2K Games Developing Next Generation Of Streamers

2K Games, the studio behind some of the most well-known gaming brands such as Borderlands and XCOM, is displaying its dedication to transitioning today’s streaming community into the future generation of content creators in order to maintain public interest in gaming IPs. 

The second edition of 2K’s NextMakers project was revealed last month. It’s a program that allows a small number of game developers access to the company’s intellectual property and professional network. Last year’s edition featured creators such as Tess and Mitsu, who continue to collaborate with 2K on projects such as The Bordercast, a podcast based on the developer’s popular Borderlands franchise. 

In an interview with Digiday, Mitchel Inkrott, 2K’s senior influencer marketing manager, revealed that “2K selects participants for the program based on their alignment with the brand and their’investment in the future of content creation’ rather than their current popularity or follower count,” and that the process divides the participants between the publisher’s games.  

This year’s class welcomes back creators Tess and Mitsu as mentors for the 200 selected trainees. 

Digiday also got feedback from some of the initiative’s creators about their experiences and how it has affected their lives. 

Mitsu discussed his full-time employment before to entering the NextMakers program. Mitsu said; “I was working at Starbucks at the time while doing content creation, and through the NextMakers program, I don’t have to do that anymore. I have stability; I have the ability to take care of my family.”

And Tess talked about how she’s changed and improved her content creation since joining NextMakers. “One of the things the program has really provided is that stability. Before this, I was basically streaming every day, like eight to 12 hours—it was a lot, and it was very stressful, and I was definitely starting to get a little burned out. Coming to work with NextMakers has given me this understanding that quality matters more than quantity, and that quality will improve if you’re not overworking yourself.”

2K’s NextMakers program aims to give its content creators everything they need to fully participate in the creation of game content and amuse their audiences with it.  

According to Inkrott, trainees will receive “training sessions about building a personal brand and marketing it to potential sponsors, a self-care Discord channel with a dedicated personal trainer, and talks with industry leaders such as James Davidson, director of talent strategy for prominent esports organization 100 Thieves.”