Trapster launches creator marketing platform for game makers

Trapster launched a creator marketing platform today, Sept. 30, designed to connect game studios with content creators for influencer campaigns across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

The platform uses a cost-per-mille (CPM) model, where studios pay based on video views rather than fixed fees. Co-founder and CEO Pavel Beresnev said this approach benefits both studios seeking measurable advertising impact and smaller creators who want to earn from performance rather than negotiate based on follower counts.

"If you're a mid-sized creator, not a superstar, it's super complicated to make studios find you," Beresnev told GamesBeat. "They don't think about the algorithm; they don't think about views. They think about followers."

The platform emerged from an invite-only beta period earlier this year involving 252 studios and over 800 creators. During beta testing, Trapster campaigns generated over 177 million views and drove over 2 million game wishlists. Early participants included Wargaming, Kwalee, Red Rover Interactive, Aerosoft, Alice Games, Techland, and Owlcat Games. Gromo Gaming, a major U.S. creator with over 354,000 TikTok followers, is among the platform's current users.

Since April, Trapster has processed over $750,000 in studio payments and paid out over $500,000 to creators, generating over $150,000 in platform revenue. The company was built on $200,000 in funding, with approximately $40,000 spent on development. Trapster employs 11 people and plans significant hiring over the coming year.

Beresnev framed the launch as addressing a market gap where traditional discovery tools have become less effective amid competition and creator influence has grown. "Trapster was built to make creator marketing more accessible, measurable, and efficient," he said in a press release. "Our performance-based model helps studios reach relevant audiences while creating more opportunities for creators to discover and earn from new games."

The company is exploring expansion into mobile and Chinese markets. Trapster is also developing a retail feature enabling creators to sell game codes directly to their audiences through the platform. "We've already started working on this," Beresnev said. "We found a partner who will provide us a lot of keys for a lot of games, and we will do some white-labeled stores, super natively integrated into the platform."