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Last year’s most prolific video game celebrities proved that the industry is continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate – and there’s plenty of money to be made.
2019 was an exciting year for online gaming.
It saw the biggest annual growth in eSports yet, taking on top sponsorships from Louis Vuitton and propping its biggest names up on late night television shows, while streamers continued to surge in subscriber numbers. Slowly but surely, online video game streaming is permeating mainstream culture. As Gen Z moves further into adulthood, the amount spent in the industry continues to increase, leading to more packed out arenas for Dota 2 competitions and Fortnite world cups.
All of this progress has lead to increased revenues for those at the top of the chain. Whether they found success on Twitch, Mixer, or YouTube, these internet celebrities banked the most money out of anyone last year, and it’s nothing to be scoffed at. Here are the highest earning gamers of 2019. No prizes for guessing who’s at the number one spot.
#5 Shroud ($12.5 million)
Making a point not to confine himself to any singular title (an alternative strategy to, say, Ninja) Shroud is popular with big industry publishers, and began as a professional competitive player. While his viewership for each video or stream isn’t in the millions, Shroud’s partnerships with companies such as EA and Activision have earned him a spot on this top earners list.
Check out his channel here, as he’s probably got a playthrough of a game you’ll be interested in somewhere in his backlog. Diversity in titles is the focus with Shroud, and he’s an assured crowd pleaser.
#4 Markiplier ($14 million)
Though Markiplier has branched out into multiple projects and channels recently (one being a challenge series that will be deleted next year) he still stays true to his bread and butter – gaming playthroughs on his original channel. He made it big earlier last decade with his over-the-top reactions to horror games and his quirky personality, and thankfully little has changed.
Markiplier is one of the more commercially friendly creators on YouTube, having bagged numerous sponsorship deals over the years and frequently being invited to feature in YouTube Rewind. He’s about to hit 25 million subscribers, and 2020 seems likely to be as lucrative as 2019.
#3 Preston ($14 million)
This one’s a little different to the others on this list, as Preston’s as much a gamer as he is a standard YouTube vlogger, with most of his content aimed at younger viewers. His approach clearly works, though, as the 25-year-old managed to turn a substantial profit over in 2019 with his merchandise drops and daily Minecraft series, of which each episode garners upward of a million views.
Preston’s success shines a light on the potential that comes with YouTube’s younger demographic. Content tailored to children brings in big numbers, with channels such as Peppa Pig boasting millions of views every day. It’s an audience that the platform’s keen to capitalise on, too, having launched ‘YouTube Kids’ in 2015. Preston won’t be slowing down for the foreseeable future.
