Gaming has grown so much over the past decades that you can launch yourself into a successful career in this sector if you’re talented enough.
For some people, this talent may show in their rise through the ranks of a highly competitive game like League of Legends or Counter-Strike. Meanwhile, others build their careers on streaming their gameplay and providing entertainment and value over it.
Some E-commerce stores often like to collaborate with these figures as their fanbases tend to resonate with them and trust their opinions and endorsements more than traditional advertising.
If you’d like to familiarize yourself with the basics, we created this list of the top 15 gaming influencers in 2026 who continue to entertain their audiences and impress us with their skills, so you can learn about them.
Table of Contents
The Top 10 Gaming Influencers in 2026
1. Ninja – Fortnite Pioneer Turned Global Icon
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is an American gamer, streamer, and YouTuber who has been among the most influential figures in the gaming industry for the past 8+ years.
Ninja’s rise is often tied to his illustrious Fortnite career, where he enjoyed moderate tournament success in the late 2010s. However, his contributions to Fortnite and gaming came more in the form of his blazing online personality, which attracted audiences and made him the most subscribed Twitch streamer in 2018.
His popularisation of Fortnite helped bridge the gap between gaming and the mainstream as he even held highly-acclaimed playing sessions with major celebrities like Drake, Travis Scott, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, drawing over 600,000 live viewers and breaking even more Twitch records.
2. PewDiePie – The Original Gaming YouTube Powerhouse
Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg is a Swedish YouTuber who needs no introduction to most Internet users in the early to late 2010s. He was one of the early pioneers of Let’s Play videos, where his expressive personality made it easy for his audience to connect with him.
And just like that, PewDiePie had just standardized creator-driven entertainment for many years to come. He also went on to dominate YouTube for many years, becoming the most subscribed channel by the end of 2013, all the way to 2019 – a record 1,920 consecutive days as number 1.
Today, PewDiePie is enjoying his semi-retirement in Japan, where he occasionally posts a video or starts a stream far from the pressures of constant success. There’s no denying the impact he had on modern gaming influencers, and his career still serves as a foundation for many.
3. Shroud – Precision FPS Mastery
Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek is a Canadian gamer and full-time streamer known for his mastery of FPS mechanics and composure in high-pressure situations. He built his reputation in the competitive Counter-Strike scene, where he was part of the mid-2010s Cloud9 roster that paved the way for the North American scene to end the European dominance at the time.
In 2018, Shroud left professional Counter-Strike to transition to full-time streaming, where his raw gameplay and calmness made him stand out in a sea of performances. His viewers appreciated his authenticity and skill-driven content, which pushed him to become the most subscribed Twitch streamer by March 2019.
Shroud is still a leading figure in the FPS gaming streaming scene. Thousands show up to watch him play Valorant and Counter-Strike 2, and he remains a top case study on how pro players can turn into influencers.
4. Pokimane – Community First Streaming Leader
Imane “Pokimane” Anys is a Moroccan-Canadian gamer who started her streaming career by broadcasting her highly-ranked League of Legends matches. By 2017, she had earned nearly half a million followers. In 2018, she also started streaming gameplay and commentary of Fortnite, and she won the Shorty Awards’ Best Twitch Streamer of the Year.
Pokimane’s fanbase enjoys her blend of quality gameplay with her commentary and community interaction, turning them into one of the most loyal audiences on Twitch. She remains one of the most recognizable faces in streaming.
Her influence goes beyond streaming, as she has played a major role in bringing more visibility to women in gaming. She is currently the most followed female streamer on Twitch, and the 14th most followed overall.
5. xQc – Unmatched Live Energy
Félix “xQc” Lengyel is a Canadian gamer and full-time streamer known for his high-energy personality and massive activity on Twitch. xQc gained popularity through his professional Overwatch career, where he played since the inaugural Overwatch League and represented the Canadian team from 2017 to 2019.
By the late 2010s, xQc had shifted his focus to professional streaming and quickly became one of the most-watched figures on Twitch. With time, his content expanded beyond Overwatch and competitive gaming into a variety of streams, including reaction content and live commentary.
xQc’s viewership continued to rise through the 2020s, starting with the 2020 chess boom and peaking in 2021 with 163 million hours watched, nearly double the runner-up at the time. Today, he’s still a leading streamer in the eSports scene.
6. s1mple – Counter Strike Perfection
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is widely regarded as one of the greatest Counter-Strike players of all time. A Ukrainian gamer, his outstanding performances in professional competition and his sheer domination in terms of MVP awards and long tenure have made him a giant of the eSports scene.
s1mple’s influence comes mainly from his competitive authority rather than entertainment content. While his streams aren’t as grandiose as those of other contenders on this list, his audience enjoys his regular Counter-Strike streams where he connects with the fans while playing in the top leagues.
S1mply put his mark over eSports culture grants him a level of respect and visibility that places him among the top gaming influencers.
7. Tyler1 – Unfiltered League Dominance
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp is an American streamer and pro League of Legends player who is popular on Twitch for his intense personality. He first gained attention through his high-energy streams of competitive high-rank League gameplay.
Soon enough, he had a loyal fanbase that enjoyed his unfiltered reactions and relentless drive to win. And his career quickly became a case study on how personality can shape a gaming career.
After dealing with League of Legend’s bans in 2016 and 2017, Tyler1 was unbanned in January 2018, and his comeback stream peaked at over 382,000 concurrent viewers, which was a Twitch record for an individual back then. Today, he’s still a top gaming streamer who continues to attract large live audiences with his skill and distinct persona.
8. Ludwig – Creator Led Entertainment
Ludwig Ahgren is an American streamer who started by streaming video games like Super Smash Bros., Mario Party, and Dark Souls. His early audience enjoyed his mix of competitive play with humor and strong audience interactions.
Ludwig held a now-famous “subathon” in 2021, where he started streaming and only stopped 31 days later as audience donations continued to add to the timer. By the end, he had gathered over 282,000 subscribers, breaking the then-record held by Ninja.
Even after the subathon, Ludwig continued to amass audiences through his exclusivity deal with YouTube, and years later, returned to Twitch, where he remains one of the top figures on the platform.
9. Kei Cenat – The Face Of Modern Live Streaming
Kai Cenat is an American gamer and streamer who embodies what it takes to be a top modern streamer in the 2020s. That is, high energy, quick rise, fiery personality, and consistent streams.
Although Kai started by uploading YouTube prank videos and challenges, he moved to Twitch in 2021 and began livestreaming his gaming and reaction content. He quickly rose to fame as he hosted multiple high-profile guests on his streams, including Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Wiz Khalifa.
Alongside entertainment content, he also often plays games on streams, popular variety titles like Fortnite, GTA V, NBA 2K, and Souls-like games, continuing to draw among the largest crowds on Twitch in 2025, who are drawn to his personality and interactive streams over the gameplay.
10. Valkyrae – Gaming Meets Lifestyle Influence
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is an American gamer and streamer who gained popularity through her Fortnite streams, where she built a loyal fanbase that followed her as she became a prominent figure in livestream gaming.
In 2020, Valkyrae went exclusively to YouTube, where she was regularly pulling crowds of 100,000 people watching her Among Us streams with other popular figures.
Through her efforts, Valkyrie continues to bring mainstream attention to women in gaming. She also helped normalize lifestyle and variety content alongside gaming, which has since become a popular venture for many of her peers.
Conclusion
If you’re considering partnering with a gaming influencer, understand this: not every ecommerce brand belongs in gaming.
The ones that work share one trait, which is solving an immediate, identity-linked, or lifestyle problem for gamers. Otherwise, you might not get the results you desire.
We can help you figure out what category your product falls in and the influencer who’ll be a great fit. Schedule a call with the team here and let us take it from there.
