James Brightman Thursday 9th July 2015 Share this article Share

Market intelligence firm Superdata has released a new report covering the growing market for gaming video content, which is now worth about $3.8 billion globally, with an audience of 486 million people watching live streams, trailers, walkthroughs and all sorts of gaming-related content made by fans. The US alone has seen viewers increase from 86 million in 2013 to 125 million this year, and by 2017 Superdata expects the total addressable market for gaming video to reach 790 million.

Looking at a regional breakdown, Superdata found that North America is out in front with $1.49 billion in revenues, followed closely by Europe at $1.14 billion and Asia at $701 million. Latin America is a distant fourth at $270 million while the rest of the world only generates about $21 million.

While Twitch has become a household name for gamers, YouTube of course remains far more mainstream. Interestingly, when it comes to market share for gaming video, YouTube does draw more viewers but Superdata found that Twitch generates more revenues. Twitch owns the highest market share by revenue (43 percent) thanks to a hardcore audeince. While there are some new video platforms coming onto the scene, Superdata said that new entrants are still only getting about 10 percent of viewership.

Overall, the report noted that viewers are on track to spend a combined total of $890 million on paid subscriptions and donations this year. Furthermore, advertising revenue (which totals 77 percent of revenues) and corporate sponsorships are expected to bring in $2.9 billion in the US this year.

"Publishers have only recently started to leverage online video channels as a key component of their marketing efforts," said SuperData CEO, Joost van Dreunen. "But watching videos online is second nature to the current generation of gamers. Celebrities like PewDiePie, who earned $7.5 million last year, have proven to be important tastemakers in an industry that traditionally knows tightly controlled marketing and press efforts."

The core gaming audience has been critical to the explosion of gaming video platforms like Twitch. Superdata found that American livestream viewers donate an average of $4.64 a month to content creators, and around 44 percent of livestream viewers pay for subscriptions, spending $21 each month on paid content. In fact, single donations to popular broadcasters have reached upwards of $30,000 in some instances. Additionally, while most of the hardcore audience watches live streams, a third also watch eSports, which continues to be a growing sector for publishers with the right games and communities and for sponsors.