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In the last few years, gaming on the internet has skyrocketed, with figures like PewDiePie, Markiplier and Shroud becoming increasingly famous due to their presence in the online gaming world. However, it's not enough to just make videos and post them online. It is widely known by most content creators that interaction with their fans is one of the most important parts of their careers. In the last few years, live streaming has become more and more popular with Twitch being the most popular platform. In 2018, over 560 billion minutes were viewed by twitch users, a 58% hike from 2017. Here are some of the streamers responsible for the rise: the most popular Twitch streamers of 2019.
Syndicate - 2,767,000 Followers
More than just a streamer, Tom Cassell or Syndicate has set a pretty impressive record on Twitch: the first person to reach 1 million followers, beating the record in 2014. Beginning on YouTube, like a lot of streamers, Cassell began posted videos featuring Halo and Modern Warfare 2, but then started releasing Call of Duty: Black Ops "zombies" videos once the game came out. He, along with many figures of importance, has been involved in a number of controversies, one with the Federal Trade Commission. The British influencer was also once the vice president of CSGOLotto.com, which has him and the website in a large legal and social controversy.
DrLupo - 3,684,000 Followers
One of the older streamers on the list, 32-year-old Benjamin Lupo—DrLupo—started his career as a Destiny streamer, working his way to the big leagues and even playing Rogue professionally. He is also very well known for his Fortnite and general battle royale expertise as well as Minecraft and World of Warcraft. Currently, DrLupo holds the Fortnite ATV Trick Point World Record of 49,256,200 points. Just like many other streamers, Lupo uses his influence for good, raising over $612,000 during his 24-hour stream in December of 2018. He's also fundraised for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
DrDisRespect - 3,857,000 Followers
Also known as Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV, DrDisRespect is mostly known for playing battle royal games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Black Ops 4: Blackout, and Apex Legends. His first video was in 2010 where he played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. even though he was inactive for a number of years, he returned to focus on a full-time streaming career in 2015. Over the last few years, the 37-year-old has been named Streamer of the Year twice and Trending Gamer. However, after filming in a public restroom in June 2019, his channel was suspended, something many people thought wasn't completely fair since the streamer allegedly blurred as much as he could.
Summit1g - 4,022,000 Followers
Starting in 2012, Jaryd Lazar is a retired Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, contributing to recreational teams A51 and team Mythic. Throughout the years, he has gained most of his fame through this as well as WarZ, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) and more. Even though his reign may have been short-lived, he was also named the most followed streamer from January to March 2018. At 32, his estimated net worth as of this year is $7.5 million.
TimTheTatman - 4,151,000 Followers
Like many on this list, TimTheTatman or Timothy Betar is an American streamer who is most known for playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. He began his streaming journey in 2012 and has surpassed 4 million followers since then. As the third-oldest streamer on the list, the 29-year-old is part of the professional esports organization for Monster Energy and is sponsored by Audio-Technica Corporation. According to Twitch statistics, his channel attracts thousands of viewers every day.
Dakotaz - 4,164,000 Followers
This American streamer is on both YouTube and Twitch with 3,050,000 subscribers and 4,164,000 followers respectively. As a professional Fortnite player, Brett Hoffman is currently living in France with dual citizenship. He began streaming shortly after creating his YouTube channel, playing Clearview PVP and War-Z and gaining around 30,000 subscribers on those games alone. Eventually, the 33-year-old gained a reputation for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) before Fortnite, bringing him to where he is today. According to Naibuzz, his net worth is about $2 million.
TSM_Myth - 5,575,000 Followers
The American Twitch streamer is also known for his YouTube channel, which has 4.41 million subscribers and over 200 million views. The young streamer, at 20-years-old, found his claim to fame through the game Fortnite and is known to be one of the best builders in the community. Starting his video game career as a young 4-year-old, he didn't start becoming popular until 2016, not long after the creation of his Twitch account. He also participated in the Ninja Vegas Tournament in 2018.
Shroud - 7,050,000 Followers
Michael Grzeslek or more widely known as Shroud—like Ninja—started out as a professional gamer, slowly moving to the streaming world starting in 2018. He was mostly known as a member of Cloud9, an American esports organization, but stepped down in 2018, remaining a substitute for a while before moving to Twitch not long after. Some of the games he is known to play include PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Apex Legends, and Battlefield V. Shroud is speculated to be pretty well off, mostly due to his subscription counts on both Twitch and YouTube. he's also won many tournaments, with prizes as high as $200,000.
Tfue - 7,280,000 Followers
According to Shane Barker, Tfue (born as Turner Tenney) is both one of the most-watched Fortnite gamers on the streaming service and one of the fastest-growing channels on Twitch. At age 21, he has an estimated net worth of about $10 million. Contributing about 70 hours of live content on Twitch every week, he is also on the list of the most active streamers. In 2018, he signed with FaZe Clan, a professional esports organization.
Ninja - 14,655,000 Followers
Also known as Richard Blevins, Ninja is an American streamer, YouTuber and professional gamer. In July 2019, he hit the record of most followed streamer on Twitch. In 2009, his career started with Halo 3 professionally but now he's most known for playing Fortnite—and is estimated to make about $500,000 USD a month while playing it. He is also known for quite a bit of charitable work. In 2018, he raised just over $110,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Like many content creators, he is also known for a few controversies.