Uniwersytet Wrocławski

The Phenomenon of Popcorn Gaming: Why Do We Watch Games More and More?

This study, by Maciej Śledź of the University of Wrocław, examines "popcorn gaming," a phenomenon in which players prefer watching video games rather than playing them, and asks why such viewing has grown.

• Popcorn gaming, the preference for watching video games over playing them, is growing rapidly alongside streaming platforms, with over 9 billion hours of game streams watched in 2019, a 20 percent increase on the previous year.
• In an online survey of 376 Polish gamers, 28 percent said they preferred watching games to playing them, and 77 percent named the streamer as their main motive, making the creator more important than the game itself.
• Viewers are also drawn by enjoyment of watching skilled play, fear of negative judgment from teammates in competitive online games, and limited hardware or skill that keeps them from playing.