TwitchCon, the official event organized by Twitch, offers a unique blend of fun and professional networking for all kinds of video games and live streaming enthusiasts. TwitchCon 2019 turned San Diego into the epicenter of the gaming world during the weekend of September 27-29. Painting the town in purple shades for a couple of days the convention gathered thousands of gamers, streamers, brands, and social influencers.

Gamers got an exclusive opportunity to meet and greet their favorite streamers, compete in e-sports, discover new merch, and just have a good time. The event sprang numerous surprises – insightful sessions, celebrity speakers, amusing activities, and unexpected brand partnerships. TwitchCon also revealed great opportunities for non-gaming brands to embrace the gaming community. Cloutboost team attended the event and recollected its hottest insights in this blog post.

Quick Facts about TwitchCon 2019

• TwitchCon is becoming much more than a gaming community event, with numerous non-gaming sponsors, speakers from NASA, and charity initiatives.
• Twitch partnered up with Major League Hacking to arrange a 24-hour hackathon within the convention. A creative collaboration of Twitch partners and software developers took place resulting in innovative concepts for new Twitch Extensions.
• New talents were displayed at the final of the Stream Star Championship. Twitch supports all kinds of creativity and self-expression including artistic performances – on the stage of TwitchCon Stream Star finalists competed for a significant monetary prize of $20,000 and a recording deal with Columbia Records.
• Twitch Rivals championship united top streamers to try their hand in four popular games: Fortnite, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Apex Legends. A sum of over $2,000,000 was awarded to winners making the competition truly breathtaking.
• The Cosplay Contest added excitement to the event by showing incredible transformations of players into their favorite characters.
• TwitchCon Party topped the fun up with music performances by Lil Nas X, Blink-182, Au/Ra, Y2k, and Madeon.
• Upon rough estimates, over 25,000 people attended the convention daily.

Top 3 Highlights of TwitchCon 2019

The fifth Twitch convention became a true eye-opener showcasing how non-endemic brands can rise and shine within the gaming community. These three happenings definitely deserve to be called historically significant best practices.

“Stream Ready Makeup: Get the Look” by MAC Cosmetics

Makeup booth at the expo floor, special discounts for TwitchCon attendants, cosmetics giveaways and a streamer makeup tutorial by MAC’s Director of Makeup Artistry truly wowed the audience. The famous gaming influencer Seum got dolled up during the tutorial session.

A question was left hanging in the air: Why would a non-gaming beauty brand enter video gaming/streaming territory? Diederik Koenders, MAC Cosmetics VP of global integrated content and communications explained:

“Consumer behavior has changed and the perception of gaming has changed. The gaming industry is growing, and female gamers are joining the conversation.”

He added that the success of the activation will be based not on the sales deviation but on such KPIs as the use of and sentiment around the special hashtag, the number of emails captured, and the types of conversations attendees had with MAC makeup artist.

MAC also featured a good example of brand promotion with a simple and easy-to-follow mechanics offering coupon codes to influencers to share with their followers.

Other Non-Gaming Brands Killing It at TwitchCon

The list of non-endemic brand sponsorships was truly impressive this year. More and more industries are leveraging the power of Twitch, from automotive to candies, from sportswear to tech. Here are some well-known names exposed at TwitchCon: Honda, State Farm, Hershey’s, Totino’s, Puma, Intel, Firefox, Red Bull, and many others. This trend creates unparalleled opportunities for Twitch influencer agencies, brands, and streamers to connect with one another for further collaboration.

The charity initiatives within the Twitch community are gaining popularity. Twitch influencers often support those in need by gathering donations while streaming video games to give it back to the society or environment. Charitable organizations such as No Kid Hungry, St. Jude PLAY LIVE, Movember Foundation, American Heart Association, ExtraLife, Make-A-Wish, Best Friends Animal Society and others were present at TwitchCon raising awareness about their programs.

Twitch Talk: NASA’s Next Giant Leap

If Twitch takes something to the next level, they take it to space. A streamer’s talk with NASA representatives was probably the most surprising partnership at the convention. The panel was moderated by Twitch creator and space enthusiast Skylias who is known for sharing the gift of science, mainly astronomy and physics, during her broadcasts.

NASA’s representatives unveiled some upcoming plans for space exploration, such as sending a woman astronaut to the Moon. The session was far from boring with lots of jokes and hilarious guesses on how astronauts can watch livestreams on Twitch while traveling through space. As a Twitch streamer agency, we definitely see new horizons opening after this encouraging presentation.

From inspiration to action

TwitchCon 2019 keeps breaking the borders between the video gaming industry and the non-gaming sector. TwitchCon provides an opportunity to exchange ideas between Twitch influencers, brands, and Twitch streamer agencies, lighting the creative spark for the new partnerships.

Learn more about Twitch influencers and how your brand can collaborate with them. Speak with a Cloutboost expert today by filling in this simple form.