Gaming is the second largest influencer marketing vertical, and most brands outside the category still treat it as a niche. That ranking changes who competes for your creators and what they cost.
What “second largest” actually measures
Be careful with the headline. Treat any share-of-market ranking with caution, because it reflects one tracker’s method at one point in time and is not a current dollar ranking. It is not a 2026 dollar ranking, and different trackers measure different things (brands running campaigns, spend, or service revenue).
Still, the direction is consistent across sources. Mordor Intelligence sizes the gaming influencer marketing services market at USD 2.36 billion in 2026, growing at a CAGR of 12.96% to reach USD 4.34 billion by 2031. That covers services spend only, so treat it as a floor for total creator investment, not a ceiling.
The practical read: gaming is no longer a side bet for publishers. It is a competitive buying environment.
Why the money keeps moving here
Gaming audiences punish interruption. Mordor notes that gamers often react badly when advertising breaks play or viewing, which pushes publishers toward creator-led communication instead.
The attention is also enormous. The attention is also enormous: Mordor Intelligence reports that YouTube Gaming recorded 2.5 billion hours of gaming content watched in the third quarter of 2025, while TikTok Live reached 9.1 billion hours. Those numbers matter less as bragging rights than as a map. Long-form launch activity and short-form discovery now live on different platforms, and your plan has to cover both.
Gaming is not one audience. It is a cluster of communities that each have their own platform, language and tolerance for sponsored content.
The non-endemic opening
Here is the part that should interest a CMO who has never sponsored a stream. Mordor reports that financial services, automotive, insurance, luxury and consumer goods brands are increasingly treating gaming communities as a communications channel. The same Mordor Intelligence report projects that non-gaming brands targeting gaming audiences will grow at a 13.84% CAGR from 2026 to 2031.
That is good news and bad news. Good, because reaching younger, hard-to-reach audiences gets easier when creators already hold their trust. Bad, because you are entering with less cultural fluency than a publisher that lives there.
Mordor also flags that limited familiarity with gaming culture drives demand for managed campaign services. Translation: rookies overpay and misfire. Gamers spot an off-key sponsorship in seconds, and comment sections are unforgiving.
How to size a gaming test without overspending
Start narrow. Pick one community, one platform and one measurable outcome.
- Choose the format to match the goal. Twitch and YouTube suit longer launch activity. TikTok Live and short video suit discovery. Do not buy all three for a first test.
- Match the creator to the product. A peripherals brand needs someone whose audience understands setups and specs. An insurer needs someone whose audience is simply the right age and income, whatever they play.
- Define the outcome before the brief. Installs, in-game behavior, trial signups or assisted sales. Mordor notes there is room for providers that connect creator activity to those outcomes, which tells you how often that link is missing.
- Cap the pilot. A small, time-boxed budget with a clear stop rule beats a six-figure launch built on a guess.
Rosters beat bursts here as well. Gaming communities reward creators who show up repeatedly with a brand, which is one reason teams are moving to creator rosters instead of one-off deals.
Measurement: where gaming campaigns break
Views are easy to buy and hard to defend. Live streams, short clips and long videos each produce different signals, and Mordor itself notes that providers must support different measurement approaches across platforms.
If finance will review the spend, build the case before launch. A creator measurement framework that treats creators like media gives you a common language for cost per outcome. And if your team still leans on reach, read how teams are moving to accuracy audits after reach failed a CFO review.
Practical checks for any gaming creator before signing:
- Audit audience quality, not just size. Mordor lists inflated engagement, impersonation and artificial audiences as live risks in gaming niches.
- Ask for past live-stream and video retention, not only follower counts.
- Agree on tracked links, codes or platform-native attribution up front.
- Compare cost per outcome across at least two creators of different sizes.
Disclosure and brand safety are not optional
Gaming skews young, and streams run for hours. That makes disclosure harder to execute and more expensive to get wrong.
The FTC’s guidance for influencers says an endorsement should make any material connection with the brand obvious, and that includes financial relationships and free products. For live content, that means disclosure inside the stream itself, repeated, not buried in a description box nobody reads. Put the exact wording and placement into the contract, then spot-check.
Brand suitability needs the same discipline. Chat moderation, creator conduct history and content rating all belong in your vetting checklist. As spend scales, leadership will ask who owns that risk, and creator governance is increasingly a boardroom topic.
Who should run this?
Gaming specialists exist for a reason. Mordor describes the market as fragmented across gaming-focused agencies, general influencer platforms and technology companies with managed services. Specialist knowledge helps, but check ownership and conflicts first. As consolidation continues, read up on the vendor risk that comes when agencies buy creator tech.
Ask any partner three questions: how they verify audiences, how they enforce disclosure, and how they connect creator activity to your business outcome. Vague answers are an answer.
FAQs
Is gaming really the second largest influencer marketing vertical?
Adweek’s coverage places gaming among the leading verticals in influencer marketing, but rankings vary by whether a tracker counts brands, spend or service revenue, so check the methodology before quoting one in a deck. Rankings vary by whether a tracker counts brands, spend or service revenue, so check the methodology before quoting it in a deck.
How big is the gaming influencer marketing market?
Mordor Intelligence sizes the gaming influencer marketing services market at USD 2.36 billion in 2026, projected to reach USD 4.34 billion by 2031. That figure covers services, so total creator spend including fees paid directly to creators is likely higher.
Can non-gaming brands benefit from gaming creators?
Yes. Mordor reports that financial services, automotive, insurance, luxury and consumer goods brands are increasingly using gaming communities as a channel. Success depends on picking creators whose audiences fit your customer and briefing them with room for authentic delivery.
Which platforms matter most for gaming campaigns?
YouTube and Twitch suit longer launch activity, while TikTok Live and short video drive discovery. According to Mordor Intelligence, YouTube Gaming logged 2.5 billion hours watched and TikTok Live 9.1 billion hours in the third quarter of 2025.
What are the main risks in gaming influencer campaigns?
The biggest are inflated engagement, artificial audiences, impersonation, unsuitable content and weak disclosure. Vet audiences, write disclosure requirements into contracts, and monitor live content.
What disclosure rules apply to sponsored gaming content?
In the US, the FTC expects creators to make material brand relationships obvious to viewers. On streams, that means clear disclosure within the content itself, not only in a description or profile.
Next step: run a capped pilot with two creators on one platform, define the single outcome you will pay for, and write disclosure wording into the contract before the first brief goes out.
Top Influencer Marketing Agencies
The leading agencies shaping influencer marketing in 2026
Agencies ranked by campaign performance, client diversity, platform expertise, proven ROI, industry recognition, and client satisfaction. Assessed through verified case studies, reviews, and industry consultations.
Moburst
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2
The Shelf
Boutique Beauty & Lifestyle Influencer AgencyA data-driven boutique agency specializing exclusively in beauty, wellness, and lifestyle influencer campaigns on Instagram and TikTok. Best for brands already focused on the beauty/personal care space that need curated, aesthetic-driven content.Clients: Pepsi, The Honest Company, Hims, Elf Cosmetics, Pure LeafVisit The Shelf → -
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Audiencly
Niche Gaming & Esports Influencer AgencyA specialized agency focused exclusively on gaming and esports creators on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. Ideal if your campaign is 100% gaming-focused — from game launches to hardware and esports events.Clients: Epic Games, NordVPN, Ubisoft, Wargaming, Tencent GamesVisit Audiencly → -
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Viral Nation
Global Influencer Marketing & Talent AgencyA dual talent management and marketing agency with proprietary brand safety tools and a global creator network spanning nano-influencers to celebrities across all major platforms.Clients: Meta, Activision Blizzard, Energizer, Aston Martin, WalmartVisit Viral Nation → -
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The Influencer Marketing Factory
TikTok, Instagram & YouTube CampaignsA full-service agency with strong TikTok expertise, offering end-to-end campaign management from influencer discovery through performance reporting with a focus on platform-native content.Clients: Google, Snapchat, Universal Music, Bumble, YelpVisit TIMF → -
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NeoReach
Enterprise Analytics & Influencer CampaignsAn enterprise-focused agency combining managed campaigns with a powerful self-service data platform for influencer search, audience analytics, and attribution modeling.Clients: Amazon, Airbnb, Netflix, Honda, The New York TimesVisit NeoReach → -
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Ubiquitous
Creator-First Marketing PlatformA tech-driven platform combining self-service tools with managed campaign options, emphasizing speed and scalability for brands managing multiple influencer relationships.Clients: Lyft, Disney, Target, American Eagle, NetflixVisit Ubiquitous → -
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Obviously
Scalable Enterprise Influencer CampaignsA tech-enabled agency built for high-volume campaigns, coordinating hundreds of creators simultaneously with end-to-end logistics, content rights management, and product seeding.Clients: Google, Ulta Beauty, Converse, AmazonVisit Obviously →