iGaming and the industry of development of games have been given a unique insight from Twitter.
As we know, the public perception of gaming changes almost yearly at this point. Games were dumb, games were dangerous, games were sexist, games were art, games were immersive, games were fun.
And nowhere is this changing attitude demonstrated better than on Twitter, where gamers and non-gamers alike put their 2 pence in on …well everything, but also games. Mobile gaming, Gamergate, child suitability, reviews, loot boxes, new consoles, groundbreaking mechanics or narratives, eSports, and a whole host of subjects are instantly mentioned on Twitter, pretty much any time there isn’t already a controller in users’ hands.
Gaming has become a key part of culture, slotting in nicely between movies, music, and TV as the big formats of home entertainment, and it is expanding. Once upon a time games at home were board games, or you had to go to an arcade. Now games are on TV via consoles, handheld, on your PC, mobile gaming, in virtual reality and no doubt will be the first thing to be thought of when the next tech breakthrough occurs.
So, what has changed in the narrative of gaming? And how can developers use this information to market to their audiences? We break it all down here.
What is Twitter saying?
As Twitter itself explains: “In the first half of 2022, there were approximately 1.5 billion Tweets about gaming – a record half following up on a record year for gaming conversation in 2021. The 36% increase in Tweets about gaming year-over-year was driven by big-time conversations around game releases like Elden Ring, esports leagues like Call of Duty League, VALORANT Champions Tour, and Professional Gamers League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and global gaming events like Xbox Showcase, PlayStation’s State of Play and Summer Game Fest.”
According to Twitter, the people tweeting most about gaming, by country, goes: Japan in first place, followed by the US, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, India, the UK, and Mexico.
The most tweeted about games were, in first place GenshinImpact, an anime fantasy open world RPG, Wordle, a hangman-esque mobile game, Ensemble Stars, a Japanese rhythm and music-themed mobile game, Final Fantasy, a long-standing science-fantasy narrative franchise that is notable for its love from western and eastern audiences, Pj Sekai which is similar to Ensemble stars, Apex Legends, a battle royale console, and PC game, Elden Ring, a fantasy epic console and PC game, Fate/Grand Order, a Japanese free-to-play mobile game, Valorant, a first-person shooter multiplayer game, and The Legend of Zelda, a longstanding fantasy console and PC franchise having gained new appreciation due to its latest release, Breath of the Wild.
The most tweeted about eSports teams were LoudGG, Karmine Corp, Crazy Raccoon, FaZe Clan, PaiN Gaming, G2 eSports, T1, Los Grande, Fnatic, and Furia, in that order.
How do we use this?
All of this is useful information for marketers, who might want to mention these games or teams when promoting their content, but the most useful to affiliate marketers is probably the Most Tweeted About Gaming Personalities list.
That is made up of @Colon56N, @Sapnap, @Dream, @lbaiLlanos, @JuanSGuarnizo, @auronplay, @felipeneto, @unkochan1234567, @GeorgeNotFound, and @Rubiu5.
The key to getting gamers’ attention lies in communities and influencers. The biggest influencers on Twitter are all laid out there, ready for affiliate marketing opportunities, and very adept at them, but there are also smaller creators out there. The gaming genre is the biggest on Twitch and YouTube, with the most creators. Aiming for some of them might offer a smaller but more dedicated audience, once that isn’t biased against the creator for being so big that they become unrelatable.
And don’t forget that every one of those eSports players within the 10 teams listed above is open to some affiliate marketing too.
But another ace up your sleeve is the concept of communities. A lot of these franchises and gamers, in general, have their own communities. They’re on Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, etc., and are busy talking about their favourite games and players. If you like the idea of infiltrating these communities, you can take note of the creators that naturally rise to the top of these communities, giving another reason as to why gamers would listen to them when they make recommendations.
But it pays to have your finger on the pulse. The 10 most talked-about games on Twitter aren’t the be-all and end-all of gaming communities. Like films, cult game franchises are a concept, like Bendy and the Ink Machine, which have feverish and dedicated fanbases that are very loyal to their community.
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