Do Streamers/Youtubers generate game sales? Hot topic today so I'll share some tough realities from the game dev side. I have 30 years in this business, 3 games streamed by hundreds of channels of various sizes, and data shared with me from thousands of other game devs. /1

I also teach a class @EKU as an adjunct professor "Game Production and Publication." Week 6: "The role of influencers on the video game industry (Twitch, Youtube,social media)." Suffice it to say, I have studied this topic extensively for both business & educational reasons. /2

From here forward when I say "streams/streamers" that includes Youtube and similar stuff.

Quick summary of what I and other devs have seen generally:

6 years ago: Streams are pretty good.
4 years ago: Streams are kinda meh.
3 years ago to now: Streams drive very few sales. /3

Despite the fact they now drive few sales, you still cannot ignore it. Marketing video games is ridiculously hard. ~10k games launch every year on Steam alone. You have to utilize every avenue out there to get your game discovered. /4

Gaming web sites and magazines lost their impact even sooner than streams, so you have to use everything at your disposal and hope that in the aggregate you can get your game noticed enough to stay in business. /5

You can also hope to be one of the handful of lucky games each year that hit the jackpot & go viral because of streams (Among Us). But that takes more than just luck. You have to be the right kind of game for that virality to even be possible. Not every game is like that. /6

Some games, especially narrative based games, lose a significant amount of their value to streams. Look up "That Dragon, Cancer" & see what the developer said about the impact of streams. When the majority of the game's content can easily be experienced via stream, why buy it? /7

I'll make it easier for you and link an article that has the creator's own words. 14k sales despite millions of Youtube views and similar popularity on Twitch. /8 https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-03-25-that-dragon-cancer-has-not-yet-seen-a-single-dollar-from-sales

I have to stress that I'm not saying streams are useless. At @Frogdiceinc we have wonderful relationships with streamers and love working with them. In our last 3 games we have even designed some "streamer friendly" game features specifically to enhance streams of our games. /9

But when I see the sweeping generalization "Streams sell tons of games! Devs should be eternally thankful anyone streams their game!" I have to call it out for how incredibly inaccurate it is in modern times. Outside the rare viral phenomenon, this just is no longer true. /10

Examples from scattered gamers who claim "I bought my last 5 games because of streams!" don't change the hard facts of sales data. There are too many games, too many channels, too many platforms, and viewers just aren't looking to be sold to. /11

Viewer attitudes and expectations have changed and evolved. They are primarily there to be entertained by the streamer and the channel. They aren't in "shopping mode" when they sit down to watch a stream. /12

Games that are already huge (Fortnite) or huge budget games are able to make effective use of big channels because they already have the customers. The streams are just a conduit for getting their message out there (new skins, new event, whatever). /13

They are not relying on the stream to move units. They are using the streams to deliver their marketing message to customers they already have. The streams are just an easy and fun way to reach their customers. Streams are part of their overall multi-million dollar strategy. /14

With all of the above said, I'm not arguing that streamers should pay a royalty or give a cut of their revenue to the game dev. I'm also not saying something like that is ridiculous or outside the possibility of how future relationships might work. /15

Stream channels, like TV channels, need content. Right now they get a large part of that content either for free or for a very small initial cost. That relationship may change in the future - for the benefit of both the game developers AND the streamers. /16

It will only change, and should only change, if it benefits both streamers and devs. I know of at least one "twitch competitor" that has a rev share with game devs as part of its USP (unique selling point). Though we've seen how hard it is for anyone to compete with twitch. /17

Legally, this issue is interesting (full disclosure: I have a law degree, UGA '98, and practiced law briefly, but gave it up to make video games. No tweets are legal advice.) Buying a game doesn't necessarily/likely give you the right to broadcast it (for profit or otherwise) /18

Many game studios have explicitly granted blanket broadcast rights to streamers. This is not only because there is some value to their games being streamed, but also because they don't want the negative blowback from doing otherwise. We can't all be Nintendo. :P /19

Streams are also part of a game dev's overall community management strategy. Streamers who play your game are a great way to get information out to fans of your game. Upcoming expansions, DLCs, skins, F2P content, updates, news, etc. can be spread well through streams. /20

The relationship between streamers and devs is usually a very positive one. It just isn't the slam dunk at driving sales that many people think it is. Everything evolves and changes, and it does so even faster for video games and streaming. /21

There are a metric ton of marketing and PR companies out there whose entire business model depends on selling The Emperor's New Clothes deceit that streams are everything. Almost all of them are selling snake oil and they are a gross waste of money. They are vultures. /22

They have big promises of all the sales you will get because of all the streamers they will get to play your game. Notice that almost none of them are willing to get paid as a % of those promised sales. They want to get paid, a lot, up front. /23

It streams were such a guaranteed slam dunk, they should have no problem - and should actually PREFER - a sales %. They are telling you the truth about their snake oil simply by how they are paid and their lack of faith in their own promises. /24

Note: There are some good, honest marketing and PR firms out there. But they are the exception and you need to do a lot of research and vetting to find them. The honest ones will tell you streams are just part of a balanced breakfast, not the whole meal. /25