Meet the InfluencerUpdate.biz 20 Gaming Influencers to watch in 2017

• NoClip

  

  URL: www.youtube.com/NoclipVideo
  Social: https://twitter.com/noclipvideo

  Ex-Gamespot and Kinda Funny host Danny O’Dwyer is at the forefront of a breakthrough series of video game documentaries, that are entirely crowdfunded.

  Danny and his team have explored previously untold tales of a handful of games and developers, and created TV-grade features about their discoveries.

  After only one year, NoClip have amassed an incredible amount of support on YouTube and Patreon, and have made series’ following the creation and success of games such as Rocket League, DOOM and The Witcher.

  NoClip surpassed the 100,000 subscriber milestone in its first year and rakes in a staggering $23,000 a month on Patreon.

  
  

• Super Bunnyhop

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/bunnyhopshow
  Social: https://twitter.com/superbunnyhop

  If you like your takes hot and your pseudo-journalism hotter, look no further than Superbunnyhop.

  The channel, hosted by George Weidman, produces weekly videos, in which he review a plethora of video games. He also makes scripted videos on a series of topics related to the games industry.

  Superbunnyhop is currently enjoying a surge in growth, due to his no-nonsense attitude and cut-throat critique.

  His coverage is honest, well-researched, and entertaining throughout, and as a result, his videos are beginning to resonate with gamers and developers alike.

  
  

• Jim Sterling

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/JimSterling
  Social: https://twitter.com/JimSterling

  There’s a strong chance that you’re already familiar with Jim Sterling.

  His visceral, yet well-structured reviews, hot takes and arguments over things going in the gaming world have earned him a loyal following. Since 2015, he’s garnered 500k and 173k followers on YouTube and Twitter respectively.

  It’s also worth noting that Sterling was one of the first influencers to use Patreon as a way to support his YouTube content, which was super successful.

  He’s one of the best video game analysts in the consumer space, and his hard-headed, pragmatic approach to both his content and the games industry makes him one to keep an eye on.

  
  

• PhoenixGG2

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/Phoenixgg2
  Social: https://twitter.com/Phoenixgg2

  As of 2017, there are more children watching YouTube than ever before, and more creators catering to that audience than ever, too.

  PhoenixGG2, also known as Nicola, is a PG YouTuber and streamer, with a strict ‘no swearing’ policy on her content. Her main staple is Minecraft, closely followed by The Sims 4, and a handful of other cute games.

  Nicola’s channel has grown exponentially; she’s more than doubled her audience since the start of the year, and her enthusiastic community is constantly expanding.

  Nicola has secured her niché in PG content, and will continue to grow.

  
  

• ChainsawsuitGames

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/chainsawsuitgames
  Social: https://twitter.com/chainsawsuit

  Chainsawsuit is a beast with many different heads, but its games appendage is the most impressive yet.

  The channel is home to a number of video-themed shows written and directed by a collection of creators, and is overseen by ex-Gearbox writer Mikey Neumann (Also the voice of Scooter in the Borderlands series).

  The channel currently only clocks in at 5,000 subscribers, but that doesn’t reflect the quality of the or the watch times of the content.

  Chainsawsuitgames is growing fast, backed by a number of personalities in the video game space, and may become a solid platform for up-and-coming creators and writers to host their work on.

  
  

• Caddicarus

  

  URL:  https://www.youtube.com/user/Caddicarus
  Social: https://twitter.com/Caddicarus

  James Caddick, known as Caddicarus, has been around for a while.

  However, even with YouTube’s view to sub ratios dropping immensely over the past couple of years, Caddicarus’ content has remained as successful as ever. Caddick is also part of a collective of creators called Hidden Block, which began as a review site in 2013.

  His retrospective lookbacks of the PS1 era and reviews of modern releases have built him a stable, enthusiast community.

  While his subscriber count has plateaued around the 500,000 mark, his views are still on the rise. He’s also started attending events to do meet and greets.

  Caddick has partnered with a number of companies as a sponsor, and is often praised for his disclosure on sponsored videos.

  
  

• Indigo Gaming

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/indigogamingchannel
  Social: https://twitter.com/TheIndigoGaming

  2017 YouTube is all about the video essay. Although it’ll never silence ‘mindlessly shouting over horror games’, scripted, debate-inducing content is being allowed to shine.

  Indigo Gaming is a well-presented channel, featuring insightful video essays on various gaming topics.

  Indigo Gaming is a fine example of Google’s algorithm actively predicting what viewers will enjoy. While the channel itself only sits at 20,000 subscribers, the views per video vastly exceed that.

  While that may not mean much for the subscriber count of Indigo Gaming, it does suggest that subscriber numbers may not be as important as they once were.

   

  
  

• Many A True Nerd

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/ManyATrueNerd
  Social: https://twitter.com/ManyATrueNerd

  Many A True Merd is a YouTube channel, run by creators Jon and Claire.

  Often branded ‘MATN’, the channel is glued together by multiple series’ of letsplays, usually featuring strategy, survival and RTS games. Jon is a huge history buff, and that shines through in his work.

  The channel is a slow-burner, sitting just under the 300,000 subscriber mark, but Jon’s long-style playthroughs have built him a stable, enthusiastic community.

  Despite his daily videos consistently going over the one hour mark in length, Many A True Nerd maintains consistent watch-times, a high subscriber/viewer ratio and a sizeable Patreon income.

  
  

• Writing on Games

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/writingongames
  Social: www.twitter.com/writingongames

  Writing on Games slots nicely into the cliqué of popular video essayists, and for good reason.

  Hosted by Hamish Black, Writing on Games delivers strong, critical analysis on a number of game topics.

  While his YouTube channel only sits at a mere 70,000, he’s receiving a substantial amount of support on Patreon, as well as massively exceeding the average view-to-sub ratio.

  While Hamish doesn’t have a social media footprint, his content is incredibly popular. His intricate knowledge of game design will fare well with developers and his incredible watch times per video will ensure any product he covers will circulate incredibly well.

  
  

• Naysayerz

  

  URL: http://naysayerz.com
  Social: https://twitter.com/Naysayerz

  Heather Dower, known as Naysayerz, is a presenter and content creator, who very swiftly made her way from the underground eSports scene, onto GinxTV - Sky’s dedicated competitive gaming channel.

  Initially showing up at Ginx as a guest, she quickly moved up to joining the crew as a co-host.

  Nay is also a content creator in her own right, and while full-time presenting keeps her busy, she does stream over on her own Twitch channel. She’s also a frequent attendee at gaming events around the UK, and can often be found hosting some sort of gaming stage.

  Dower is one to watch; her infectious personality and skill will see her on the frontline of a lot of cool things in the near future.

  
  

• Mark Brown

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/McBacon1337
  Social: https://twitter.com/britishgaming

  Mark Brown, despite being rather new to YouTube, is no stranger to the games industry.

  He’s been writing about games for a long time, and decided to take his knowledge to the video platform in 2015. Since then, he’s racked up a sizeable 300k subscribers, and is continuing to expand.

  ‘The Game Maker’s Tookit’ is Mark’s YouTube opus, a well-crafted, insightful and entertaining series on game design, how it works and how developers can use it to their advantage.

  His work is a brilliant tool for developers and agencies alike; Mark’s sheer amount of know-how paired with an ever-growing social media presence is certainly a force to watch.

  
  

• PushingUpRoses

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/pushinguproses
  Social: https://twitter.com/PushinUpRoses

  Retro enthusiast and sass extraordinaire Sarah Wilson creates a compelling mixture of content for her YouTube channel.

  Wilson has drawn in an audience with a combination of Let's Plays, vlogs and a staple series of video essays that touch on various game-related topics.

  A noted DOS fan, Sarah’s main draw is her review-style video essays, in which she covers a number of both classic and lesser-recognised games from the late 80s/90s.

  Wilson also answers questions about video games, such as ‘How do we seek escapism in games?’ and ‘Why does video game food look so good?’.

  Sitting at only 97,000 subscribers, PushingUpRoses is one of the smaller channels on this list, but it’s certainly deserving of its spot here.

  
  

• Alex/CraftedRL

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/alexcrafted
  Social: https://twitter.com/CraftedRL

  CraftedRL’s YouTube channel is exponential growth at it’s finest. After a change of name and direction, Alex decided he’d like to focus on Roblox, and that definitely paid off for him.

  Alex hit the 100,000 subscriber milestone in July 2016. In July 2017, less than a year later, he hit the one million subscriber mark.

  Despite this incredibly fast rise in popularity, Alex’s content still oozes the charm and professionalism of a creator that has been cultivating the skill set required for some years.

  He’s already well on his way to doubling his subscriber base again, and could very well be the next big sensation in YouTube Gaming.

  
  

• Leahviathan

  

  URL: https://go.twitch.tv/leah
  Social: https://twitter.com/leahviathan

  UK-based Twitch streamer Leah has enjoyed a surge in popularity recently.

  She’s known for regularly streaming a number of games on her channel, as well as performing at various gaming events around the world. Despite focusing exclusively on Twitch, Leah is always on the lookout for new opportunities.

  Leah’s drawn in an impressive audience over the last year, with sizeable followings on her social media to match.

  Her Twitch channel soared from 0 to 100,000 followers between 2015 and 2016, and continues to grow exponentially. She also featured on the BBC recently, discussing her rise on Twitch and career as a professional streamer.

  
  

• Radderss Gaming

  

  URL: https://go.twitch.tv/radderssgaming
  Social: https://twitter.com/RadderssGaming

  After falling ill with a number of chronic illnesses in 2013, Lauren (RadderssGaming) had nurtured an itch for Twitch, and decided to give streaming a go.

  After only two years, she’s partnered with Twitch, Humble Bundle and more recently with The Yogscast. She also collaborates frequently with other members of The Yogscast.

  Radderss streams a variety of games and boasts a strong, passionate community of over 18,000 Twitch followers.

  She’s a strong advocate of charity work, and raising awareness for chronic illnesses. Lauren was also streaming from and speaking on a number of influencer panels at Twitchcon 2017.

  
  

• Larry Bundy Jr.

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/Larry
  Social: https://twitter.com/LarryBundyJr

  The listicle format is a timeless one; it’s goal is simple, and it allows writers to communicate their ideas in small, digestible sections.

  Larry Bundy Jr has taken the ‘Top 5’ layout, and created a compelling series based around it. You may also recognise Larry as ‘Guru Larry’, an ex-presenter on Sky’s Game Network, that ceased production in 2006.

  Larry has been circumnavigating the UK games scene for almost two decades, but he is consistently working on interesting projects. While his listicles are a staple of his channel, he frequently collaborates with other creators, and by the looks of his content, is always open to new ideas.

  
  

• SuperMega

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/SuperMegaOfficial
  Social: https://twitter.com/supermegashow

  Podcasts have become a favourable format, given their digestibility, and SuperMega has been doing that extraordinarily well of late.

  Supermega began as a gaming and letsplay channel, run by Ryan Magee and Matt Watson. You might recognise their names from their work with YouTube giants, Game Grumps.

  Supermega shot from 0 to 175,000 subscribers in 2016, and is en-route to double that figure again by the end of 2017.

  While it could be argued that their success is down to ties with Game Grumps, Magee and Watson are great creators in their own right, and will be duly rewarded for that.

  
  

• Game Score Fanfare

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/gamescorefanfare
  Social: https://twitter.com/mittopotahis

  Focusing on one aspect of a video game can be difficult and laborious, but Game Score Fanfare seems to do it with ease.

  A channel that focuses on the music of video games and how it affects the game and the player, Game Score Fanfare has gathered a small, yet enthusiast fan base with its in-depth analysis of musical scores. Matthew Dyason is the creator behind these video-essays.

  At only 7,000 subscribers, this channel is one of the smallest on our list, but again, the watch times of Dyason’s videos once again exceed his subscriber base.

  His content is consistently impressive, and his videos will constantly fall prey to recommendation from bigger channels, based on tags.

  
  

• It’s Super Effective

  

  URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAp2xI_kx-ToJ4KhLeA9IhA
  Social: https://twitter.com/iseffective

  Another impressive channel that seems to have been lost to low subscriber numbers. It’s Super Effective is a game-orientated YouTube channel that primarily pumps out ‘fact videos’ on a plethora of video game characters.

  One of the major draws to the channel is their infrequent, yet exceptionally charming, video-essays.

  Clocking in at only 7,000 subs, this channel is but a small fish in the YouTube sea, but it’s impact has been great.

  The watch times on It’s Super Effective’s content vastly exceeds the standard subscriber to view count, and is another prime example of the right content being pushed to the right eyes.

  
  

• The 8 Bit Drummer

  

  URL: https://go.twitch.tv/the8bitdrummer
  Social: https://twitter.com/the8bitdrummer

  Nostalgia is a powerful tool, and The 8 Bit Drummer is all about that.

  Jerod performs drum covers of videogame themes and soundtracks, all whilst cultivating a large following. He’s earned a sweet 150,000 subscribers on YouTube, and 129,000 followers on Twitch, making him one of the only smaller gaming influencers with sizeable followings on both platforms.

  Jerod also attended Twitchcon 2017 as a guest, as well as hosting a meet and greet and performing onstage.

  While his concept is simple, his influence is astounding, making him a creator to keep in your sights. He’s also a strong advocate of charity work and streams regularly to support various organisations.