Why gamers would rather watch other people play than pick up their own controllers

Why play a video game when you could watch an internet celebrity do it? 

According to a new MIDiA Research survey, gamers are spending more time watching videos about gaming than playing games themselves. The average respondent spent 8.5 hours scrolling YouTube and Twitch for gaming content, compared to just 7.4 hours booting up their favorite game. That’s reflective of some broader industry trends: Streaming is more lucrative than ever, while game developers face tightening budgets. 

Inside the video game streaming boom

More people are watching gaming content than ever before. Per MIDiA’s data, 24% of console gamers watched gaming videos at least once a month. That metric expands for the gamers that spend, a population most major developers look to court. 48% of respondents who make in-game purchases claimed to view gaming videos at least once a month. 

Twitch is likely responsible for a large chunk of this gaming content. The live-streaming platform now has more than 105 million monthly active users, having maintained its pandemic boom in viewers. At any given time, an average of 2.5 million people are tuning into Twitch streams. While the platform hosts all kinds of content, it’s a gaming hotspot, with its top creators Kai Cenat and Ninja broadcasting their Fortnite activities. By now, Twitch gamers are their own type of celebrities, with Cenat recently hosting Lizzo and SZA for his “subathon.” 

YouTube has been around for far longer than Twitch, and gamers have been posting to the site since its inception. Still, the medium keeps growing. Per Tubular, YouTube gaming content hit 6 billion monthly views this June. That compares to about 5 billion in June 2023, and around 4 billion in June 2022. PewDiePie, once the most-followed YouTuber, built his fortune on gaming content. That title now belongs to MrBeast, who also has a gaming channel where he regularly earns over 50 million views per video.

By now, YouTube and Twitch are so big that there’s an entire world of streaming platforms built in opposition to them. When a creator is banned from Twitch, it’s likely you’ll see them on Kick in the coming days, which currently takes up 6.3% of the live streaming market. Or, if they’re a gamer with a conservative bent, maybe they’ll end up on the MAGA-favorite Rumble. Streamers like Afreeca and Chzzk are also popular enough in South Korea to capture 3.5% and 1.5% of the global market, respectively. 

The contracting market for game developers

While gaming content booms, the market to produce and distribute games continues to slow. Layoffs are rampant across the major developers, with more than 10,000 industry workers having lost their jobs. Console sales are falling, and last year the industry grew a measly 0.6%. 

There are a number of factors at play behind this industry contraction. Some analysts say that gamers are sticking to their favorite games over experimenting with new offerings. Indeed, a scroll through Twitch will reveal dozens of Fortnite and Roblox streamers. Others blame the rampant production of ">stale sequels, or the rising costs of each individual game. Why pay for a $70 game, when you could watch someone else play it for free on YouTube? 

But the spinoffs keep accelerating. Streamers and YouTube creators are bagging brand deals, and Hollywood studios are pouring millions into film adaptations. Gaming is still an expanding field—as long as you’re not developing the games themselves.

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