X

YouTube says people watched 50 billion hours of gaming videos this year

Now that's a lot of hours to watch somebody else play.

marrianzhou
marrianzhou
Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.
See full bio
Marrian Zhou
youtube-gaming.jpg

Are you a video game spectator on YouTube?

 Claudia Cruz/CNET

People really like watching other people play video games on YouTube .

YouTube global gaming head Ryan Wyatt told VentureBeat on Friday that people have logged "50 billion hours of gaming watch time in the last 12 months." More than 200 million people watch gaming videos on the Google-owned platform every day, according to a YouTube spokesperson.

In September, the popular video platform renovated its hub for gaming fans by launching an updated home base for videos about games. The YouTube Gaming hub already had more than 78 million subscribers. YouTube also enabled users to sponsor their favorite gaming channels in the same month. Users could pay $4.99 per month to have access to exclusive live chats and custom emoji. They could also buy digital items directly from the channels.

Last week, YouTube also announced its top viral videos of 2018. From Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott to Dude Perfect, people have watched these videos millions of times.