newswire: 8/6/2020
- The pandemic-era esports surge shows no signs of slowing down, with traffic to sites like Steam and Twitch hitting record highs. The fast-evolving industry is seeing large scale spending and games becoming more like social networks. (The Economist)
- NH: Since the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, we have argued that esports are particularly well suited for pandemic life. Initial data from China and Italy showed a significant increase in esports activities at the beginning of the pandemic. New data show that the industry is still going strong as the virus has spread globally. See “Esports: Put Me In Coach”
- According to NPD, US spending on video game hardware, software, and accessories totaled $6.6 billion from January to June of 2020. This is the most spending over six months on video games since the first half of 2010 when the industry made $7 billion. (That's back when pricey hardware was a much greater share of total spend--and digital sales a much smaller share.) On top of spending more, 35% of gamers say they are playing more during the pandemic than before. Gamers are averaging 14 hours per week, while in 2018, they averaged only 12 hours.
- One significant source of esports entertainment isn’t actually playing the games but rather watching professionals game. Much of this is done through Amazon's streaming network Twitch. In March, there were just over 1.6 million concurrent Twitch viewers. In April, May, June, and July, that number has been well over 2 million each month. Viewership has dipped slightly from highs in April, but this is most likely due to lockdowns being lifted and nicer weather. As states and countries pause or reverse reopening, it’s likely these numbers will again rise.
- If you are interested in investing in esports, take a look at an article we wrote a year ago about the industry: “It’s Game on For Esports.” We explain how esports works, the most prominent companies involved, and why it's here to stay.
