Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 6 July 2017
In video games, spectating is the new advertising

DERRIK J. LANG changing how game mak-
AP Entertainment Writer ers market and promote
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The their latest creations. It’s
rise of online audiences also reshaping how they
watching video gamers design games from the out-
stream themselves playing set.
isn’t simply a new form of As the developers at
entertainment seen by mil- Ready at Dawn games
lions. It’s also driving video were crafting their up-
game sales, and drawing coming multiplayer
the attention of federal game “Deformers,”a
regulators. smash-’em-up brawler in
A study released Wednes- which players controlling
day by live streaming com- squishy characters attempt
pany Twitch attributed 25 to push each other off a
percent of sales of releases platform, they realized the
like the fighting simula- action wasn’t always easy
tor “Punch Club” and the for spectators to follow. For
kill-or-be-killed multiplayer the end of every match,
game “The Culling” to they created an instant
those games being played replay feature that shows
on Twitch. The study found strands of different colored
that viewers were more like- In this June 12, 2014 file photo, people watch the “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” video game lines to illustrate where
ly to buy a game within 24 trailer at the Activision booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles. players had moved.
hours of watching a stream Associated Press “For us, watchability is a
of the game in action. massive consideration,”
“There’s a clear relation- sorship disclosure where Twitch’s daily active users Warman, CEO of Newzoo. said Ru Weerasuriya, co-
ship between viewing and consumers couldn’t easily have grown this year from “I think game companies founder at Ready at Dawn.
purchasing behavior,” said spot it. 8.9 to 9.6 million. are realizing this opens “Our players are no longer
Twitch data scientist Danny “If I did something wrong, I The interactive industry up new revenue possibili- the traditional players that
Hernandez, who studied should be paying the con- tracker Newzoo said in ties — not just selling games we were designing games
users who connected their sequences,” PewDiePie a February report that over — but advertising and con- for 10 years ago. They are
Twitch account to online grandmas, school kids and
game retailer Steam for in- spectators who all want
creased social interaction. to play — and watch — in
It’s not only the most popu- very different ways.”
lar online players who in- While most online gaming
fluence sales. Hernandez content is viewed on You-
found that mid-tier Twitch Tube and Twitch, Face-
streamers — those with au- book is now attempting
diences between 33 and to lure gamers to its own
3,333 concurrent viewers — streaming service, Face-
are responsible for 46 per- book Live. The social media
cent of game sales. giant partnered earlier this
While the majority of online summer with “Overwatch”
gamers freely stream them- and “Call of Duty” publish-
selves playing, many of the er Activision Blizzard Inc. to
most popular streamers broadcast live games and
with millions of followers are e-sports events on the so-
now regularly paid or spon- cial network.
sored by game publishers, The medium also no lon-
a practice that was recent- ger seems relegated to the
ly investigated by the Fed- indoors anymore. A few
eral Trade Commission. savvy gamers have be-
The FTC said on Monday gun streaming themselves
that Warner Bros. will settle playing mobile games like
charges it deceived con- In this June 15, 2016 file photo, a spectator watches players trying out the PlayStation “Gravity “Pokemon Go,” the aug-
sumers by not properly dis- Rush 2” video game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Associated Press mented reality sensation
closing it paid influencers that’s played on smart-
with big followings on You- said in a video posted 470 million gamers watch tent rights.” phones in the real world.q
Tube to promote the ac- Wednesday on YouTube. online gaming content on Warman noted that online
tion game “Middle-earth: “In this case, I don’t think I a regular basis and that video is more than twice Like us on
Shadow of Mordor” in 2014. did anything wrong.” number is expected to sur- as effective to reach con- Facebook
The government said War- As many outside the gam- pass 500 million viewers in sumers as TV. He said 35
ner Bros. hired YouTubers ing realm continue to won- 2016. percent of gamers use You-
such as Felix “PewDiePie” der why anyone would “The convergence of video Tube to discover new titles,
Kjellberg, who boasts want to watch someone and games means game while only 14 percent do
over 46 million subscrib- else play a video game companies can now en- through TV commercials.
ers, through an advertis- online, the audience for tertain people across all The boost in sales from
ing agency and instructed such content continues to screens at every moment viewers watching online
them to publish the spon- swell to staggering heights. of the day,” said Peter game streams isn’t merely facebook.com/bondianoticia