Do Black Gamers Have A Glass Ceiling To Success?

I was watching a black streamer on Mixer and he was asking his audience what he needs to do to reach 1,000 subscribers. He has been on Mixer (streaming platform primarily for gaming) for three years and said that he has seen streamers start way later than him and surpassed him in subscribers.

I strongly feel like everyone has a cap limit to success. Michael Jordan was as good as he could be in basketball, if not, he was damn near close to it. Some people can be good at basketball, but don’t have the potential to play in the NBA. Or decisions and life circumstances prevented them from having that opportunity. The former rapper Master P had skills to take him to the NBA, but he got injured.

I do believe that black gamers have a cap limit to the success that they can find in the gaming industry. I would never tell a black gamer this because I don’t want to discourage them from their goals. But lets look at the facts of the gaming industry. The gaming industry is dominated by white men. White men own Microsoft which is the company that created the Xbox. The Japanese own PlayStation but the next race of ownership is white.

White men own the gaming companies and white men are primarily the creators of the games. White men own the gaming stores which GameStop is the only one worth mentioning. White men own the game streaming platforms such as Twitch, Mixer, Facebook and YouTube. White men are the primary investors of esport tournaments. And last but not least the most popular gamers in the U.S. are white men.

The only esports league where I see black males have a good representation in is NBA 2K esports. Go figure.

Swagg is the only black gamer I know who has fame almost on the same level as Dr. Disrespect and Ninja. Swagg grew his fame by making YouTube videos playing Call of Duty. If Swaggmade NBA 2K or Madden videos for the past 8 years he wouldn’t be in the position that he’s in now.

I know a lot of people are going to read this as if I’m just trying to pull the race card. I know many white gamers struggle to find success as a pro player or as a streamer. But white gamers never have to wonder if their race plays a part of their potential for success. It can be their personality, the games they play, the time they put into streaming, or numerous things. But the color of their skin will never be a factor in the probability of their success.

Just like in the rap game. Not one black male ever asked themselves if their failure to find success as a rapper had something to do with being black. White men, on the other hand, definitely can attest that their race plays a huge role in their potential to be a rapper. I believe that there will never ever be another white rapper to achieve the level of success as Eminem.

Will there ever be a black gamer who is as successful as Ninja and Dr. Disrespect? Probably. But probably not.