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RESEARCH
ANALYSIS
games do so daily, though only 46% describe viewing concentrated after 7pm. The most popular
TRENDS
themselves as gamers. Data show that these 'gamer content is 'just chatting', a catch-all term for streams in
moms' are more receptive to advertising than the between gameplay which allows viewers to interact
average consumer and are highly influential in with the host via chat messaging. This creates an
purchasing decisions. affinity with the audience that is hard to match via
broadcast television; indeed, two-thirds of 18-25-year-
Mobile gamers understand the value exchange of old gamers would rather play video games or watch
advertising. Over half (57%) are fine with viewing gaming content than watch TV.
advertising if it keeps the game free-to-play, rising to
70% among Americans. Data show that ads in mobile Amazon-owned Twitch dominates the market, with
games have no discernible impact on churn and are consumption more than double the three other largest
more effective than other online formats such as platforms combined at 1.5bn cumulative hours in June
banners and rich media. Yet ads only provide 42 cents 2020. YouTube Gaming places second at 449m
in every dollar earned by mobile game publishers, with cumulative hours, per Arsenal.gg data, with Facebook
in-app purchases (IAP) still accounting for most of the Gaming third on 160m.
income. Chinese publishers over index, with two-thirds
(65%) of income coming from advertising. Microsoft's equivalent platform, Mixer, was forced to
close this month after it failed to gain a foothold in the
Downloading of gaming apps rose 89% to 305m in market; it amassed just 32m cumulative hours of
China during the first month of lockdown; 96.8% of consumption in June, less than half a percent of
Chinese female mobile gamers spent more time Twitch's audience.
playing during lockdown, and 78.0% spent more money
in-game than before. Mobile gaming recorded the Summing up, James McDonald, Managing Editor,
greatest rise in share of online time in China during WARC Data, and author of the research, says: "The
lockdown, and almost nine in ten say they will play for gaming content world is evolving quickly - streaming is
longer after lockdown as a result. the new prime time for much of Gen Z, and Mixer's
shuttering this month served only to highlight the
Streaming killed the TV star? stranglehold Twitch has on the market. Tencent may
yet prove a challenger in the US with Trovo this year,
The viewing of gaming content, particularly that which but it has a great deal of catching up to do along with
is livestreamed, is eroding the viewing of linear TV Facebook and YouTube.
among Gen Z. Two in five (41%) 16-24-year-olds have
watched a gaming stream in the last month, per Competitive gaming is big business in Asia - where
GlobalWebIndex, with a rate of one in three (35%) Tencent is already king - though traditional sports fans
recorded among Millennials. Penetration is highest in in the West are yet to be wooed, with existing
Asia at 38%, with rates close to a third in Latin America audiences instead consolidating during lockdown. A
(31%), North America (30%) and the Middle East and great deal of merger and acquisition activity, especially
Africa (30%), and a quarter in Europe (27%). around media rights within e-sports, is expected in the
short term as investors vie for control of potential
Data show that for many younger viewers streaming is windfalls." (Source: WARC) ◊
now the 'new prime time'. Twitch alone draws a -
predominantly Gen Z - audience of 1.9m per day, with By MediaBUZZ

July 2020: Virtual-, Augmented & Mixed Reality: revolutionizing the customer experience 20