Games live-streaming audience expected to reach 1.41 billion by 2025: Report

The companies and creators fostering immersive and engaging live experiences are driving engagement across esports and game-related live streaming alike. As per Newzoo’s Global Esports & Live Streaming Market Report 2022 games live-streaming audience expected to reach 1.41 billion by 2025 whereas India is among the emerging countries dominating mobile esports titles.

Here are the key findings:

• Esports organizations still rely on sponsorship as the primary source of revenue for their business. By the end of 2022, sponsorships will account for $837.3 million—nearly 60 per cent of global esports revenues.

• PC esports titles dominate developed markets such as North America, Europe, China, South Korea, and Japan. Mobile esports titles dominate emerging markets like Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Southeast Asia, and India.

• The game’s live-streaming audience reached almost 810 million in 2021 and is expected to reach 1.41 billion by 2025, a CAGR of +16.3 per cent from 2020 to 2025. Non gaming content is one of the drivers of massive growth, accounting for up to 21 per cent of the content watched in 2021.

• More than 84 per cent of users active in non-gaming categories are also active on gaming channels, which means that non-gaming content does not necessarily cannibalize gaming content on these platforms. This is an opportunity for brands that are more familiar with non-gaming content to engage with live-streaming gaming audiences.

• Co-streaming is increasingly becoming part of brands’ strategy to provide non-gaming content to the gaming community. Recently, Netflix, the NBA, and Formula 1 have partnered with streamers to expand their distribution channels for content among gamers.

• Esports is on track to generate nearly $1.38 billion in revenues by the end of 2022, up from 2021’s $1.11 billion (year-on-year growth of +16.4 per cent). China will generate nearly a third of worldwide esports revenues. Southeast Asia, Central Southern Asia, and Latin America are the fastest-growing regions with 2020-2025 CAGRs of +27.6per cent, +23.4 per cent, and +19 per cent, respectively. Global revenues will exceed $1.86 billion by 2025, representing a healthy CAGR of +13.4 per cent. 

• Growth markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Northern Africa, and Southeast Asia will retain high growth rates throughout 2025, boosted by the increasing popularity of mobile titles on live-streaming platforms. China remains the world’s largest market in terms of live-streaming audience. It will grow with a CAGR of +7.6 per cent from 2020 to reach 267.5 million in 2025.
  
  
• The global esports audience will reach 532 million by the end of 2022. The number of esports enthusiasts is set to reach 261.2 million, while occasional viewers will make up 270.9 million. The esports audience will reach 640.8 million by the end of 2025, with a 2020-2025 CAGR of +8 per cent.
  
  
• Twitch was the most popular games live-streaming platform in the West in 2021, seeing a +26 per cent year-on-year increase with nearly 20 billion live gaming hours watched. YouTube Gaming was the second largest, with 4.7 billion live gaming hours watched.
  
  
• Esports enthusiasts represent an attractive segment for consumer brands; 74 per cent of esports enthusiasts are full-time employees (compared to just 56 per cent of the general online population), and around 44 per cent fall in the high-income bracket (compared to 33 per cent of the general online population).
  
  
• The games live-streaming audience will grow by +13.8 per cent year on year to reach 921.2 million globally in 2022. The audience will cross the billion mark by 2023 and increase with a CAGR of +16.3 per cent from 2020 to reach 1.4 billion in 2025.