Gaming is huge in the lexicon of pop culture. From masters of MineCraft and guild leaders of World of WarCraft to the noob pwners of Overwatch and Call of Duty, it seems everyone has game they either play or watch. And the watching of gamers gets bigger by the day. Just look at Twitch.tv! The live streaming video platform and subsidiary of Amazon.com features top gaming influencers playing in real time. It grew from a niche content hub in 2007 to rival Netflix, Google and Apple for most Internet consumption. During peak periods the platform accounts for more than 1.8 percent of all US Internet traffic.
So, who should you be watching? Let’s discover the top gaming influencers you need to follow:
25 Top Gaming Influencers
PewDiePie
PewDiePie is a Swedish gaming influencer with well over 57 million subscribers and 16 billion views. He was at one point the highest-paid influencer on YouTube and is still considered the top gaming influencer of all time. Although massively influential, his star has fallen a bit in recent months, thanks to a series of videos that contain anti-Semitic sentiment and imagery.
DanTDM
DanTDM, aka TheDiamondMineCart, has more than 16 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, which is all about the game “Minecraft.” As one of the top gaming influencers, his channel has also set world records when it comes to number of views. Currently, he has more than 11 billion views. Once he got to seven billion, he landed a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the gaming channel with the greatest number of views.
Jacksepticeye
Of the top gaming influencers, the top Irish gaming influencer is Jacksepticeye. He has well over 16 million followers and more than eight billion views on his YouTube channel. His channel is full of video reviews and commentary on pretty much every game out there.
SkyDoesMinecraft
In case it wasn’t clear, lots of top gaming influencers are into “Minecraft.” SkyDoesMinecraft is one of them. His YouTube channel has nearly 12 million subscribers and over three billion views.
SSSniperWolf
Of all the top gaming influencers, UK-based SSSniperWolf is the top female gaming influencer. She has more than six million subscribers, more than one billion views, and plenty of videos about “Call of Duty.”
Seananners
YouTuber Seananners has more than 5.7 million subscribers and over 2.4 billion views. As one of the top gaming influencers, he reviews a range of games on his channel, but seems to focus on “Grand Theft Auto,” “Call of Duty,” and “Minecraft.”
TheSyndicateProject
People subscribe to TheSyndicateProject’s YouTube channel to catch his play-thru of games like “Call of Duty” and “Halo.” He has more than 10 million YouTube subscribers, and was the first gamer to get more than one million followers on the game-centric video platform Twitch. He’s one of the OG top gaming influencers.
TheBajanCanadian
TheBajanCanadian is another “Minecraft”-focused gaming influencer, although he does vlog about other games. His YouTube channel has more than six million subscribers and nearly two billion views.
Mari Takahashi
Mari Takahashi doesn’t have a super large number of subscribers to her own YouTube channel, AtomicMari (just over 200,000). But is one of the top gaming influencers with more than four billion views. She was also on the 33rd season of the reality TV show “Survivor” and came out of SmoshGames, a influential YouTube gaming channel.
KSI
KSI seems to be following a music career right now, but he rose to fame as one of the top gaming influencers. He has more than 17 million subscribers thanks to his gaming videos, and specifically his commentary on FIFA games.
Simon Minter
Simon Minter, or miniminter, as he’s known on YouTube, is another top gaming influencer known for FIFA commentary. He has more than six million YouTube subscribers and has collaborated with other gaming influencers like KSI.
FaZe Clan
As you might guess from the name, FaZe Clan is a team of top gaming influencers, made up of 65 people. Their collective channel has more than 4.5 million subscribers and features videos covering games like “Call of Duty.”
VanossGaming
VanossGaming left college at the University of Pennsylvania to become a gaming influencer. That move seems to have paid off for him, since he has well over 21 million subscribers and has also landed a gig voicing a character on a cartoon series for YouTube Red.
Markiplier
Markiplier is another college dropout who has found success as a top gaming influencer. He focuses on the humor in gaming, and has more than 18 million subscribers.
Sonja Reid
Sonja Reid doesn’t have massive numbers of subscribers — she’s under 800,000 on YouTube. But she still managed to partner with big name brands like SyFy and Audi.
Smosh Games
Smosh Games is a multi-influencer top gaming influencer channel with more than seven million subscribers. Its claim to fame is its “Let’s Play” videos featuring popular games like “Grand Theft Auto” and “Halo.”
Captainsparklez
With more than 10 million subscribers, Captainsparklez is another gaming influencer who got popular for “Let’s Play” videos, and who has transitioned into other forms of entertainment, like music.
The Game Theorists
The Game Theorists put some thought into the games they play. As top gaming influencers, their channel is pushing 9 million subscribers, which means there are lots of others out there who think about games a little too much too.
W2S
Top gaming influencer W2S sometimes teams up with KSI, and occasionally posts video takedowns of KSI. He’s got more than 11 million subscribers, thanks to his FIFA videos.
Ali-A
Ali-A has more than nine million subscribers on YouTube. As one of the top gaming influencers, his focus is on “Call of Duty” gameplays and walkthroughs, but he does branch out from time to time.
TobyGames
TobyGames is more than a top gaming influencer. But his games-focused YouTube channel is pretty influential. He has more than six million subscribers on his game channel, which features videos about “Minecraft” and “Slender.”
iHasCupcake
iHasCupcake isn’t just a top gaming influencer — she also vlogs about baking and DIY. That combination of interests has led to her getting more than five million subscribers.
JonTronShow
JonTronShow’s three million+ YouTube subscribers tune in for his funny videos. As one of the top gaming influencers, He’s particularly good at making videos featuring him yelling at a game.
theRadBrad
theRadBrad has been called “King of the YouTube walkthrough.” And his more than seven million subscribers seem to agree. As one of the top gaming influencers, his channel is full of walkthroughs for games like “Final Fantasy” and “Assassin’s Creed.”
Speedyw03
Speedyw03 is another humorous YouTuber gamer with more than 6.5 million subscribers. His videos range from gameplays to “funny moments,” and cover a range of games, such as “Grand Theft Auto,” “Skyfall,” and “Call of Duty.”