Video game marketing agency Big Games Machine has released its latest industry report, ‘How Gamers Use YouTube in 2025,’ providing valuable insights into the habits and motivations of 1,000 U.S. gamers on the platform.
The survey reveals that guides and tutorials reign supreme as the most popular form of gaming content on YouTube, with viewers showing a clear preference for mid-sized channels. These insights provide valuable guidance for developers and marketers seeking to engage gamers through video content.
Key findings:
- Content type: Guides and tutorials are the most popular (47%), followed by reviews and funny moments (40%). ‘Core viewers’ (those watching more than 2 hours per week) are twice as likely to engage with long-form content, like video essays. These responses highlight the importance of diversifying content to cater to varying levels of engagement.
- Channel subscriber size: Mid-sized channels with 100k-1 million subscribers (39%) are the most popular, followed by micro-influencers (10k-100k) at 26%. Casual viewers are more likely to favour micro-influencers.
- Genre and channel size: While medium-sized channels lead across all genres, larger channels (over 1 million subscribers) are more prevalent among those who favour action games compared to other genres.
- Shifting streaming landscape: Gamers embrace a multi-platform approach to live stream viewing. While YouTube remains the clear leader amongst the respondents (79%), the significant audiences engaging with live content on both Twitch (43%) and TikTok (40%) underscore the need for a diversified live streaming strategy.
- Indies and esports fail to attract: YouTube content from indie developers (5%) and esports organisations (10%) ranked the lowest in terms of viewer preferences, indicating that these organisations are failing to develop content that appeals to viewers.
- Age and Engagement: Younger audiences (18-24) demonstrate the highest engagement with gaming content on YouTube, with viewership decreasing as age increases
- Genre Preferences: Let’s Play content (32%) and funny moments/compilations (31%) are particularly popular among 18-24-year-olds, offering insight into the preferences that will appeal to younger audiences
- Content length: Those who class themselves as hardcore viewers are twice as likely to watch Video Essays (long-form insights) versus those who identify as casual viewers (13% for casual viewers, 26% for hardcore viewers)
“Following on from our game discoverability report last year, lots of people wanted to better understand how gamers use YouTube.
What our survey makes clear is that gamers have very varied tastes and preferences depending on demographics and game genre, and the good news is that Creators don’t need millions of subscribers to succeed on the platform.
It also shows that indie developers and marketers investing in YouTube can spread their time and budgets across a broader range of channels rather than betting the farm on one of two huge influencers.”
James Kaye, co-founder of Big Games Machine
Methodology for the “How gamers use YouTube in 2025” report
Big Games Machine conducted an online survey in January 2025. The data was collected across the US between the 13th – 14th January 2025. 1,050 completes were achieved, with a 50/50 male and female split.
- All respondents played video games on either a PC (Steam Deck also permitted) or/a console (mix here of Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox) or/and Mobile.
- All respondents watched gaming content on YouTube for at least 30 minutes.
- All respondents were incentivized, and each provided opt-in consent in line with MRS and GDPR guidelines.
- Respondents answered questions about their gaming content consumption on YouTube. They were also asked about the content creators they watch on YouTube.
You can access the “How gamers use YouTube in 2025” full report here.
