There’s no surprise that Twitch heavyweights like Ninja, and Shroud (who just hit 100k Subscriptions on Twitch) make a lot of money. Not an exorbitant amount by today’s celebrity standards, but a whole lot (by a long shot) in comparison to our salary expectations for big-name streamers, and even more so when we look back at projections for careers in streaming.
Today, Reuters reported Ninja’s particular paycheck from the paid promotional launch of EA and Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends, citing an unnamed source, at a staggering $1 million. And, if you can manage to ignore the Reuters’ reporter still referring to gamers like Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins as “com-pu-ter gamers” with a get off my lawn tone in their voice in their video, it’s a particularly interesting bit of news. Here’s why.
We’re currently in a state of interactive media and video game adoration that sees a heavy value in the commercial endorsement of a product by a popular streamer or content icon. One that has been far more effective than previous marketing campaigns. It comes with no surprise that Twitch is a major player in this game. This is due mainly to the appearance of personality, and personal preferences. Note, the use of the term "appearance" in that context. Content platforms and streaming services around the globe have had to scramble to put together proper terms of services regarding paid product placement - something that set the television and movie business ablaze decades ago - because it wasn’t yet (and still really isn’t) obvious when content is made with the sole purpose of promoting a product.
Recently, as the world knows, EA Games launched Apex Legends to unbelievable fan reaction, and a large portion of that success rests solely on the quality of the product. But, some of it can easily be traced back to streamers like Ninja, who dropped their regularly scheduled programming in order to pick up the newly minted battle royale game. While some of his millions of Twitch followers probably revelled in the break from Fortnite, it’s inarguably a big risk to step away from the subject that brought you your recent success. That is, unless you’re getting compensated for said risk.
Just prior to the launch of the title, popular battle royale streamer like Dr Disrespect, shroud, Ninja, and more, went on a “work trip” to play something that they weren’t allowed to speak openly about. As it turns out, that trip was a first hands-on with Apex Legends, where they were all invited to be a part of the impending launch marketing. Much like this, possibly missleading promotional campaign on Ninja's 21+ Million Subscriber YouTube channel.
On the day of release, and for a few days after, these major Twitch streamers were part of a widely disclosed “Apex Legends Partner” or #ApexPartner program that did not seem to ruffle the feathers of viewers. That’s because it was never discussed out in the open what that program meant. It didn’t feel like a paid sponsorship, because everyone was playing it, and everyone was having a good time. Not to mention the obvious lack of official promotional disclosure.
Instead, EA and Respawn loudly gathered a 50 million person player-base in less than a month, and part of that growth cost them a ton of money in advertising through paid partnerships, and sponsored stream time.
It’s unreported as to whether every player in the program was compensated for their time, or that any of the other payouts were as large as Ninja’s (we doubt it), but it’s safe to say that it worked.
Some might walk away from this breaking news feeling swindled in some way, but we can assure you that ex-pro players like shroud and Ninja were going to play these games anyways, and that they seem to have enjoyed the launch. Ninja even went on to win the inaugural professional Apex Legends tournament -- though, some might argue he was carried almost the entire way to the finals by his teammates.
Will we see more companies take this approach to marketing in the newest digital evolution?
