Before YouTube, before the internet, and before new media, the idea that people would pay to sit around and watch other people play games would not have gotten much traction.
Again, we’re talking about a gaming industry that was unrecognizable compared to what it is today. As digital media, whether it be influencers, streamers, or podcasts, they have quickly become the main angle for marketers.
Gone are the days when traditional legacy media held all the cards in this field. Back in the 1990s, the costs of printing full-page adverts in national newspapers were outrageous, and TV spots were also equally expensive.
In terms of marketing, legacy media had this whole market to themselves; they didn’t have any competition, and this is why they spent the last half a century being able to hoard astonishing amounts of cash, before digital DIY media started to undercut them, and slowly drain their influence out of the gaming industry, as well as the broader media world.
Capturing A Niche
It is fair to say that you can go on YouTube or Twitch and find a reaction video for anything, no matter how popular or how niche it is.
While the most popular games on the market have an army of streamers, such as popular sports games and Grand Theft Auto, you can find a growing demand for niche reaction videos in the world of casino gaming, too.
For some, this acts as a middle ground. For instance, casino gamers might love slots, but because they stay within the confines of their time and budget, they wisely choose not to sit on a casino site all day playing slots.
Watching somebody play slots via a live stream and playing slots for real money yourself are obviously slightly different. Still, they can offer solid insight into the mechanics of the game, the sites to avoid, and which slot game providers are putting together titles and ideas worth checking out.
It’s not just streamers who have been able to turn this idea into a profitable route for themselves; companies now predominantly use social media, clips, and posts to push their brand out there, often fusing it with meme ideas and short captions to try to channel into the new market dynamic – as you can see in the link below.
It only takes one or two viral posts to really capture a market, especially within a niche. The downside is that the market is global and saturated, and it often takes ingenious ideas and methods to make some headway – especially in the world of casino gaming, where the market is inundated with similar brands and ideas.
Why Reaction Videos Work
Ultimately, there are several reasons. The streamers are funny, they can connect and communicate with a large audience, and many of them know the nuances of how social media and streaming work; they integrate feedback from their audience, and, from the perspective of the gaming industry, those that can generate a community are often a more reliable source of opinion and insight in comparison to traditional reviewers from gaming journalists.
While it is admittedly always a good idea to get a broad range of opinions on a new game, streamers will often engage in playalongs or react to it in both short-form clips and longer, deeper breakdowns.
By making them interactive and showing the game side by side with a live reaction, it adds more authenticity for many gamers than simply reading a piece of text about the game.
Reaction videos have also emerged across a multitude of platforms, with traditional TV shows adopting the model, as well as more contemporary forms of media like TikTok.
They also have a global market; there are US streamers who are very popular domestically but not so much internationally. You have those with a bigger overseas audience, and there are also top streamers in emerging countries like the Philippines who can channel their audience into a global one and benefit from huge audience numbers.
Riding The Wave Of New Media
There’s an interconnection when we watch someone react to clips, games, or media we’re close to. By tapping into this feeling, reaction videos have become some of the most viral clips to do the rounds on social media, particularly since the beginning of this decade.
Some of the top streamers, such as Ninja, have an estimated net worth of $50 million. With this much money to be made in the industry, it’s not a surprise to see marketers and a much wider audience take to this form of new media to try and carve out their own niche.
Reaction videos have added a new layer and dimension to the way gaming marketing works. Rather than having to read about a game, we can now see it in real time, watch our favorite streamers play, and get a much better understanding of how it looks and plays.
While some reaction videos might be over the top, they continue to drive the market, and as more people take to social media and stay tuned into the online gaming market, it is hard to see this trend slowing down.