There has never been a better time to be a gamer. Not only are the games better quality than ever, but competitive gaming culture has also expanded into the mainstream and has allowed many young people ample opportunities to turn their passions for gaming into full-fledged careers. From being a professional Esports player to streaming on Twitch and making YouTube videos and Patreon accounts—being a gamer can be an insanely fruitful endeavor. These 12 esports athletes, influencers, and streamers are opening new avenues in their own respective lanes.
Aphromoo
Aphromoo is a professional gamer and Esports athlete that specializes in League of Legends, but has also moonlighted as a top notch Counter Strike player as well. He’s consistently finishing in the top 10 and took first place during the LA NCS 2018 Spring Split. He also streams League of Legends on Twitch for a community over 769,000 strong.
Dr. Lupo
Dr. Lupo is known for playing Fortnite and Destiny 2. The best streamers always treat their channels like a business and Dr. Lupo takes that to another level. From the aesthetics in his studio to the sponsors, he’s able to lock down, Dr. Lupo is creating an incredible blueprint for self-starting streamers out there. Lupo’s has taken his gaming career mainstream and nailed down sponsors like Gillette and State Farm, and is part of Rogue’s content team.
Ninja
Ninja is an absolute gaming icon. He makes an estimated $18 million a year from his various streaming and endorsement deals. He famously ditched Twitch to exclusively stream for Mixer—who gave Ninja $20-$30 million. Ninja even has his own character skin in Fortnite and has almost single-handedly raised the bar for what a professional gamer can strive for.
MTashed/Gladd
While Destiny 2 is a fairly niche game compared to others on Twitch, the Destiny 2 community is a ravenous bunch and they just helped two streamers crush Twitch’s subscription-train world record. Gladd scored over 28,00 new subscriptions in two days and reportedly earned over $98,000 because of that channel growth.
Mtashed earned over 9600 new subscribers and told his chat on-air that he earned somewhere around $11,000 in a single day. These two streamers are highlighting how game developers and streamers can work together for the benefit of everyone.
Tfue
Turner Ellis Telley is only 22-years-old and has already amassed over 1.2 billion views on his YouTube channel and another 212 million on his Twitch channel. He streams Call of Duty and Fortnite and reminds me of that guy in the clan that talks a lot of shit but still has a good heart.
Sarah Daniels
Known as the “PVE Princess,” Sarah Daniels tackles the hardest content in one of the hardest games, Destiny 2. She regularly helps other players get through Raids — some of the most challenging team-based content in gaming. She also teams up with other content creators to tackle difficult tasks and challenges.
Shroud
Shroud is a Polish-Canadian Esports athlete and streamer that has made a name for himself by completely fragging out and garnered the title “the human aimbot.” He started as a professional CS:GO player and won numerous first place rankings during competitions before transitioning into a full-time Twitch streamer.
He later took an exclusive deal to stream with Mixer along with Ninja. Since the platform was shut down by Microsoft, he’s figuring out his next moves.
SonicFox
SonicFox is an enormously talented Esports athlete and is known as a fighting game prodigy on the Evil Geniuses team. Their ability to pick up and master new characters incredibly quickly is renowned. Mentioned in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, SonicFox has won several tournaments playing Mortal Kombat and Injustice: Gods Among Us.
PVDDR
Pablo Daritos is a Brazilian born Magic: The Gathering player. While the other professionals in this genre make their living in the digital space, Daritos rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars by building decks and slanging cards. He was the youngest player to ever hit 300 professional points on the pro circuit. He was elected into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame and is the all-time leader in prize winnings.
Pokimane
Pokimane is one of the most popular streamers on Twitch and is an official brand ambassador for the platform. While she started out as an avid Fortnite and League of Legends player, she’s transitioned into creating wider ranges of content. She has over 4.8 million views on Twitch. She also is a full-time YouTube video creator as well and her channels have garnered more than 500 million views.
TimTheTatman
TimTheTatman is one of the most popular streamers in the world, hands down. His Twitch streams regularly crack 50,000 views and retain tens of thousands of views anytime he’s online. He’s one of the most popular Warzone streamers online and has set Twitch’s donation record with over $100,000 raised in four hours.
Loserfruit
Loserfruit is one of the biggest Fortnite streamers on the planet and was rewarded her own in-game skin as a result. Her digital presence is colorful and well branded, with all her channels carrying a type of colorful-cohesion throughout. Loserfruit has over 5 million followers between her Twitch and YouTube channels.
