NextMakers Partnership
I’m excited to announce that I’m part of 2K Games’ Partner Program called NextMakers. Thank you 2K for believing in me all those years ago. I’m proud of what we have accomplished together and for being part of this program. Nextmakers solidifies the great relationship we have built all these years.
Further in this article, I want to share my honest opinion and go over what you can expect from the program.
2K Partner Program
While NextMakers might be news for the outside world, I have actually been on the program for a year. But even before that 2K has supported me.
The Borderlands Stream Team was an early seed of this program. When they scaled that up to the Borderlands Creator Team, that’s when I was brought on board. Sometime after that, more games and creators were added to the program. Now it’s gone public and you can sign up.
My Experience
When I joined the program I received a warm welcome from my fellow creators and the Gearbox & 2K Staff.
You can easily drop in and ask questions or give feedback about the games. Your fellow creators who are also heavily invested in the game can help you out or the community managers can come to your aid.
But it’s not just about the games, it’s bigger, it’s about your channel, and more importantly about you. There is a project manager that can help you grow your channel. They are also bringing on experts that give advice about how to take care of yourself. Eat, Sleep, Create & Repeat.
There have been a few ‘Town Halls’ where 2K talked about the program and their vision. I like where it’s going and want to be part of that. I’m actually engaging with the managers on how to level up the program but not just that I’m also helping fellow creators.
I have had talks with creators about ‘how’ or ‘if you should start a second channel’. ‘How to do Youtube Shorts’ or ‘TikTok’. “But hey MentalMars, you don’t do those things” Yes, you are absolutely right, but that hasn’t stopped me from learning these things and sharing that knowledge with other creators.
Perks
As a Content Creator, you want the perks that NextMakers provided. While a young creator might be gazing at the FREE GAMES. I like to highlight something I already mentioned above which is that you have access to experts that can help you grow as a person and as a creator.
While each game in the program works a bit differently, with Borderlands we have had to privilege to receive a bunch of exclusive perks.
Early Access to information. Getting hotfix/patch info ahead of time. This allows you to create new content but also prepare for comparison content (before/after update)
FREE GAMES/DLC! Often you even get early access to these (COVID has made this harder to do). Yes, this is a huge advantage if you want to be FIRST. But it isn’t always about being first, your content is about you. Don’t get discouraged to make content just because someone else already made a similar thing. Add new, add you!
Developer Meetups. For Borderlands I have participated in multiple Zoom meetings where the Developers walked us through upcoming content and what their thought process was behind it. We were able to provide feedback about those things, the game in general, and our thoughts on what we would like to see future. A thing here is to be realistic, yes if the Devs had unlimited resources they would add everything to the game and never be finished with it. That’s not how things work, it’s still a business and they have to manage resources.
Try New Games. While the program initially was sectioned off, or that’s how it felt to me, they opened it up. 2K invites you to check out other games. Yes, I have been all about Borderlands but I can easily jump into the other game sections. That’s why I’m now also in the “Marvel’s Midnight Suns” section.
My advice to you
If you are passionate about the games that 2K publishes and consistently create content about it, 2K wants to support you! It’s built on mutual respect. You don’t have to be a “BIG” creator today, you will be one tomorrow! NextMakers can help you with your journey and hit your content creation career goals.
NextMakers is an ambitious program and I’m here to support it. Also, check out what my buddy Mitsu and Manager Joechuck have to say about NextMakers.
Kazekage Kioone
Congrats