Think video games are a waste of time? You’re wrong.
Some of the most successful British YouTubers owe their fortune and fame to humble beginnings of sharing videos of themselves gaming on YouTube.
One thing is for sure, Brits are owning it when it comes to churning out gaming-related content on the video-sharing platform.
Here are 10 British gamers you need to watch (and subscribe to their channels) on YouTube in 2019.
Olajide William “JJ” Olatunji (a.k.a. KSI)
Before he was known for battling it out against Logan Paul and his flashy music videos, Olajide William “JJ” Olatunji a.k.a. KSI got his start on YouTube by uploading videos of himself playing FIFA.
Viewers loved his over-the-top reactions, which soon led to other videos including. His channel is the second most-watched YouTube channel in the UK (and with over 19.8 million subscribers we aren’t surprised).
Follow KSI on Instagram @KSI.
Alastair Aiken (a.k.a. Ali-A)
He’s known for his superb Fortnite skills, which he recently showed off at the Fortnite, Season Six event at City Centre Mirdif in Dubai.
Ali-A has been a YouTuber for almost ten years and has over 15 million subscribers to his main YouTube channel. His rise to fame took place when he started uploading videos of himself playing Call of Duty, which landed him two Guinness World records (The most Subscribed & Viewed Call of Duty channel.) He then went on to play Minecraft, Pokémon Go and, most recently, Fortnite.
Follow Ali-A on Instagram @alia.
Clare Callery (a.k.a. Clare Siobhan)
Clare is an avid Sims gamer and shares the life of her avatars with her viewers on her channel. She has also played Pokémon Go and occasionally plays Fortnite with her boyfriend, Ali-A.
She has over 1.3 million subscribers and a separate vlog channel she shares with Ali-A, where they chronicle their non-gaming related activities. Prior to her life as YouTuber, she worked as a social manager for EMEA Xbox.
Follow Clare on Instagram @clarecallery.
Simon Minter (a.k.a. Miniminter)
With two YouTube channels (Miniminter and MM7Games), Simon Minter uploads videos of himself playing Fifa and vlogging his daily activities. He also covers topics relating to football (i.e. challenges) and his activities as a member of the Sidemen group.
Simon has over 10.7 million subscribers across his two channels and in excess of 3.9 billion views in total.
Follow Simon on Instagram @miniminter.
Tom Cassell (a.k.a. TheSyndicateProject)
Tom Cassell created his channel in 2010 and started building his following by sharing videos of himself playing Halo and Modern Warfare 2. His claim to YouTube fame came with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. His main channel, TheSyndicateProject, is one of the top 100 most subscribed channels
His claim to YouTube fame came with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. His main channel, TheSyndicateProject, is one of the top 100 most subscribed channels. On his second channel, “Life Of Tom”, (previously known as SyndicateCentral) he shares his daily vlogs.
Follow Tom on Instagram @syndicate.
Deji Olatunji (a.k.a. Comedy Shorts Gamer)
He might be known for his challenges and pranks, but Deji also started out on YouTube by sharing videos of himself playing Fifa.
Follow him on Instagram @comedygamer.
Elizabeth Dwyer (a.k.a. LDShadowLady)
Elizabeth Dwyer is the second most-viewed female YouTuber from the UK. She’s known for playing Minecraft and The Sims. She has over 4.3 million subscribers to her YouTube channel.
The twenty-six-year-old has said she enjoys games with open plots “… because of the way you can create your own storyline within the game.”
“One of my favorite things to do on these games is challenges. I create my own set of rules to follow within the game’s existing rules. With such limitless possibilities, I never get bored of these games,” she said to the Evening Standard.
Follow her on Instagram @ldshadowlady.
Daniel Middleton (a.k.a. DanTDM)
This former Tesco employee also tops the YouTube charts and has come a long way from earning minimum wage. Dan Middleton apparently racked in a cool £14.5m throughout this past year all thanks to gaming and Youtube. With over 20 million subscribers and a world tour under his belt, he’s one of Britain’s biggest gaming Youtubers.
According to The Sun “His videos have been watched more than 10 billion times, with one video getting 44 million views.”
Impressive.
Follow him on Instagram @dantdm.
Vikram Singh Barn (a.k.a. Vikkstar123)
He uploads videos featuring Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield and Call of Duty.
According to Famous Birthdays, he has two other channels called Vikkstar123hd and Vikkstarplays. He has over 5 million combined subscribers through his three channels.
Follow him on Instagram @vikkstagram.
Ethan Lewis Payne (a.k.a. Behzinga)
As one of YouTube’s favorite Fifa gamers, Ethan rose to stardom in 2012 by uploading commentary videos to his YouTube channel Behzinga.
According to Game Informer throughout his first few years on YouTube, he focused on making Call of Duty videos which helped him grow his audience.
He has over 3 million subscribers to on his main channel and 1.5 million on his second channel, Beh2inga.
Follow him on Instagram @behzingagram.
Did we miss your favorite British gamer? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo credit: Shutterstock.