BOSTON, MA—The one overwhelming impression I’ll take away from this year’s PAX East is that gaming culture is now undeniably driven by “content creators,” professional gamers, and amateur players sharing their work and their play with the world.

This is far from a new trend, both in gaming in general and at conventions like PAX East, which attracted tens of thousands of gamers to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center this weekend. Streaming and eSports stars have been a growing presence in the expo hall and in the panel rooms for a few years now, after all.