Influencers have changed video game marketing.

Not in the wrong way, either.

Instead of a TV ad, you get a complete playthrough. Instead of a billboard, you get fan engagement. Instead of a website article, you get direct attention from a social media celebrity in your world.

Your project becomes organic, natural, and associated with someone with millions of fans. If they're uploading content of them having tons of fun in your world, that's going to become associated. The most prominent gaming creators of the last decade were born from games like Minecraft or Call of Duty... and that's what they were known for. They were a "Minecraft YouTuber" or a "Modern Warfare" YouTubers. On Roblox, you have "Adopt Me creators" or "Murder Mystery Youtubers"... sometimes, Roblox YouTubers, but that typically refers to someone that's pretty non-game specific.

Your game literally becomes the identity of a creator if it hits a sweet spot with fans. Or if your game makes it a blast and easy for creators to produce content on your game. Both increase your chance of building a creator community. Still, a lot of the time, people only focus on the first criteria.

You should be spending the same amount of time designing your creator strategy as you do on your monetization and retention systems. Don't think marketing has to be its own separate stage... build these tools directly into your game world.

You can target a few areas in your game dev to be "creator-friendly." You don't necessarily have to offer them to everyone. The most common (and easiest) ways to build creator-friendly features come down to being game mechanics, monetization incentives, and perk programs.

These usually have to be thought about during your initial dev cycle to feel natural and easy to use. These should be adjustments to your otherwise set game rules for those that might be making content. Consider a spectate mode in a game that'd otherwise send people back to the lobby or the ability to free-cam some aspects of your world to allow for cinematic shots. Or adjustments to game rules to improve brightness, keep players from crowding others, let creator skip cutscenes, subtitles for audio content... it goes on. These mechanics aren't very useful or even noticed to standard players. Still, they make it that much easier to have content created on your game.

Spectate mode could allow creators to watch their friends compete, especially if they're playing cooperatively. Freecam tools let them take awesome thumbnails, b-roll, or other excellent media content. Anti-crowding tools prevent them from being swarmed by fans and let them still enjoy the game experience. Look at the specially made tools through the eyes of someone wanting to enjoy your game and produce great content, and you'll start noticing tweaks you can make to make it work well.

It's easy to read this and only think, "oh yeah, I'll pay them to make videos." And short term... that's fine. Maybe it gets the initial attention, a couple videos done, and then they're on their way. Really, you should be considering how to get your creator community in the door initially but then incentivize them to stay. Monetization incentives don't always have to relate to them being directly paid, either. It could be in-game perks, discounts for fans, and more.

Consider giving your creator community a personal redemption code to promote. When fans use it, they get a special bonus. Grant them a monthly allowance of premium currency to check out the latest and greatest for their fans. Provide compensation incentivize based on traffic associated with their content. It's easy to be creative here, and these long-term strategies will make fans ask for more.

If you choose to gatekeep the above mechanics, consider rolling it into a "Perk Program." Call creators of your game "Partners" or "Ambassadors" and set precise requirements for who has access to these higher-level features. In Fortnite, top-tier creators are given "Creator Codes." In some Roblox games, they get early access to content or update news. However you do it, make it straightforward. Hence, creators know the bar to reach to be included, and it may make them strive to hit those goals -- especially if they love your game already. 

When you make your game as creator-friendly as it is fun to play. When the fans enjoy watching the content their favorite content creator loves to put out, you have a recipe for success. 

- Devon