In the gaming community, exhibitions and gameshows are quite common. One of the biggest and oldest is EGX (previously Eurogamer Expo); an exhibition for video games conducted by Gamer Network, held annually in the UK or Germany since 2008. Over the years, it has made its place and name within the gaming community and has gotten bigger each year. This year, it was held on 12-15 October 2023 at ExCel London and one thing that struck out was the sponsorship by TikTok.
TikTok is a short-form video hosting service that gained popularity during the COVID-19 lockdown. During that time, artists and influencers from multiple industries joined the platform, and the application positioned itself as a fun and entertaining place. It has gained popularity throughout the years and has now become a global app in the social media industry. Ever since its boom, TikTok has been sponsoring many events in the sports and entertainment industry already so it was only time before it also started to sponsor gaming exhibitions like EGX.
On 12th October 2023, TikTok posted in a blog post announcing their partnership with EGX through sponsorship:
“TikTok is where gaming and culture collide. At EGX 2023 we will be joining cosplayers, tabletop and mobile gamers, and casual gamers to connect and share experiences, both on and off screens.”
At EGX 2023, TikTok was EVERYWHERE and you can get the gist of it by visiting the EGX website and seeing the TikTok logo right next to EGX’s logo. This basically means that the Chinese-owned app is the event’s main and biggest sponsor. Evidently, TikTok is now getting into the industry this way to cash in on the gaming content as well. As data suggests, gaming posts received more than 3 trillion views last year.
As per BBC Newsbeat, a few creators have seen an increase in their audience through TikTok such as Cadaea (real name Sophie). She tried to build an audience via Twitch for almost 8 years but found fame in the right community only via TikTok. “The discoverability on Twitch isn’t very good, I actually quit my full-time job earlier this year in investment banking to pursue content creation, which is pretty insane if you ask my parents. However, the money is out there,” says Sophie at the event in London’s Docklands. Ever since she joined TikTok, she has reached the right audience and things are good for her.
As easy as it may sound, it is not a piece of cake to become a content creator and make a career out of it. With TikTok monetization, one can also make money from it but how much is an unanswerable question for now. With frequent revisions of their payment programs, creators have come forward claiming the money they earn varies as per the viewership of the video.
Coming back to EGX 2023, the UK head of gaming and sports of TikTok believes that the app could work as a platform for small gaming communities and developers that can go viral and gain fame. An example of this is the makers of Billie Bust Up – a colourful musical platformer that boosted its content and showed up in the audience’s FYP and their viewership and following increased which helped them raise money for the project within 48 hours of going viral.
Definitely, with such examples, TikTok is ideal for indie developers to target the right people at the right time. Especially considering that it is so easy to enter since the only basic requirement is a phone and internet connection. Not just small companies but even big companies can capitalize from TikTok by boosting content through monetization. An example of this is Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard which utilized TikTok for their new release along with other social media platforms.
With good there will also be bad and thus TikTok has been on top of headlines due to political reasons but that hasn’t stopped TikTok from positioning itself on the top. EGX 2024 will also be powered by TikTok, until then, fingers crossed on the boom and discovery of indie developers, perhaps a lot is incoming soon.
