world has been a tumultuous one as of late. Beginning with Ninja's exit in August, Twitch began losing streamers regularly. As the most popular streaming platform, Twitch appeared to be growing complacent. Odd content moderation inconsistencies and other issues made it feel like the internet was turning against Twitch, and streamers like and CouRage and Disguised Toast left for Facebook and other platforms. The streaming space is now full of much more uncertainty, but there is, of course, still much opportunity for money-making.
The top-earning gamers report comes via Forbes, which compiled information from interviews with industry insiders and from data sites like TwitchTracker. According to the report, Ninja earned $17 million in 2019, the most of any gamer. Ninja leaving Twitch for Mixer lowered his viewership significantly, but his personal brand still has lots of money-making potential, with sponsorship deals with brands such as Adidas, according to Forbes, and the recent, long-awaited Ninja Fortnite skin.
Taking the second-place slot after Ninja was PewDiePie, the most-subscribed individual on YouTube. PewDiePie was YouTube's most-watched creator in 2019, racking up four billion views. This helped him earn $15 million in 2019, despite being a controversial figure in the gaming community. PewDiePie has created anti-Semitic and other offensive content in the past, and he announced he was taking a break from YouTube after the company changed its harassment policies. PewDiePie has not uploaded a video since January 15, 2020, at the time of writing.
Minecraft YouTuber and vlogger Preston "Preston" Arsement was the third-highest earner last year, at $14 million, followed by Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach and Michael "shroud" Grzesiek, at $14 million and $12.5 million, respectively. The sixth, seventh, and eighth highest earners all sat around shroud's level, earning between $11 million and $12 million. After that, things drop off significantly: Timothy "TimTheTatman" Betar, who was one of three streamers Twitch paid millions to keep exclusive to its platform, made $8 million in 2019, and the streamer in the final slot on the list made only $6 million.
The increasing number of streaming platform-exclusivity deals and the growing "influencer" status of content creators means professional gaming is likely as profitable as it ever has been, but Forbes' report proves making money in gaming isn't about actual game-playing. These streamers all gained popularity (and big-money entertainment deals) mostly due to their personalities, not their gaming talent. With Ninja on Mixer, there's now more space for other big personalities to rise to the top of Twitch viewership charts in then next few years - and make a lot of money in the process.
Source: Forbes