Game Streaming Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Game Streaming Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The game streaming market is expected to register at a CAGR of 9% during the forecast period, 2022 - 2027.

Key Highlights

• The increased adoption of video streaming apps on mobile devices and television to watch movies, television shows, live events, and on-demand media content has supported the demand for gaming and entertainment streaming. Moreover, the need to play high-end games without requiring to own a powerful PC or a console has helped the development of these internet-based platforms.
• Such trends have led game developers, hardware providers, and game publishers to launch game streaming platforms to provide every option available to ensure high loyalty from their customers.
• The key players in the market are focusing on expanding their services to remain competitive. For instance, In January 2022, AfreecaTV plans to expand communication with worldwide users through esports content to the Korean video streaming provider. AfreecaTV, according to the corporation, presently operates six firms in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand, and Hong Kong to supply varied streaming content in many languages so that overseas viewers can watch it without any communication obstacles.
• In addition, The Korean video streaming service has hosted various esports events in several countries, using games popular in each region. AfreecaTV has also cooperated with notable foreign broadcasters for the esports tournaments to make the gaming battles more engaging for overseas spectators.
• Live game streaming is emerging through the subscription-based or advertisement-based revenue model. Rising competition in the live game streaming space is expected to create better user experiences to drive growth in downloads, usage, and revenue. It will seek to enter partnerships and consolidation to acquire viewers for the long term.
• According to Streamlabs, Twitch has reached 6.51 billion hours of viewing in the second quarter of 2021. This indicates that Twitch has the highest recorded audience engagement with the streaming platform to date when compared to Facebook, where only 700 million people play, watch, or hang out in Facebook gaming groups a month.
• While the sport has experienced a significant downturn in participation and viewership, esports and gaming's growth has been accelerated and seen a considerable increase in players and watchers as more people have had more free time during the covid pandemic.

Key Market TrendsSubscription Services Model is Expected to Register Significant Revenue

• Major companies rely on a fixed revenue from monthly subscriptions than other revenue models. Further, the subscription model provides much data to the game developers, such as most used weapon choices, in-game choices, and game modes. Games such as Counter-Strike and Dota 2 emphasize the in-game data generated.
• In March 2022, Sony combined PS Now and PS Plus into a three-tier subscription service. Sony has revamped its gaming subscription service, introducing three new tiers: PS Plus Essentials, PS Plus Extra, and PS Plus Premium. Extra includes 400 PS4 and PS5 games but no simultaneous first-party releases.
• According to Dataprot, In Q1 2022, Twitch accounted for 76% of hours watched between live streaming platforms, with more than 6.1 billion hours. YouTube Gaming Live (14%) and Facebook Gaming (10%) accounted for less than a quarter of total streamed video viewership, with 1.1 billion and 803 million hours watched, respectively.
• Moreover, In August 2022, Twitch, the popular streaming network, has recently updated its Partner program. According to the changes, partners can now stream on platforms other than Twitch. Although simultaneous streaming on "Twitch-like" services will continue to be permitted, users can now access alternative mobile platforms such as TikTok or IG Live.
• The key players in the market are introducing new subscription plans to grab the customer's attention. For instance, Xbox Live Gold costs USD10 per month (or USD 25 per quarter) and allows players to play Xbox games online with others.
• In addition, an individual subscription to Nintendo's online multiplayer service costs USD 4 per month (USD 8 quarterly or USD 20 per year) or USD 35 per year for a family membership. Users can play games with friends online, save games to the cloud, use voice chat in compatible games, and access a library of over 100 classic NES and SNES titles.
• All the above factors are expected to provide a positive outlook on the growth of subscription-based monetization tools.

Asia Pacific is Expected to Dominate the Market

• China is anticipated to hold a significant market share in the gaming streaming market owing to the popularity of esports among the youth and supportive government support for the growth of the entire gaming industry.
• Game streaming is gradually emerging as the most dominating segment of Asia Pacific's vast live streaming industry, driven by the rise of e-sports and many gamers compared to several major gaming markets globally.
• In August 2021, Tencent Holdings began redeploying resources toward its game streaming platform. After Chinese regulators halted the Tencent-backed Huya-Douyu game-streaming merger, they strengthened its game streaming arm.
• Moreover, In July 2022, the National Football League started its streaming service in Japan, hoping that the growing number of cable TV cord-cutters will pay to view certain games on mobile devices
• According to research by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and EY India, viewership for esports tournaments alone is predicted to reach 85 million by 2025. Furthermore, streaming and advertising revenue are expected to surpass INR 6.5 billion in 2025.
• The global players in the market are focusing on investments to expand their footprints worldwide. For instance, In March 2022, Loco, a game streaming platform, raised USD 42 million to create a "Twitch for India."
• The rapid growth of game streaming in China has attracted a rush of investment, led by China's sports giant Tencent Holdings Limited. Tencent Holdings Limited is planning to expand tournaments for hugely popular games like "League of Legends" and "Honor of Kings" in China, which will attract global players and viewers.
• Moreover, China is the capital of the esports industry, and the increasing number of esports tournaments in the region would lead to the rise of the game streaming market in China.

Competitive Landscape

The game streaming market is at its initial stage, and thus, it is a little competitive. Although seeing the popularity of the eSports leagues, companies are entering the market to gain a competitive advantage and expand their geographical presence. Product launches, high expense on research and development, partnerships and acquisitions, etc., are the prime growth strategies these companies adopt to sustain the competition. Key players in this market are Amazon.com, Inc, Douyu TV (Tencent Holdings Limited), and YouTube Gaming (Alphabet Inc). A few recent developments are:

• July 2022 - Riot Games and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have collaborated to change how Riot's esports content is developed and distributed in the cloud. Riot is the first company to rethink how fans enjoy League of Legends (LoL), VALORANT, and League of Legends: Wild Rift events using AWS's data analytics integration for esports broadcasts. Riot has chosen AWS as its official Cloud Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Machine Learning (ML), Cloud Deep Learning (DL), and Cloud Services provided as part of this global collaboration.
• March 2022 - Amazon announced that its Luna cloud gaming service, which includes an enlarged library of games and other features, is now available to all customers in the mainland United States. The new Prime Gaming Channel offers Amazon Prime members a one-of-a-kind opportunity to explore a rotating selection of free games on Luna. All players can now access even more games by subscribing to the new Retro and Jackbox Games Channel. Live Twitch broadcasting and the Luna Phone Controller, which is available via the Luna Controller app for iPhone and Android phones, are two new Luna features.

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• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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