Gaming Videos and Streams: Bigger Audiences Than Netflix, HBO, ESPN, Hulu Combined

Game Rant

By GR Staff

Published Apr 21, 2017

Data from a new report suggests that gamers who watch streams or online gaming videos give the industry more viewers than Netflix, HBO, ESPN, and Hulu Combined.

As it turns out, a whole lot of people are fans of watching online gaming videos. New statistics from industry researchers SuperData indicate that the "worldwide gaming video content audience" is as high as 665 million people currently, with a 21 percent increase predicted between now and 2021.

This tremendous number of people is larger than the combined audiences of HBO, Netflix, ESPN, and Hulu, something that is easy to imagine once you consider that popular YouTuber PewDiePie has over 54 million subscribers by himself. For reference, Netflix has a subscriber count of around 100 million, while Hulu claims to have around 12 million users.

Another interesting statistic to come from the report details that men make up 54 percent of the total gaming audience, with women accounting for the other 46 percent. What's more, gamers who spend time watching video game streams and video content have a higher income on average than gamers who don't. Fans of watching games online spend over $70 a month on digital games and in-game content, which is 56 percent higher than gamers who aren't as interested.

Twitch is one of the most-profiting sites in the streaming market, and together gamers watched nearly 100 million hours of League of Legends gameplay in February alone. Counter Strike: Global Offensive was the second most watched title, with 40 million hours racked up over the course of the month.

While Twitch only accounts for 16 percent of watchers, the site reportedly earns a sizeable 37 percent if all video content revenue. Most of the site's revenue is courtesy of subscriptions allowing for direct donations to the streamers, yet there's predicted to be an astounding $4.6 billion coming in from all gaming video and streams this year.

Aside from the profit, the report highlights just how essential gaming video production is for publishers, claiming that 66 percent of viewers are watching content for games to learn more about a title that they want to play. With statistics indicating that the game-viewing community is growing at a steady rate, sites like Twitch and YouTube are now fierce rivals with each other, as each tries to attract the most content creators.

Source: SuperData