Gaming and the Creator Economy

June 27, 2024

“IN 15 YEARS, SHE NEVER VISITED ONCE.”
“She parks in the same lot as our business and she’s never once visited our location. You’re bringing a new clientele in that we’ve never seen before.”

ROLL CALL:
* Raise your hand if you have ever played games on your phone or elsewhere.
* Raise your hand if you have limited free time for enriching activities with your loved ones.
* Raise your hand if you or someone in your close circle engages regularly with social media.

GAMING AS SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitch originated from Justin.tv, which Justin Kan and his team launched in 2007 as a life-casting platform, where users could broadcast their daily lives. Due to the immense popularity of its gaming content, Justin.tv rebranded its gaming section as Twitch in 2011. The platform quickly became a hub for live streaming video games, attracting millions of users. In 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch for $970 million.

Today, Twitch boasts around 15 million daily active users, making it the most popular live streaming platform in the world.

"The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that’s hidden from the outside." - Peter Thiel, Founder of PayPal

Twitch discovered the secret of how to turn gaming into a new form of media, creating a platform that became essential for millions of gamers and viewers.

The secret hiding in plain sight: Gaming is far more than entertainment. Entertainment is far more than fun and games. Social media is for more than idle browsing time. These words had specific meanings that are no longer relevant.

Gaming, entertainment, and social media represent a new kind of lifestyle with marketplace dynamics that rival some of the largest economic forces on our planet.

Goldman Sachs reports that the creator economy is expected to nearly double in size, reaching approximately half a trillion dollars in just three years, up from $250 billion today. This growth is fueled by increasing digital media consumption and the rise of platforms like TikTok, alongside established platforms such as YouTube and Facebook, which have introduced new monetization formats for user-generated content.

What do you think?
What happens when a company can bridge the creator economy with real-world business? Is augmented reality the right foundation to build this bridge?