What’s so Fun in Watching Online Streamers?

Twitch contributes 2% of America’s peak Internet traffic. Yet most people on the streaming network are not streamers. It’s the tens of millions that visit Twitch to watch others play video games that help generate most of the traffic. Wait, why watch someone else play while you could purchase gaming equipment and play the same games?
Top Flight Streamers are insanely Skilled
To be honest, most video game players can boast of being talented at playing video games. They can follow a game’s gameplay, shoot enemies when prompted to and complete simple missions. But watch Ninja or Syndicate play Overwatch and you suddenly realize these guys are on another level.
If you love traditional sports like football and basketball, you probably watch games for the same reasons. You can kick a ball and even score, but watching Messi dribble and score screamers is much more fun.
10 million people watch streamers on Twitch every day, helping a company that started less than 10 years ago create a new breed of Internet celebrities. As a result, the top streamers also earn a lot of money.
A Live Social Experience
There is a reason why people pay hundreds of pounds to watch live matches but can’t look twice at a recorded game. Part of the fun of watching sports is to see the action happen live. Top Twitch streamers aptly create an immersive experience by playing skillfully, being sociable and entertaining.
On the other hand, there are thousands of streamers that create streams every day but have little to no audiences. This goes to show that good skills are not the only reason people watch streamers.
If a streamer is boring and shares nothing worthwhile, no one ever will ever watch their streams. Worse, if they have no fans, it’s harder to get more people to watch their streams. Most streaming channels are inherently social, so it’s not impossible for anyone to garner a following.
Facebook Live is built on a network solely meant to be a social network. It’s growing popular especially with casual gamers. YouTube also encourages sharing, and so does Twitch. Gaming fans looking for channels where they could watch streaming content and socialize with peers have plenty of options these days.
Entertainment from Games
Video games are entertaining and numbers confirm this. The top five biggest video game franchise, including Grand Theft Auto Series, sold for more than one billion. Red Dead Redemption 2, despite being a niche adventure game, also garnered more than half a billion dollars.
When it comes to fans, Fortnite is played by some 120 million fans worldwide. The best 10 games also have millions of fans. And while many of the fans feel entertained playing the games, a significant number of fans also love watching others play.
Keep in mind it’s not just video games that are entertaining. Casino streaming is a huge business. Offered through live casinos, you can play your favorite gambling games against others in real time. Fruity slots casino streaming selections offer a great overview of the best casinos for streaming.
Personalities
The personalities of streamers actually help them get fans. Whether they’re hilarious or melodramatic, streamers with unique traits gain followers fast. Take Sharishaxd, for example. She’s a beautiful Russian speaking Twitch streamer.
She talks a lot, often going into details about non-gaming related content. But she’s hardly a gamer. Surprisingly, she commands up to 50,000 viewers per stream. Another streamer, who’s now banned, was famous for his impoliteness.
Both Twitch and YouTube are full of players with different personalities. From drunken players to girls that stream to flirt with men, violent people to charitable gamers, there isn’t a personality not portrayed by today’s streamers.
All in all, the multiple kinds of gamers you find on streaming networks are talented in their own ways. That’s also a big reason why people watch streams. If you’re barely talented, people will skip your channel to watch guys that do nothing more than play around their homes and stream it live.
Inspiration
Watching someone play video games consistently well is inspiring, and a reason why some people never miss to watch content from their favorite streamers. In essence, streaming fans look up to top streamers like traditional athletes.
Just like a League Two player is likely to become a Harry Kane fan to get inspired by his gameplay, most Twitch fans look up to their streaming heroes. Of course, only a small section of players can be categorized as inspirational to true video game fans but people get inspired by anything.
Imagine someone who’s been streaming weeks and months and has no fans. He would probably feel inspired by watching a top streamer share their success story. Even for those that don’t want to become streamers, they feel inspired watching their favorite streamers grow popular and succeed at what they do.
Streamers help People
Remember the personalities we just talked about? Twitch, YouTube and other streaming networks contain some of the best humans alive. One day they’ll be shooting zombies at a video game. The next day they’re inside hospitals inspiring young kids.
Streamers are also the best at what they do and sometimes they share their tips. This charitable spirit encouraged by streaming communities makes being part of these communities enjoyable. There may be trolls and people with toxic personalities but a majority of people on Twitch are good people.
If you get the time to join a streaming community, really do. If you won’t be impressed by gaming, you’ll probably love the sense of togetherness fans and streamers share. Of course, do your research to find great streamers.
To Conclude
People who watch streamers are not different from other sports fans. They love video games. But for some reason, they find it entertaining to watch people who are much better than them. Most people simply watch streamers to have fun.
A lot more people do it to be part of the community while some come to get inspiration for gaming. Whatever your reason, you probably admit that streaming, both video games, and casino games are a force to reckon with.