In recent years, the gaming industry has become a major pillar in the entertainment world, valuing upwards of an estimated $214.2 billion in 2024, and reaching multi-generational players worldwide and nationally. It is reported that 61% of Americans between the ages of 5 and 90 play video games for at least one hour each week. This significant amount of the population is engaged in a diverse array of the types of games they play for entertainment.

These platforms range from: 

• Consoles like the PS5 Playstation
• Personal computers (PCs)
• Games that can be played on mobile devices
• Hybrid consoles like the Nintendo Switch that can be docked at home or used on the go 
• Arcade games
• Emerging virtual reality format that allows for full-body VR gaming systems 
• Facebook's digital universe called the Metaverse, and more.

While the gaming landscape continues to grow, evolve, and become more life-like with VR and games like Batman Arkham Shadow, the gaming community is following suit as it moves toward becoming more reflective of the American population. According to a recent study by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), 12% of American adults who play video games identify as Black, 19% as Hispanic, 4% as Asian or Pacific Islander, and 3% as Native American.

The gaming industry has created numerous career pathways. Professional online gamers and influencers have transformed their hobby into lucrative careers, building communities through platforms like YouTube and Twitch. From marathon-length gameplay streaming sessions to short-form reviews, both professional and casual gamers have built huge dedicated followings. The field of esports leagues is growing tremendously as well, both in terms of ownership and participation diversity. Notable examples include:

• Talon Esports is a leading esports and gaming platform in Asia with headquarters in Hong Kong. It was established in 2017 and operates ten esports titles throughout Asia Pacific, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, and Taiwan. Talon was co-founded by Jazz Tham and current CEO Sean Zhang.
• In 2015, former NBA player Rick Fox founded Echo Fox after purchasing the League of Legends Team Gravity and renaming it. Echo Fox was one of the most prominent esports teams in North America before its disbandment in 2019.
• Hector "H3CZ" Rodriquez, a notable figure in the esports world, is the CEO and founder of OpTic Gaming, a professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Texas. OpTic previously owned a franchised Call of Cuty team called "OpTic Chicago"in the Call of Duty League (CDL), before its 2021 merger with Dallas Empire to form what is known today as OpTic Texas.
• Magic Johnson, businessman and another former NBA legend is a part owner of esports team Team Liquid, a competitive gaming organization with training facilities in Los Angeles, The Netherlands, and São Paula, Brazil. The organization has garnered over two billion views across its social platforms and created its own wiki in gaming, Liquipedia.

These owners from varied backgrounds contribute to the increasing diversity and multicultural representation in esports, reflecting its global reach and appeal.

Allied Global Marketing's Role

Allied Global Marketing is actively engaging with the gaming community through innovative campaigns and partnerships. Recently AGM engaged with gamer and content creator, Khleo Thomas and invited him to the red carpet movie premiere of Alien Romulus in Los Angeles. To help promote the 10-year anniversary of Sega's Alien: Isolation video game and the movie, we secured a black SUV sprinter with a PlayStation and monitor that picked up Khleo and his brother to compete and play the Alien: Isolation video game on Twitch while he traveled to the movie premiere.

From growing groups like Black Girl Gamers to Latin X in Gaming (LXIG), Allied is tapping into the community to highlight the diversity within gaming while spotlighting multicultural video game developers and events like Game Devs of Color

Expo,  which is focused on representation in front of and behind the billion-dollar business.

For more information on Allied Multicultural and our Gaming division please get in touch.