Video game livestreaming
The live streaming of video games is an activity where people broadcast themselves playing games to a live audience online. The practice became popular in the mid-2010s on the US-based site Twitch, before growing to YouTube, Facebook, China-based sites Huya Live, DouYu, and Bilibili, and other services. By 2014, Twitch streams had more traffic than HBO's online streaming service, HBO Go. Professional streamers often combine high-level play and entertaining commentary, and earn income from sponsors, subscriptions, ad revenue, and donations.
"Game streaming" redirects here. For video gaming on remote servers, see cloud gaming. For the level design technique, see Level streaming.
Both AAA and indie developers have circumvented rising development costs by utilizing the free advertising live streaming provides. Independent titles such as Fall Guys, Rocket League, and Among Us are examples of games that have experienced a huge increase in player base as a result of streaming. Esports have also gained significant traction and attention from the accessibility of live streaming, and streaming has even been used as a method to raise awareness of social issues and money for charity.
Through live streaming, viewers can watch experienced or entertaining video game players while immersing themselves in a virtual audience of like-minded people. Many viewers cannot experience these video games due to time and financial constraints. Video game live streaming can be a remedy to this dilemma, allowing the audience to consume the act of the streamer's consumption.[1] Live streamers are seen as community organizers of a video game due to their ability to play said game or the entertainment they've created around it.[1]
Twitch is currently the most popular video game live-streaming service for both streamers and viewers. The website averaged 35 million daily users in 2022 and 7 million distinctive streamers go live every month.[2] Twitch has a global reach as well, hosting broadcasts in up to 35 different languages.[2]
Overview[edit]
History[edit]
Tomoaki Hamatsu (浜津 智明) also known as Nasubi (なすび, "Eggplant") is credited as the first video game live streamer due to the fact that he won a PlayStation, a TV, and the video game Densha de Go! all through Magazine Sweepstakes during the game show Denpa Shōnen teki Kenshō Seikatsu. (Denpa Shonen Sweepstakes Life) The goal of the game was to win ¥1 million ($6894.50) in sweepstake prizes all whilst being naked and he could only use stuff he won for food, clothing, and entertainment. By November 1998 Nasubi became the first to livestream a video game after winning a PlayStation along with his TV and the video game. He ended up playing this game for 3 whole days straight before banning himself from it due to it distracting him from his goal.
The popularity of livestreaming video games began with WSBN, a shoutcasting station, video streaming a competitive Starsiege Tribes match via Windows Media Encoder to approximately 50 people in 2001. Own3d, an early esport streaming website based in Austria, operated between 2009 and 2013.[3] It later became popular in the mid-2010s on sites such as Twitch.[4] By 2014, Twitch streams had more traffic than HBO Go and eventually hastened the closure of Justin.tv, which Twitch had originally spun out of.[5][6] In 2015, YouTube launched YouTube Gaming, a video gaming-oriented sub-site and app that intended to compete with Twitch.[7] Other notable video-game oriented streaming websites include Microsoft's Mixer, which shut down in July 2020, Smashcast.tv, which was formed after the merging of Azubu and Hitbox.tv, the South Korea-based afreecaTV, and many China based sites like Huya Live, DouYu and Bilibili.
In August 2020, China based video sharing website and live streaming service Bilibili paid Riot Games $113 million for the exclusive rights to broadcast League of Legends World Championship, Mid-Season Invitational and League of Legends All Star for three years in China. It was the biggest deal in the video game live streaming market, and made China's video game live streaming market bigger than Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming combined, according to journalist Rod Breslau.[8][9]
Impact on the video game industry[edit]
Live streaming has brought attention to previously obscure video games such as Rocket League, Fall Guys, and Among Us. Rocket League, a vehicular soccer game developed by Psyonix, sold over 5 million copies after becoming one of the top 5 most-watched games on Twitch when it released in July 2015. The game eventually accumulated over 12 million players and earned itself a Twitch Rocket League Championship Series.[10] In September 2020, Rocket League abandoned its traditional pricing scheme and became free-to-play.
This form of live streaming has become a popular form of advertising for video game developers, surpassing traditional mediums such as online magazines and traditional demos.[10] Potential consumers can experience newly released video games without having to purchase them, which helps them understand which titles they would like to purchase. In fact, recent research suggests that live streams bring additional players into broadcast games and even increase online sales of these games.[11]
Video game live streaming has increased the popularity of many free-to-play games like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Valorant. Free-to-play games cost no money to buy and play but offer purchasable items in-game in order to turn a profit. Items can range from clothes, weapon accessories, emotes, and more. Due to its popularity among live streamers and easy accessibility for viewers to play, free-to-play games blew up in popularity in the video game community.
Another reason for the increased popularity of free-to-play games was the frequent updates and patches provided for the player base.[12] Major issues users found in games were getting fixed much more frequently than in AAA games. Due to the popularity of these games, live-streaming platforms have become places of discussion and suggestions on how to improve these games.[12]
Older titles, such as Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, have seen renewed popularity due to speedruns, or rapid completions, facilitated by live streaming.[10] This has been a key component in diversifying live streaming audiences.
Impact on esports[edit]
With the ability for anyone to watch from home on their devices, esports viewership reached 213 million in 2016 and continues to grow every year.[13] Popular eSports titles include Call of Duty, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Fortnite, League of Legends, and Overwatch.[14] One of the biggest prize pools in esports was for the Dota 2 tournament, The International, which totaled a pool of US$25 million in 2017.[13]
Smaller video game communities, such as the Super Smash Bros Melee community, have benefited from the visibility they have gained from video game live streaming.[15] In 2013, several members of the Super Smash Bros Melee community live streamed in order to raise money to become the eighth game featured at the prestigious tournament Evolution Championship Series and overturn a decision by Nintendo to ban the game from the event.[16]
Streamer-Viewer Relationship[edit]
Livestreaming video games has become a phenomenon offering a range of entertainment and engagement. It's not just, about broadcasting gameplay it's about the unique dynamics that streamers bring to their live shows. Live chat logs are at the heart of this culture serving as a hub where viewers and streamers form a special bond.[17] People are not only interested in the gameplay itself but in the personalities and entertainment provided by the streamer. This connection goes beyond watching viewers often try to emulate the streamer's overall persona creating an environment where the streamer sets the tone and vibe of the livestream.[17] Live chat logs enable this interactivity through features like subscriber emotes – emoticons that viewers can use if they pay a subscription fee to support their favorite streamer.[17] These emotes are often designed specifically for each streamer reflecting their personality or unique language style allowing dedicated fans to communicate in their own way and making video game live-streaming even more immersive.[17]
Social activism[edit]
In December 2019, famous streamer, Dr. Lupo, hosted a 24-hour charity live stream to have all donations and earnings earned during the stream donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The stream managed to raise $2.3 million, with Twitch itself donating $1 million of the total.[18] In 2020, American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez live streamed herself playing the popular game Among Us with other streamers who have large followings in an effort to encourage people to vote in the 2020 United States presidential election.[19]