For anyone wanting an online presence, or to drive their personal popularity, social media is now an indispensable marketing tool, enabling fans and followers to keep up to date with a star’s daily life and opinions.
Instagram, Twitter and TikTok started out as places dominated by A-list celebs, but now everyone has joined the party and that includes top online gamers and Esports pros.
Here we detail just some of the online gaming stars who are making their way on multiple social media platforms, as the games they love, as well as their own personal profiles, continue to grow and grow.
Before transitioning into mainstream social media success, many popular online gaming streamers gain a fanbase on platforms like Twitch. It is here on the Amazon-owned streaming app that most of the biggest names in Esports have emerged, with the likes of Dr Disrespect and Ninja coming immediately to mind.
However, another sub-genre of online streamers that is managing to grow year-on-year is that of the classic game streamer. Just some of the burgeoning figureheads in this genre include the likes of The Botez Sisters and ROSHTEIN, with the latter having garnered over 900K followers on Twitch simply from spinning reels. That success is now transferring over to other platforms such as Instagram (112K followers) and Twitter (79K followers) with those numbers only set to grow.
Battle Royale Aficionados Still Rule the Roost
While players of classic games have certainly grown in prominence on social media platforms, the Esports pros who continue to rule the roost are those who specialize in battle royale games. The aforementioned Dr Disrespect is one of these, but there are many more besides such as Tim TheTatman and Nick Mercs. The latter of these has amassed huge followings on Instagram (2.6M) and Twitter (2M). Such impressive numbers are largely driven by the thousands upon thousands of gaming enthusiasts who tune into his live streaming channel on Twitch, where he represents the fazeclan Esports team
Social Gamers Have Become Biggest Stars of All
Everyone forgets that some of the biggest internet personalities out there like KSI started out by simply videoing themselves playing console and PC games. Since those days, when they were just goofing around on https://www.youtube.com/, they have become the biggest stars on the internet, with many of them boasting whopping followings.
KSI has 8.9M fans on TikTok and 11.1M on Instagram, which shows what incredible power online gamers can wield on social media if they put their mind to it.
Of course, men like KSI have gone on to become genuine mainstream entertainers and even music stars, realizing that their social media clout allows them to spread their wings and do so much more than simply stream themselves playing games.
Full-Blown Esports Pros
While it is hard to match the social media goliaths that have arisen from platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, there can be no doubt that fully-fledged Esports pros – who compete in pro tournaments both in-person and online – are gaining ground on their more famous counterparts.
That is because pro-Esports are growing in stature all the time, as major colleges in the US form their very own official varsity Esports teams and investors from Silicon Valley and traditional pro sports pour money into what they see as being one of the boom sports of the future.
Some of the most popular players in Esports include the likes of Johan “n0tail” Sundstein and Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi. The former has 293K followers on Instagram, while the latter has 50.5K.
Women Gamers Break the Mould
It has long been bemoaned in online gaming circles that not enough women are involved in the industry, but that means that when a successful woman does enter the space, she tends to turn heads and gain social media traction. A great example of this being the case is Pokimane, who boasts a whopping 6M followers on Instagram.
