A creator marketing budget for a game is the money you set aside to pay creators, support their content and measure the result, split by goal, platform, market and phase. This guide covers what drives creator costs and how we at Wehype plan the split. It doesn’t include a price list, because there isn’t a fair one.
What there is, is a method. The same method works for an indie game on Steam and a global launch. Only the size of the numbers changes.
Start from the goal, not the number
Most budgets start the wrong way round. Someone picks a figure, then a team tries to fit creators into it. A better order is goal first, then the creators who can reach it, then the cost of that plan.
Each goal points to a different mix. A launch that needs to be seen in one week needs many live streams in a tight window. Wishlists for a Steam game need creators who play your genre and send viewers to the store page. Installs for a mobile game lean on short form video. Revenue from a live game often comes from creator programs more than one off campaigns.
Once you know the goal, write down the number that tells you whether you hit it. Viewer minutes, cost per hour watched, clicks, wishlists or code revenue. That target is what the budget is buying. Our ROI guide covers how to choose it.
What drives creator costs
Creator fees vary a lot, and follower count is only one reason. These are the things that move the price, roughly in order of how much they matter.
Creator size and demand
Larger audiences cost more. So do creators who are in demand right now, for example because they’re the go to channel for a genre that’s hot this season. Price follows attention, not just follower count, which is why two channels of the same size can quote very differently.
Format and length
A dedicated video about your game costs more than an integration in someone else’s video. A multi hour live stream costs more than a short mention. A series of streams over several weeks costs more than one, but usually less per stream. Short form clips are cheaper per piece and often need more pieces.
Platform
Twitch, YouTube and TikTok price differently because they work differently. Live streams are bought by the hour and measured in viewer minutes. YouTube videos keep collecting views long after they go up. TikTok clips can spike and fade in days. Compare cost against the metric each platform is good at, not against each other directly. Our guides to Twitch, YouTube and TikTok go deeper.
Region and language
Markets differ in creator rates, audience size and competition for creators. A smaller language market can be a good deal if your game has fans there and few competitors are buying. It can also be thin, with only a handful of creators who fit. Plan per market, not one global figure.
Exclusivity
If you ask a creator not to promote competing games for a period, you’re paying for the work they turn down. Keep exclusivity short and narrow, or skip it unless it really matters.
Usage rights
Using a creator’s content in your own ads, on your channels or in paid boosts is a separate right from the post itself. Agree on it in the contract, with how long, where and in which markets. Rights you didn’t agree on up front tend to cost more later.
Timing and lead time
Launch weeks, big events and the end of the year are crowded. Booking late narrows your choice and can raise the price. A few weeks of lead time gives room to pick well and test first.
Big, mid and micro creators
Most campaigns work best with a mix, chosen on purpose.
- Big creators bring awareness and a moment people talk about. They’re expensive per creator, and one stream can carry a lot of the result, so watch how dependent the plan is on them.
- Mid size creators are often the core of a campaign. Big enough to move numbers, small enough that you can work with several and spread the risk.
- Micro and nano creators bring fit and trust in their niche, and many of them together can add up to serious attention. The cost used to be coordination, not fees: contracting hundreds of small channels one by one doesn’t scale.
That last point has changed on Twitch. With Twitch Integration, campaigns appear in the Twitch Sponsorship Dashboard and matching creators opt in themselves, so a small team can reach hundreds of small streamers without negotiating each one.
Two of our cases show the mix in practice. For GeoGuessr, 376 micro creators delivered over 8.5 million viewer minutes on Twitch. For Guild Wars 2, the campaign used larger creators for awareness and smaller ones for conversions.
Our campaign data shows why the mix works. In our Twitch campaigns from 2024 to 2026:
| Expected viewers | Streamers | Viewer minutes | Chat per viewer hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 to 99 | 28.5% | 3.9% | 318% more than 2,000+ |
| 100 to 499 | 43.1% | 23.5% | 102% more than 2,000+ |
| 500 to 1,999 | 17.4% | 32.2% | 51% more than 2,000+ |
| 2,000+ | 5.5% | 40.1% | Baseline |
“Streamers” is the share of streamers we booked; “viewer minutes” is their share of all viewer minutes delivered.
The biggest channels bring most of the reach. The small ones bring the conversation, and 172% more link clicks per viewer than the biggest. A budget that only buys one end gives up the other.
Source: Wehype campaign data, completed sponsored Twitch streams from 2024 to 2026, pulled November 4, 2026. Streamers under 25 expected viewers, 5.5% of bookings, are left out of the table.
Paid and earned
Not all creator content is paid. Some creators pick up your game because a friend streamed it, because it’s trending in their genre or because you sent them a key. That earned coverage is valuable and hard to plan.
Paid campaigns create some of that earned coverage themselves. In 2026 campaigns we followed for 30 days after the paid streams ended, 18% of the streamers we had sponsored came back to the game without being paid, and their streams added viewer minutes equal to 20% of the paid campaign. Treat it as upside, not as part of the target.
Budget for the paid part, then make room for the earned part to grow. Keys for creators, a clear press kit and a way to find the creators who already play your game all cost little next to paid fees. Community Insights shows which creators stream your game without a contract, and that list is a good place to spend next.
Keep the two apart in reporting. If you also put paid boosts behind creator clips, report boosted views separately from the rest.
Testing phase and launch phase
Don’t spend everything at once. A smaller first wave tells you which concept, format and creators work before the main budget goes out.
A simple shape that works for many launches:
- Test. A small group of creators tries one or two concepts. You watch viewer minutes, cost per hour and clicks per creator.
- Launch. The bulk of the budget goes to what worked, timed for the moment that matters most.
- Sustain. Creators who performed come back for updates, seasons or sales.
The Stone of Madness followed this shape, with pre launch, launch and sustain phases across 59 creators. We report live during campaigns through our platform, so budget can move between creators and formats while there’s still some left.
Setting targets the budget has to hit
A budget without a target can’t fail, which also means it can’t succeed. For each phase and market, agree on:
- The metric. One main number per goal.
- The definition. Viewer minutes from which source, clicks counted how.
- The target and the cost target. For example a viewer minute goal and a cost per hour goal.
Set the target from your own history if you have it, or from a test wave if you don’t. Benchmarks from other games are a weak guide: genre, market and timing change the numbers a lot.
How managed agencies and self serve platforms affect cost
How you buy creator marketing changes what you pay for.
A self serve platform charges for access, through a subscription, a fee per campaign or a share of creator spend. Your team does the briefing, negotiation, delivery checks and payouts. It’s usually cheaper per campaign if you have the people and the hours.
A managed agency charges a fee or margin on top of creator costs, and in return a team plans the campaign, picks creators, handles contracts and reports. It costs more on paper but replaces internal time.
Either way, count the full cost: creator fees, the fee or margin, your own team’s hours, game keys, any production, paid boosts and the time spent on measurement. Our guide to choosing between an agency and a platform covers the trade offs, and the top gaming influencer marketing platforms list compares options.
Common budget mistakes
Spending it all on launch day. Without a test, you learn what worked after the money is gone.
Buying reach instead of fit. A big channel that never plays your genre rarely moves players. Use creator data to check what creators actually play.
Forgetting the long tail. Creators who keep streaming after the paid period are the best return a budget can have. Plan how you’ll keep them, with Creator Codes or Community Rewards.
No measurement plan. Decide how you’ll count results before the first stream. Our guide to attribution for game creator campaigns explains what you can and can’t track.
For the bigger picture, start at our guide to creator marketing for games, or talk to our team about your game and your budget.
