If you look at the evidence, gamers should be the rockstars of YouTube. They often have the highest engagement rates, video views, and social media following when compared to entertainment channels. In fact, when looking at the top 1000 channels gaming is the second largest vertical on YouTube behind music. Yet gamers are often not given the credit they deserve.

People are always surprised when a top gamer is compared to a top entertainment channel. While it will never be an apples to apples scenario, it’s always eye opening when an interested party looks at the facts. Of the current Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels worldwide and domestically, the top channels are PewDiePie and SkyDoesMinecraft. The former is a 23-year-old gamer from Sweden and the latter is a twentysomething gamer from the U.S. Even Openslate’s SlateScore, a kind of YouTube scoring system that attempts to make it easy for advertisers to find worthwhile and engaging channels on which to advertise, is top heavy when it comes to gaming. Of all the channels with a score of 800 or higher (which is very, very good), 70% of those channels are owned by, operated by, and feature gamers.

So, what separates gamers from your more classic mainstream or online video entertainment? When comparing the two, we discover gamers actually have a huge advantage when it comes to creating content and building an audience.

Collaborations, one of the staple methods of growing a channel, are much easier when distance is not an issue. Playing opponents online in far off locales is an inherent feature of modern gaming. Players can record footage of group gameplay just as easily as if they were recording solo. Another distinct advantage is discovery. While classic entertainment channels cover huge swaths of the entertainment landscape, gamers often focus on playing a few different video game titles. And the good videos of those gamers playing those titles are far easier to discover in search than recent movie trailers, pop culture news, or celebrity interviews.

SkyDoesMinecraft, for instance, is a Minecraft channel that has risen in popularity due to his personality and expertise in the game. But his name doesn’t hurt, either. When searching for Minecraft, Sky will appear in the top of the list.

Comparing costs, it is much easier for a gamer to record a video than the vast majority of entertainment channels, as the costs and crew needed are often much different and much smaller. Most gamers are a one-person operation, not needing additional bodies to produce and upload content. That isn’t to say gamers don’t sometimes spend large amount of time on videos.