Rebooting video fandom Games as a video streaming genre

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20,000 foot view:  With gamers being mainstream, video streaming services and their content offerings can benefit by increasing focus on the preferences of gamers. Crucially, this enables subscription video on demand (SVOD) services to drive engagement, broaden reach and improve retention. While TV adaptations of games are not new, the sheer size of the gamer population among subscribers now warrants TV adaptations to remain closely tied to the original game, as illustrated by the success of The Last of Us . Simultaneously, game developers, publishers and distributors can benefit from increased brand awareness, engagement, and sales uplift, afforded by the cross promotion of the IP as a TV show. Given benefits for both the games and the streaming industry, expect this media fusion across games and video to become the new normal in TV show commissioning. 

Key insights 

• As of        2022,        of consumers are gamers
• Gamers spend        hours on streaming TV shows and movies every month, compared to        hours for non-gamers 
• Gamers spend more money on video streaming than non-gamers        per month on average, versus       
• The average gamer has more video subscriptions        than the average non-gamer        meaning gamers could be harder for SVOD services to retain 
• Given the size and value of gamers in video service userbases, it makes increasing sense for video services to cater to gamer preferences
• There is a case for successful TV adaptations of games to closely replicate the original game, as illustrated by the success of The Last of Us
• For games publishers, TV adaptations can rekindle interest in older games as well as unlock hype for DLCs, game seasons and in-game purchases
• Coordinating episodic releases of TV adaptations alongside releases of the game (e.g., DLC or new game seasons) can turn competition between video and games into synergy
• Action, horror and comedy are key video genres for gamers, with anime and adult animation being more niche, but with a stronger degree of over-index
• SVOD services need to understand the gamer nuances of their respective audiences to action this opportunity in the most effective manner

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Apple TV+, Call of Duty, CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Cyberpunk        Disney+, Grand Theft Auto, HBO, Microsoft, Monster Hunter, Naughty Dog, Netflix, Persona, PlayStation, PlayStation Productions, Stranger Things, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, The Witcher, Top Gun, Twitch, Uncharted, Xbox Game Pass, YouTube Premium