Game Genre Trends on Live Streaming in 2024

Key insights

5 slides

Market overview

FPS games lead live-streaming viewership, but their share is declining.

First-Person Shooter (FPS) games generated 1.2 billion hours watched in Q2 2024, outperforming non-gaming content. However, their share of total viewership has decreased since 2020.

Key Trend. FPS games remain dominant but have seen a decline in their overall viewership share from 2020 to 2024.

1.2 billion hours

FPS games watched in Q2 2024.

FPS share of total genre viewership in 2020: 16%
FPS share of total genre viewership in 2024: 13%

Emerging genres

Action games experienced significant year-over-year growth in viewership.

Action games saw a 30% year-over-year growth from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024, reaching 655 million hours watched. Their share of total genre viewership also increased.

30%

Year-over-year growth for Action games from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024.

Action games watched in Q2 2024: 655 million hours
Action games share of total genre viewership in 2020: 4%

1 / 5

Ask AI about this article

Summary

The live streaming landscape is undergoing a notable shift as viewer preferences move toward single-player and story-driven experiences, challenging the long-standing dominance of multiplayer live-service titles. While competitive genres remain the primary drivers of total viewership, the data indicates a clear trend toward diversification, with Action and RPG genres capturing a larger share of the audience compared to the COVID-19 era.

In the second quarter of 2024, First-Person Shooter (FPS) games maintained their lead with 1.2 billion hours watched, making them the only gaming category to outperform non-gaming content. However, the broader trend shows a decline in the relative share of FPS viewership, which dropped from 16% in 2020 to 13% in 2024. Conversely, Action games saw a 30% year-over-year growth, reaching 655 million hours watched in Q2 2024, while RPG viewership increased from 3% to 7% over the same four-year period. This growth is largely attributed to the release of high-profile, critically acclaimed titles and the sustained engagement provided by gacha-style games.

The analysis, which covers global live streaming platforms, highlights that while Twitch remains the dominant destination for gaming content, YouTube Gaming has secured a significant foothold in competitive genres, claiming 39% of shooter viewership and 38% of battle royale viewership. The findings suggest that while esports-viable games continue to command massive audiences, the rising popularity of narrative-focused and action-oriented titles reflects a growing viewer appetite for passive, story-driven entertainment. These insights are based on platform-wide viewership metrics from Q2 2024, providing a comparative look at industry shifts since 2020.