Games

So, it's just like traditional sports now

Because who can afford a new gaming rig/system AND games to play on it?

True for me. Rare are the days whenni have the mental capacity for playing a game after work. Just watching is easier on the brain.

Super gross conclusions/recommendations from the marketing firm in the article.

I imagine that if the finding was “gamers spend more time watching friends play”, they’d suggest monetizing the couch cushions.

More people watch than they play it.

And then gamers talks like "pro" and bullying others, without being able to finish a tutorial.

Checks out. I'm the same as others have mentioned, after work I'd rather just tune out and watch someone play a game (or have it on in the background) than actually build up the mental strength to play one myself, or at least a game that has any challenge to it, most days. If I play a game on an evening after work, I'm usually just cruising the Paldea region in Pokemon hunting for shinies or some other interesting pokemon to catch. I can just shut my brain off, move my character around, and look for a different colored pokemon.

I can see where the next revenue stream will be: Publishers want a tithe from Twitch for streams of their products. They've been polite up until now because its free marketing, but if even one dataset says there's money to be made...

Phil Fish was the first and got blown out over it, we should have taken heed.

Very true. I usually binge videos for whatever game I'm currently playing.

I like watching Nilhaus play factory games so I can learn some new ways to better organize my logistics. That's a big one.

I've never played Europa Universalis IV but I love watching videos of it.

Is there maybe a generational gap? I am older and I very, very rarely watch videos. Maybe when I am totally stuck in a game will I watch a walkthrough. But just watching other people play is something my kids and their friends do. I think games just caught up to sports, where most fans spend more time watching than playing as well.

I very much doubt that people are watching games exclusively though. They are probably working, playing a game themselves (I watch while playing Football Manager etc...) or glued to their phone.

This is not a surprise. Big companies have been very busy for the last decade in transforming video games into glorified visual experiences which feel more of a chore than fun to play.

Only time I watch something is to see how to get past a part or get a tricky achievement. I'd be curious if its a generational thing. I started with the Commodore64 and would rather play the games.

Yeah, true for me. Idk, I just like gaming discussion. And my ADHD keeps me from actually playing the games when I want to.

I personally mostly watch gaming streams as a background for work, never as focus activity. As a main activity I definitely prefer to play myself rather than watch others playing, with a rare exception when I'm just interested to see a few minutes of gameplay of some new game to see if I'm interested in it.

As for me, it used to be 50/50 back when I studied. However, ever since I've entered the workforce I mostly stopped watching videos.

I need to constantly learn new things, tackle new problems and optimize stuff. I usually go for the highest difficulties too. In theory, my job provides these tasks for me, however, I get a lot of satisfaction from trying and failing things over and over until I've figured them out myself. I can't usually do this professionally, as most problems have already been solved and I'm just learning how others did it. The same as playing with a guide or watching a video on a game. It just doesn't scratch the itch.

Yeah playing alone feels lonely, I just watch videos when I want to relax

I could never get into watching other people play video games just like I could never get into watching other people play sports: They both usually bore me pretty quickly even with ones I have fun playing.

It's like people who watches sports but don't do any.

Edit: Well. after a few minutes of reflection, I wanna contribute with my two cents and say that it's pretty common to do this kind of thing of watch videos instead of playing games, but it is done under very specific circumstances, like, I am a SFIII 3rd Strike player and I have a job to, so, I can't be playing all the day. Competitive players need to be being in contact with the game that they wanna master to not get rusty faster, so watch videos is a way of getting that contact, view plays and movements and get that in your head till the moment you got a fightstick in your hands to be able to put in practice all those toughs

Call of Duty Warzone already has in-game video. When you’re dead, you watch your teammate play until they can revive you. You see through their eyes and can talk to them.

Yeah they run all day while I work. Often while I'm playing too haha.

I don't know if I'd still call myself a gamer. I still play games, but I just don't have much time for them. As such, I do have videos on in the background frequently and it is frequently people playing games (though how they're doing it or what they're doing in the games is the interesting part and, in some cases, I'd watch the same content if it weren't in a game but that's how it happens to be packaged).