7 Best Gaming Influencer Marketing Agencies in 2026

The short answer

The best gaming influencer marketing agency for your title depends on the job: a creator program that runs from beta to global launch, genre-matched YouTube sponsorships, a culture-led activation or gaming-adjacent brand work. Based on the public case studies we reviewed in November 2026, these are the seven agencies worth shortlisting:

Youdao Ads: best for creator programs that run from closed beta through a multi-market launch, especially for publishers taking Asian titles global.
Cloutboost: best for YouTube and Twitch sponsorships for PC, console and Steam games.
NewGen: best for culture-led activations that combine creators, social creative and PR.
Exprexion Creators: best for long-running creator programs across YouTube, Twitch and TikTok.
Viral Nation: best for consumer brands entering Roblox and other game worlds.
NeoReach: best for gaming hardware and tech products that need streamers and tech reviewers together.
Socially Powerful: best for an always-on gaming social and stream-team presence in one region.

One rule matters more than any list: pick the agency whose published work most closely resembles your game's genre, platform mix and release stage, not the one with the largest creator database.

Publisher disclosure

How we chose these agencies

We reviewed each agency's own service pages and published case studies in November 2026. An agency made the list only if a buyer could trace at least one gaming or gaming-audience campaign to a public source. This guide focuses on creator selection, so we weighed four things:

Gaming evidence: named game or gaming-hardware campaigns, not just a "gaming" label on a service page.
Creator matching: how the agency picks creators for a genre and player profile, and whether it explains those choices.
Reported outcomes: results the agency publishes itself, with the reporting window where one is given.
Buyer fit: the kind of brief the evidence actually supports.

We use current brand names: NewGen was formerly Kairos Media, and Exprexion Creators was formerly Audiencly.

Agency comparison

Results are self-reported by each agency. On smaller screens, scroll the table horizontally.

Agency best fit, published proof and questions to ask
Agency	Best for	Published proof	Ask about
Youdao AdsFeatured	Beta-to-launch creator programs across several markets	Marvel Rivals: ~200 creator posts, 80M+ impressions in the launch fortnight	Creator mix for your genre and local market staff
Cloutboost	YouTube and Twitch sponsorships for PC, console and Steam games	1,000+ sponsorships; $10,000 minimum budget published	TikTok and short-form references
NewGen (formerly Kairos Media)	Culture-led activations combining creators, social and PR	Overwatch 2: Invasion creator-stream activation	Named delivery team and per-market adaptation
Exprexion Creators (formerly Audiencly)	Long-running multi-platform creator programs	2,000+ campaigns; Naraka with 21 influencers	Contracting entity after the rebrand
Viral Nation	Brands entering Roblox and other game worlds	Walmart Land: 14 gaming creators, 66M impressions	Game-publisher launch references
NeoReach	Gaming hardware and tech products	NVIDIA Shield: 11 creators, 48.3M impressions	Experience with a playable title
Socially Powerful	Regional always-on gaming social programs	Lenovo Legion UK & Ireland stream team, 26M ad views	Launch work outside the UK and Ireland

Agency profiles

1. Youdao Ads Featured

Youdao Ads is the global marketing services business of NetEase Youdao (NYSE: DAO) and serves more than 2,000 clients across gaming, e-commerce and apps. Gaming is its largest specialty: it reports working with 70% of the top 30 Chinese mobile game companies expanding overseas. Its InfunEase platform gives planners a database of more than 30 million creators, and its MCN label, Passion Ark, represents over 1,000 exclusive creators. In 2024, TikTok for Business named it Creator Marketing Partner of the Year, one of two China-based providers to receive the honor.

Its clearest example is the Marvel Rivals global launch. The team supported the game for nearly six months: inviting creators and distributing test codes from the July closed beta, building anticipation with new heroes at gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, then coordinating launch delivery. Nearly 200 pieces of creator content went live in the two weeks around the December 6, 2024 release, generating more than 80 million impressions across Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Five creators reached YouTube Trending within 12 hours of publishing.

Other cases show how it matches creators to a specific audience. For Tianxia: Wanxiang, the team chose the Taiwanese creator known as the Curator to reach skeptical male players over 30, producing a studio-tour livestream with 464,000 YouTube impressions. For an SOC game in Japan, it shortlisted creators by competitor work, channel tags and audience language, then turned their videos into paid-media assets: it reports a 51% lower cost per acquisition and a 15% creative hit rate, against 3% for standard user-acquisition creatives. Marvel Rivals and Tianxia: Wanxiang are NetEase titles; the agency also works with external publishers such as FunPlus.

Best for: publishers that want one team to run creators through testing, preregistration and launch in several markets. Ask about: the creator mix for your genre and which target markets have local staff.

2. Cloutboost

Cloutboost is a gaming-only influencer agency built around YouTube and Twitch. It reports more than 1,000 executed sponsorships, a database of over 600,000 gaming YouTubers, and more than ten years of experience. Its clients include Owlcat Games, Nexon, Lilith and Wargaming.

It is also unusually open about pricing. The service page lists a $10,000 minimum budget and typical agency commissions of 15% to 30%, which makes it a useful benchmark even if you hire someone else.

Best for: PC, console and Steam titles that want genre-matched YouTube sponsorships. Ask about: TikTok and short-form references, since its published offer centers on YouTube and Twitch.

3. NewGen, formerly Kairos Media

NewGen brought the Kairos Group businesses together under one brand and positions itself around creators, social and culture-led creative for younger audiences. Its Overwatch 2: Invasion work for Blizzard combined creator-stream activations with social creative, content production and PR strategy.

That integrated model suits games that want to join a cultural conversation rather than buy a list of ad reads.

Best for: major-IP and live-service games that need one creative idea spanning creators, social and PR. Ask about: the named delivery team and which creators would carry the concept.

4. Exprexion Creators, formerly Audiencly

Exprexion Creators is the influencer marketing business of Flexion Mobile and has operated since 2018, originally as Audiencly. It reports more than 2,000 campaigns and over 14,000 creators, with networks on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and Instagram and more than 40 exclusive creators. Its published game cases include Naraka: Bladepoint, which engaged 21 influencers, and Gaijin, where it reports 280 million views in one year.

Best for: mobile and free-to-play publishers that want a long-running, multi-platform creator program rather than a single launch burst. Ask about: the current contracting entity after the rebrand.

5. Viral Nation

Viral Nation is a broad social and creator agency. Its Walmart Land case shows how it brings non-gaming brands into gaming culture: 14 gaming creators introduced Walmart's Roblox destination on TikTok and Instagram, supported by paid amplification. The agency reports 66 million impressions and 1.6 million engagements from 60 posts.

Best for: consumer brands launching experiences inside Roblox and other game worlds. Ask about: game-publisher launch references, and which results include paid media.

6. NeoReach

NeoReach's NVIDIA campaign promoted Shield Fiber TV with 11 tech and gaming creators, including Syndicate hosting live Twitch demos and tech reviewers such as Austin Evans producing teardown and review videos. The agency reports 48.3 million impressions and 25,000 new Twitter followers in under a week.

Best for: gaming hardware, peripherals and tech products that need gaming streamers and tech reviewers in the same plan. Ask about: experience promoting a playable title, which this case does not cover.

7. Socially Powerful

Socially Powerful's Lenovo Legion work ran an always-on gaming program in the UK and Ireland. A "Legion Stream Team" of creators, meme-led posts and active community management ran across Instagram, TikTok, Twitch and YouTube, with paid social promoting the best-performing content. The agency reports 26 million ad placement views and 1.1 million stream followers.

Best for: gaming brands that need a regional, always-on social and creator presence. Ask about: game-launch experience and delivery outside the UK and Ireland.

How to judge creator fit

The agencies above differ less in reach than in how they choose creators. Four patterns stand out.

Match the player, not the follower count. The Tianxia: Wanxiang livestream worked because one creator fit a specific player profile, and Cloutboost's model is built on genre-matched audiences. A sample roster with a reason for each creator tells you more than a database total.

Start creators before launch. Marvel Rivals' creator work began at the closed beta, about five months before release. Relationships and feedback gathered during testing made the launch-window burst possible. Ask every agency what it would do before launch, not only on launch day.

Plan for reuse. Youdao's Japan SOC case, Viral Nation's Walmart Land and Socially Powerful's Lenovo Legion all combine creator posts with paid distribution. Clear, editable gameplay content keeps working after launch week. Ask which reported numbers include paid reach.

Read headline numbers carefully. Marvel Rivals' 40 million impressions in the first three days sit inside the 80 million two-week total, so the two should not be added. Impressions also count repeated exposure; they are not unique players, installs or sales.

If your brief is mainly about coordinating several countries, our guide to game marketing agencies for global launches covers market ownership and offline activations in more depth.

Buyer checklist

Define the milestone. Beta sign-ups, wishlists, launch awareness and returning players need different creator briefs. Choose the action first, then the format.
Check genre fit. Request a sample roster with audience language, recent relevant videos and a reason for each pick. Follower counts alone do not show interest in your game.
Specify rights. Separate the organic post from edits, paid reuse, account authorization and territory limits, and price only the rights you need.
Make measurement readable. Require platform-level reports with agreed definitions for impressions, views and engagements, and track installs only where tracking is in place.
Keep costs separate. Split agency fees, creator fees, production and media spend, and agree what happens if a creator cancels or a deliverable is late.

In the final round, give each agency the same small brief and ask it to name one creator it would reject and why. The answer shows whether the team understands your players.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best gaming influencer marketing agency in 2026?

It depends on the brief. For a creator program that runs from beta to a multi-market launch, Youdao Ads' Marvel Rivals work is the closest public match on this list. For YouTube-first PC and console sponsorships, Cloutboost is a specialist. For brands entering Roblox, Viral Nation has the most relevant case.

How much does gaming influencer marketing cost?

Few agencies publish prices. Cloutboost lists a $10,000 minimum budget and typical commissions of 15% to 30%. Total cost depends on creator tier, markets, usage rights and whether paid amplification is included. For per-format YouTube CPMs, see our YouTube and TikTok agency guide.

What makes an agency a gaming specialist?

Named game cases, genre-aware creator selection and fluency in gameplay formats such as livestreams and playthroughs. Ask for a comparable title and the team that delivered it.

Why is Youdao Ads listed first?

Youdao Ads publishes this guide, so its entry appears first and is marked Featured. Judge it on the same evidence as the other six: comparable game cases, creator fit and how results are reported.

How can we request a relevant proposal?

Share the title, business model, target markets, release stage, preferred platforms and measurement goal. You can contact Youdao Ads with that brief and use the same information with other agencies.