Podcasts and gamers How audio can propel the gaming universe

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20,000 foot view:  The rise of games-inspired content is taking entertainment by storm. This illustrates the power of not only games content itself, but the fandoms that keep it alive, revealing an audience for other entertainment formats to tap into. As games aficionados over-index for a variety of podcasting behaviours, podcasts are an opportunity for games companies to turn many of the adverse effects of attention inflation into opportunities to drive fandom, engagement, and revenue along the way.

Key insights 

• As of        2022,        of all consumers are games aficionados – defined as the consumers who spend the most time and money on games – making them a key entertainment segment
• Almost half        of games aficionados listen to podcasts every month, and        listen daily, compared to the average consumer at        and        respectively
• As consumers emerged from pandemic lockdowns, per MIDIA’s attention economy model, game playing hours decreased more than podcast listening, which has since started trending upward
       of games aficionados pay attention to audio ads compared to the        consumer average
• Games / esports was the fastest-growing podcast genre from        2022 to        2022, highlighting the growing opportunity for gaming companies to create podcast content
• As podcast consumption fragments across various platforms, gaming community platforms such as Twitch will play a key role in reaching podcast listeners
• Gamers are natural entertainment multitaskers:        of gamers listen to podcasts while playing video games,        while exercising, and        while doing household chores

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Audioboom, BBC        Beautiful / Anonymous , Chris Gethard, Comic Con, Distractible, Dropped Frames, Dungeons & Dragons , HBO Max, iHeartMedia, iHeartLand, Madden NFL , Markiplier, Minecraft , NFL, Splinter Cell, Spotify, Succession, The Last of US , Twitch, Yakuza , YouTube, YouTube Live