HYPE SOURCE: G Fuel’s Contemporary Gamer Persona, and its Navigation of Prestige and Diversity

Abstract

G Fuel, an energy drink marketed towards gamers, desires a ‘contemporary’ gamer persona with which to interact with its audience, drawing upon an array of social media influencers and professional eSports stars to appeal to fans of these figures. Specifically, this contemporary gamer persona builds upon the ‘geeky’ male gamer identity that has been constructed by marketers and adopted by players, utilising elements of esport such as skilfulness and focus. However, this persona also reimagines the gamer identity in alternative ways, such as gaming being presented as an athletic activity – one that requires much mental and physical energy, connects players to others, and is exciting and glamourous, evoking the lifestyles of gaming influencers. Thus, this persona signals that there has been a shift in the popular discourses surrounding the ‘gamer’ identity in specific gaming micro-publics, and that energy drink companies such as G-Fuel are highly aware of this, contributing to the reinforcement of this persona for gaming micro-celebrities and influencers. In this article we investigate G Fuel's construction and maintenance of the contemporary gamer persona. We find that in G Fuel’s performance of this persona, they seek to appeal to the wider gaming audience, but must constantly negotiate a balance between popular but controversial influencers and a commitment to diversity.

Keywords

• G Fuel
• persona
• gamer
• video games
• esports
• influencers