New report claims gamers spend more time watching videos about gaming than playing games
New report claims gamers spend more time watching videos about gaming than playing games
Gamers are spending more time watching videos about gaming on YouTube and Twitch than playing games themselves.
Is there maybe a generational gap? I am older and I very, very rarely watch videos. Maybe when I am totally stuck in a game will I watch a walkthrough. But just watching other people play is something my kids and their friends do. I think games just caught up to sports, where most fans spend more time watching than playing as well.
Might be. I'm Gen X and have no interest in watching someone play a game in a video. I do like watching someone play in person, though, so I can understand the appeal.
I'm past 50 and I still watch multiple gaming videos daily. Neebs gaming, ragg tag, zylbrad, etc. Most of the creators I watch are entertaining no matter what they are doing. I spend more time gaming than watching videos.
You're certainly not alone! (I'm older too)
I personally mostly watch gaming streams as a background for work, never as focus activity. As a main activity I definitely prefer to play myself rather than watch others playing, with a rare exception when I'm just interested to see a few minutes of gameplay of some new game to see if I'm interested in it.
I don't know if I'd still call myself a gamer. I still play games, but I just don't have much time for them. As such, I do have videos on in the background frequently and it is frequently people playing games (though how they're doing it or what they're doing in the games is the interesting part and, in some cases, I'd watch the same content if it weren't in a game but that's how it happens to be packaged).
Yeah they run all day while I work. Often while I'm playing too haha.
So, it's just like traditional sports now
Because who can afford a new gaming rig/system AND games to play on it?
i mean my library has a shitload of games to rent. I've played a lot of games this year but only bought two.
Steam Deck LCD models are on a significant sale right now. Just sayin'...
Looks like they're out of stock on the on sale ones to me
You don't have to exclusively play new big-budget games with high spec requirements, an old laptop will play decades of old PC games as well as plenty of newer indies, or you can just go on eBay and buy someone's last-generation console along with all their controllers and games for the cost of a brand-new game or two!
Because who can afford a new gaming rig/system AND games to play on it?
I live in a developing country, I'm not either rich or poor and I have a decent gaming rig (i5-10400 and RX 6600)
For PC stuff you just need to know what to get and where would be the best place to get it (aka where is it cheaper) because here in Costa Rica (where I live) people will try to scam you into getting a 6600 XT for like $900 (US dollars, even though our currency is colones)
As for games you can either hop on the ship and sail or wait until the next major Steam sale. For games I'd recommend Steam but I feel MS Store/Xbox PC is fine as well
You don't need to play new games to have fun though.
/s?
Use a Steamdeck or an old system, plenty of great games don't need a high end cutting edge rig (most don't really)
True for me. Rare are the days whenni have the mental capacity for playing a game after work. Just watching is easier on the brain.
Clearly, sometimes watching a TV show or a Youtube video is way less demanding than gaming.
I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it’s my reality.
I also know that I really love immersing myself into story driven games, so playing a few minutes before cooking the meal isn’t an option.
Sticking on a streamer who you can just listen to chat while they happen to be playing a game is just a newer version of having the TV or radio on in the background while you do other stuff. Sometimes we just want to chill and not have to focus!
Super gross conclusions/recommendations from the marketing firm in the article.
I imagine that if the finding was “gamers spend more time watching friends play”, they’d suggest monetizing the couch cushions.
More people watch <insert any sport here> than they play it.
And then gamers talks like "pro" and bullying others, without being able to finish a tutorial.
Checks out. I'm the same as others have mentioned, after work I'd rather just tune out and watch someone play a game (or have it on in the background) than actually build up the mental strength to play one myself, or at least a game that has any challenge to it, most days. If I play a game on an evening after work, I'm usually just cruising the Paldea region in Pokemon hunting for shinies or some other interesting pokemon to catch. I can just shut my brain off, move my character around, and look for a different colored pokemon.
I can see where the next revenue stream will be: Publishers want a tithe from Twitch for streams of their products. They've been polite up until now because its free marketing, but if even one dataset says there's money to be made...
Phil Fish was the first and got blown out over it, we should have taken heed.
Even if they tried I don't think they have the leverage to make that work. What games or publishers are big enough that such a move would go worse for Twitch than it would for them? Most of the time indie games make for better content anyway. Twitch could just ban games that don't include an unconditional free streaming license in their terms of service and not lose much of any popularity, while the game publishers trying to extort them would absolutely lose popularity.
If you go on twitch now, I’m guessing minecraft, COD, and WOW are all in the top 10, if not top 5, for gaming streams. All owned by Microsoft, among many more
Would it hurt Microsoft game sales? Definitely. Microsoft has the leverage, and they’ve been fucking around for a while and haven’t found out yet. It would be a stupid thing for them to do, but I wouldn’t put it past them
Twitch is also not doing amazing. Streaming is expensive, and they’re trying hard to get their revenue up…they’re not on solid footing with Amazon right now
I very much doubt that people are watching games exclusively though. They are probably working, playing a game themselves (I watch while playing Football Manager etc...) or glued to their phone.
I am.
My current job situation makes it impossible to work and watch videos at the same time (mostly)..
It’s a way for me to stress down after a hectic day. I don’t really wanna play video games, but for me putting on a video from a creator, who plays video games ~ there is no new knowledge I need to process, there is no “real world” information that I have to adhere to.. it just is whatever.. and I can turn my mind off, while Pravus talks about something I don’t really care about ~ so yeah
Very true. I usually binge videos for whatever game I'm currently playing.
I like watching Nilhaus play factory games so I can learn some new ways to better organize my logistics. That's a big one.
I've never played Europa Universalis IV but I love watching videos of it.
Only time I watch something is to see how to get past a part or get a tricky achievement. I'd be curious if its a generational thing. I started with the Commodore64 and would rather play the games.
This is not a surprise. Big companies have been very busy for the last decade in transforming video games into glorified visual experiences which feel more of a chore than fun to play.
Yeah, true for me. Idk, I just like gaming discussion. And my ADHD keeps me from actually playing the games when I want to.
Yeah playing alone feels lonely, I just watch videos when I want to relax
As for me, it used to be 50/50 back when I studied. However, ever since I've entered the workforce I mostly stopped watching videos.
I need to constantly learn new things, tackle new problems and optimize stuff. I usually go for the highest difficulties too. In theory, my job provides these tasks for me, however, I get a lot of satisfaction from trying and failing things over and over until I've figured them out myself. I can't usually do this professionally, as most problems have already been solved and I'm just learning how others did it. The same as playing with a guide or watching a video on a game. It just doesn't scratch the itch.
I could never get into watching other people play video games just like I could never get into watching other people play sports: They both usually bore me pretty quickly even with ones I have fun playing.
Same. I never watch other people playing games, or sports for that matter, with LoL Worlds being the exception, which might be a little weird because I don't even play it myself. I'll usually watch the knock-out stage. My husband watches the entire thing, but that's a bit too much for me.
Anyway, yeah why would I watch someone else play a game when I can just play it myself? For games I haven't played yet, I would spoiler it for myself. Games I've already played.. well, don't need to watch that anymore, right?
I know many people watch/listen to that stuff in the background, while doing other things, but my background is for music. ;)
Anyway, yeah why would I watch someone else play a game when I can just play it myself?
I think some of it is watching people do things you cannot do. Competitive play, in both sports and gaming, is quite a different thing to watch people with skill vs what you could do yourself. Plus I suspect there is a lot of the psychology that goes with routing for a team and the feeling of being part of something bigger or something.
Personally I don't really get it myself but I can see why people would. IMO it is not much different from why so many people like watching sporting events rather than going out and playing themselves.
For games I haven’t played yet, I would spoiler it for myself. Games I’ve already played… well, don’t need to watch that anymore, right?
That is true for single player games, but not for match making/competitive ones. I suspect that people are more so watching competitive ones than single player story driven games.
Same!
It's like people who watches sports but don't do any.
Edit: Well. after a few minutes of reflection, I wanna contribute with my two cents and say that it's pretty common to do this kind of thing of watch videos instead of playing games, but it is done under very specific circumstances, like, I am a SFIII 3rd Strike player and I have a job to, so, I can't be playing all the day. Competitive players need to be being in contact with the game that they wanna master to not get rusty faster, so watch videos is a way of getting that contact, view plays and movements and get that in your head till the moment you got a fightstick in your hands to be able to put in practice all those toughs
Call of Duty Warzone already has in-game video. When you’re dead, you watch your teammate play until they can revive you. You see through their eyes and can talk to them.
