Why Gaming Communities Matter

The gaming community represents one of the most connected yet paradoxically isolated demographics. While players readily collaborate and support each other in virtual worlds, translating that support-seeking behavior to real life remains a challenge. Our 2024 campaign proved this audience was ready for authentic conversations about mental health, delivering record-breaking engagement and overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Building on that success, we’ve partnered with a new wave of prominent gaming creators for a new 988 campaign, creating content that feels native to gaming culture.

The Campaign in Action

Over the past weeks, eight American Twitch streamers, famous faces in the community, have already gone live with dedicated 988 content, engaging their communities in genuine conversations about mental health and support-seeking. Among them were JoshSeki and JeromeASF, two of the biggest names in the scene.

Each stream integrates 988 naturally into the gaming experience through multiple touchpoints. Streamers deliver authentic ad reads that compare in-game support to real-life help-seeking, while custom 988 overlays appear throughout their broadcasts. Chat messages on a timer gently remind viewers that “everyone needs support sometimes,” and pinned messages reinforce the availability of 988’s free, confidential resources.

But the real magic happens during gameplay itself. Streamers tackle custom made “support challenges”: moments where they intentionally seek help from teammates or their community during difficult game segments, then draw natural parallels to asking for support in real life. Whether it’s calling for backup during a raid or asking chat for strategy advice, each moment reinforces that seeking help is not just normal, but essential.

These aren’t scripted PSAs: they’re authentic conversations between creators and their communities about the reality of needing support, both in games and in life. The integration feels so natural that viewers often don’t realize they’re experiencing a mental health campaign: they’re just watching their favorite streamers create meaningful content. Which they love, even during ad reads, with chats going wild: “W sponsor!”.

Every stream, every clip, every community conversation works toward a simple goal: making it as normal to ask for help in real life as it is to ask for support in gaming. Hero videos, using clips from the streams to spread the word, are used as ad assets, pushing the message of 988 to a much broader and bigger audience.

The statistics speak for themselves: our 2024 campaign saw 18% of concurrent viewers click through to learn more about 988 resources, with sponsored segments actually increasing rather than decreasing viewership. More importantly, the overwhelmingly positive community feedback showed that gaming audiences are hungry for authentic mental health conversations. We are looking forward to being able to share the first statistics of the 2025 campaign.

Banner campaign

Besides the streamer activations, 988 and The Invaders have also launched a banner campaign, taking over the American internet, with more than 100 million impressions. Each ad consists of a gamer, looking the website visitor straight in the eye, and asking for support. Thus conveying the message in a striking manner.

Games for Change

This is only the beginning. Each stream and each conversation builds toward a culture where “everyone needs support sometimes, in games and IRL” isn’t just a message, but a lived reality. The gaming community has always been about connection, collaboration, and supporting your teammates. Now, we’re extending that support beyond the game.

Recently, our team had the opportunity to meet with Nicole Twohig and Divendra Jaffar from Vibrant/988 in person at Games for Change in New York, alongside our media partners and colleagues. After years of digital collaboration, these face-to-face conversations reinforced the profound impact of our shared mission.

Watching industry leaders discuss how games and influencers are sparking vital conversations around mental health reminded us that this isn’t just about campaign metric. It’s about building a culture where “everyone needs support sometimes, games and IRL” becomes a lived reality. Sharing the story of our campaigns for and with 988 on stage was an amazing experience.

If you or someone you know is struggling, 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free, confidential support 24/7. Text, call, or chat 988 anytime, or visit 988lifeline.org for more information.