

To demonstrate the nature of his popularity, in just the past four years PewDiePie has gained 64 million subscribers-more subscribers than the #2 and #3 gaming influencers have on this list combined! For over five years PewDiePie reigned as the top subscribed channel on YouTube. His channel features lifestyle vlogs and gaming livestreams for his exclusive channel members.

The first YouTube star to exceed 10 billion video views, PewDiePie commands the attention of over 110 million followers (dubbed the “Bro Army”) and, according to the Washington Post, his popularity has led to an “Oprah Effect” wherein games he plays receive a boost in sales. Here’s our list of the top 20 most influential gamers on YouTube:įelix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is a gaming YouTuber popular for his Let’s Play videos, many of which focus on horror-themed games ( Silent Hill, Dead Island), Minecraft, and a myriad of flash games. To show the extent of their influence, it would take over 3 years to watch every YouTube video produced by the top 20 gaming creators. Our list of 20 top gaming YouTubers has a collective audience of 400 million subscribers. Youtube Gaming has been in steady competition since the rise of Twitch to become the leading livestreaming platform for eSports, and the main platform for popular gaming influencers. Brands can easily leverage influencer partnerships on livestream sites because the content is unfiltered and authentic, which increases credibility among audiences. YouTube Gaming features a “live-content” site that facilitates real-time interaction between the viewer and YouTuber. Within the gaming sphere, videos are so successful that YouTube developed its own dedicated gaming platform, YouTube Gaming launched on August 26, 2015.

Many of today’s most popular social media stars produce gaming-related content, a genre that accounts for 80% of YouTube’s top trends. To learn more about YouTubers, see our post on the richest YouTubers or check out our guide to influencer marketing with YouTubers. YouTube’s ubiquity and endless hours of user-generated content have made the platform extremely popular among millennials (18- to 34-year-olds), and though the age group now outnumbers baby boomers as the most populous in the United States, marketers find millennials an elusive demographic to target. For brands seeking to capitalize on YouTube’s expansive reach, marketing with top YouTube influencers may hold the key to winning over future generations.

With over 2 billion users and more than a billion hours of video watched every day, YouTube is now the world’s second-largest search engine after Google.
