Professional video game streamers are entering into a new year which may just be their biggest yet. Streamers in 2023 are estimated to bring in over $100M.
Video game streaming has been increasingly popular over the years. Names such as Ninja, Tfue, and Pokimane are some of the big-name streamers that many in the gaming world have heard of. Many of these big streamers have millions of followers and can earn thousands or even millions.
It’s not only through subscriptions that these prominent names can earn money but also through advertising and brand sponsorships. The gaming industry has seen huge growth, and with that, we have seen more influencers growing their content and becoming bigger names on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. Many of these streamers start young and in some instances have made millions in their twenties.
Streaming boom
According to data from SportsLens, not only are streamers expected to bring in over $100M this year, but this figure is also a 22% increase from last year. Some still joke that, “Why watch someone play when you can play yourself” but clearly the market is there, and it’s booming.
Covid played a part in seeing a surge in popularity in 2020. Lockdown meant people were cooped up at home bored, so gaming was a great outlet. Watching your favourite streamer became a good source of entertainment and also a way to socialise with friends.
Twitch along with YouTube Gaming Live and Facebook Gaming achieved 28.7 billion hours watched. That’s a huge 81% more than before the pandemic struck. 2021 saw a 21% growth with 34.6 billion hours watched.
A Statista survey noted that professional esports gamers and signed streamers made around $51 million in 2019. This number then climbed by more than 50% over the next two years. Last year saw a huge $87.3 million in professional game streaming revenues, that’s 11% more than a year before. While these numbers are already huge, this year is set to see the highest annual revenue growth. These numbers are predicted to jump up by another 22.3%.
More viewers, higher revenue
As for where streaming is popular, data shows that more than 30% of global streaming revenue comes from China. The United States ranks second. Both of these along with others such as Canada, India, and the UK all show expected growth. This growth of course comes down massively to viewers. Last year around 526 million worldwide watched video game streaming content. This figure as with revenues is projected to keep growing. By 2025 it is expected that the video game streaming market may reach 665 million people globally.
Last year women’s first streaming platform Dorian raised $14 million to expand its tools and live streaming support. In addition, Twitch claimed it had removed more than 15 million bots from the service in a bid to clean up the platform.
Image credit to Caspar Camille Rubin
Paige Cook is a writer with a multi-media background. She has experience covering video games and technology and also has freelance experience in video editing, graphic design, and photography. Paige is a massive fan of the movie industry and loves a good TV show, if she is not watching something interesting then she's probably playing video games or buried in a good book. Her latest addiction is virtual photography and currently spends far too much time taking pretty pictures in games rather than actually finishing them.
