There is no government agency overseeing decency on streaming sites and the personalities making the most noise aren’t always peddling the most high-minded material.įelix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg (No. Both gamers were cashing in on Microsoft’s desperation to give relevance to Mixer, which lags Facebook, YouTube and Twitch in total gaming hours watched, according to both Palo Alto-based streaming toolmaker StreamElements and Chicago-based data analyst Arsenal.gg. Three months after Ninja signed with Mixer, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro who retired in 2018 at 23 (No. At his peak, Blevins made upwards of $500,000 per month, splitting the $4.99 premium fee fans paid to Twitch.īlevins’ third time being interviewed by Jimmy Fallon was in 2019, when he was the most talked-about gamer on Twitter. The biggest streamers buttress that revenue by collecting directly from their followers, who can “tip” them with direct one-time payments or pay for a premium subscription that the players split with platforms like Amazon’s Twitch and Mixer. Ninja merchandise-from a graphic novel to his signature headband-can be purchased at Walmart and Target.Īnd Ninja is just one of hundreds of internet entertainers cashing in on the growing influence of streaming and gaming culture, which has brands including Monster Energy, Postmates and State Farm paying up in their hunger to reach the elusive Millennial audience eMarketer estimates sponsorships and advertising spends in gaming alone would hit $3.3 billion in 2019. In the last year he has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and performed as a guest vocalist on Fox’s The Masked Singer.

His visage adorned soft drink cans thanks to an endorsement deal with Red Bull. Ninja, who has been a pro gamer in one form or another since starting with Halo 3 in 2009, is well under way. None of them made the list through competition alone. In all, the ten top-earning gamers have a combined 270 million followers across YouTube, Twitch and Mixer and earned $121 million last year. The blue-haired gamer has an additional 22.7 million YouTube subscribers and 14.9 million followers on Instagram. Ninja has 2.8 million followers on Mixer, Microsoft’s nascent gaming platform, which Forbes estimates will spend $30 million over three years after luring him from arch-rival Twitch last August. They earn their millions from leveraging their massive online followings into endorsements, fees and sponsorships. That’s because top-earning gamers are more influencer than they are elite athlete.

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