YouTube games channels have become one of the most popular
categories on Google’s online video site, with the 100 biggest notching up
nearly 4.4bn video views in September alone.
That’s up from 3.5bn views
in May, according to a chart
published by industry site Tubefilter based on data from analytics
firm OpenSlate.
The chart, which ranks YouTube gaming channels based on their monthly
views, reveals that seven had more than 100m views in September, led by
YouTube’s biggest star PewDiePie
with 392.1m views that month.
He was followed by child-friendly Minecraft channel Stampy (189.6m views),
Spanish channel Vegetta777
(164m) and another Minecraft channel, The Diamond Minecart
(161.8m).
All four channels belong to multi-channel network (MCN) Maker Studios,
which was acquired by Disney earlier this year in a deal that could eventually
be worth up to $950m.
The company has become one of the new powerhouses of games media, with
22 of the top 100 YouTube games channels under its umbrella. Its closest rival
is Machinima, which accounted for 17 of the top 100 in September.
42 of the top 100 YouTube games channels that month are based in the US,
while 14 hail from the UK – 15 if you include PewDiePie – aka Felix Kjellberg –
whose channel is classified under his Swedish nationality, although he lives in
Brighton.
British YouTuber Olajide Olatunji – known as KSI on the service – owned
the fastest-growing games channel in September. His second channel KSIOajidebtHD saw its
views rise 185% month-on-month to 35.1m in September, catching up with his main
channel’s 51.2m views.
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Gaming is huge on YouTube, perhaps second only to music on the service,
thanks to a mixture of “Let’s Play” walkthroughs, reviews and comedy skits.
Some games publishers make it into the top 100 too: Angry Birds
developer Rovio
owned the 44th most popular games channel in September with 30.1m views, ahead
of League of Legends maker Riot Games
(28.9m) and the official channel for console game Destiny (22.8m).
The chart makes clear the extent to which YouTubers and MCNs are
reaching large audiences on YouTube ahead of existing games media companies.
That said, IGNs channel
was 11th in the rankings with 82.8m views in September, while Gamespot’s channel was
51st with 26.4m views.
The rise of YouTube games channels is provoking growing debate within
the games industry about commercial issues, from the amounts demanded by some
YouTubers to feature a game in their videos, to how such payments should be
disclosed to their audiences.
There may be a shakeup to come in the world of MCNs and gaming, too.
Earlier in October, PewDiePie
hinted at plans to strike out alone when his contract with Maker
Studios runs out, when asked about the idea of setting up his own MCN in an interview
for Swedish magazine Icon.
“Yes, but I’d rather not talk too much about it. I’m in touch with a
couple of people who I think would be so right for this. I’m eager to get it
all up and running. So far, all the networks have been managed in such an
incredibly poor way, it’s embarrassing really. I’d like to help other
YouTubers,” said Kjellberg.
He later rowed back from the comments after they were reported in the
Wall Street Journal. “I feel like I was misquoted in the WSJ and I’m really
happy with the work that Maker has been doing for me,” tweeted
Kjellberg.
Even so, what the Tubefilter/OpenSlate chart shows
is that a PewDiePie-led collective of YouTube gamers could instantly have a
huge reach, and considerable clout within the games industry.
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