Gaming audiences are the most hostile to advertising of any audience, and also the most loyal when a brand gets it right. That combination makes UGC work very well in gaming and makes almost every brand do it badly.

Why they reject advertising

Because they detect it. This audience spends hours a day on platforms where sponsored content is everywhere, and has developed an extremely fine radar.

A video that opens with the brand logo, an enthusiastic line or a broadcaster tone is dead within one second. Worse: it generates negative comments the brand sees in public.

What they accept instead

  • The honest opinion, flaws included. "The microphone is excellent, the software is a disaster." That kind of sentence buys credibility for everything else.
  • A demonstration in real use. An actual match, not a staged one. If it is a peripheral, the hand using it should be visible while something happens on screen.
  • The comparison with what they had before. Concrete, with numbers where possible.
  • The full setup. What it cost, what was bought first, what they would do differently. It is the best converting format in accessories and hardware.
  • Self aware humour. Acknowledging that it is paid content, with humour, works far better than hiding it.

Which creators to hire

The one who genuinely plays your product's genre. A shooter player talking about a management simulator convinces nobody, however many followers they have.

And look for mid sized creators before big streamers. In gaming, the smaller creator has a far stronger trust relationship with their audience, and costs a fraction.

The brief that produces good material

Include: what can be criticised and what cannot, the gameplay context, three hooks, the disclosure wording and the list of things that must be visible.

The first point is counterintuitive and decisive. Explicitly authorising criticism of one aspect of the product multiplies the credibility of everything else.

The Argentine calendar

The peaks are long weekends, Hot Sale, Black Friday, Christmas, and major console and title launches. Summer, with school holidays, drives a lot of volume.

Where to go next

In gaming, honesty is the commercial strategy. Our complete UGC guide for brands explains the rest of the process.