Study: 63% of Video Game Players Stream At Least Two Hours of Free Content Weekly

While many assume that gaming is simply a pastime for children, the reality is that video games have become a major part of the entertainment diet for people of all ages. A study released by LG Ad Solutions on Tuesday examined the connection between video game players and streaming video.

The study showed that gamers are particularly embracing free ad-supported streaming options, with 63% watching at least two hours of free streaming video per week. That total is significantly higher than the 51% of total connected TV (CTV) owners. This could be because — despite the fact that people of all ages consider themselves gamers these days — video games do attract a younger crowd, who are also more open to budget-friendly streaming options.

But video game players are not just streaming content for free, they subscribe to traditional streaming services at a higher rate than all CTV owners. Interestingly, it is not a streaming service that broadcasts titles based on video games — like HBO Max with “The Last of Us” or Paramount+ with “Halo” — or a platform that is investing heavily in mobile games — like Netflix — that gamers are more likely to sign up for than the rest of the streaming population. Instead, it is the lifestyle streamer discovery+ that is most prevalent among the demo, according to LG.

Gamers over-index the rest of the CTV population on the service by 47%. After discovery+, the services with the highest percentage of games over other CTV users are Apple TV+ and Disney+, with Peacock and Paramount+ not far behind. This could be because some of the other services — like Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu — are pretty well penetrated and appeal to a wide swath of viewers, while the top-five services amongst streamers (with the exception of Disney+) are smaller and have not yet reached maturity with the wider population.

According to the report, marketers have overlooked a number of opportunities amongst gamers. Primarily, they have limited their focus to males on the presumption that there are not many female gamers. However, the study showed that one in five women play video games on a daily basis and that number is growing.

The study shows that 29% of women surveyed indicated that they are spending more time gaming than they did a year ago and more than two-thirds are spending at least four hours per week gaming.

This study makes it clear that the gaming market is constantly evolving and that there is a strong connection between the growing trends around video game users and streaming services. As services continue to plateau in terms of subscriber growth, looking to video games and their players would be a smart way to continue to increase the engagement with their platforms.