Why Watch Someone Else Play a Video Game?
Whether you're watching a streamer play a game to an audience of 50,000 people or watching your older sibling beat a tough level for you on the couch, there has always been an allure to watching someone else play a video game. With the considerable growth of Twitch and other live streaming platforms, watching other people playing video games is bigger than ever – but what makes it so appealing to some people? If video games are meant to be played, why would somebody opt to watch someone else play a game instead of just playing it themselves?
Watching others play video games has been around for as long as video games, but we did not get it in the form we have today until the introduction of the internet and sites like YouTube. YouTube worked so well for watching games because you no longer had to be in person to watch the game: you could watch it from the comfort of your own home! From this came things like walk-throughs, long-plays, and let’s-plays. A long-play or play-through is often a simple playing of the video game, with no commentary alongside the game. A walk-through in video form is similar to a long-play but works as an instructional video and often has commentary alongside the gameplay to explain how to accomplish tasks in the game. Since their inception, walk-throughs and long-plays have been relevant, but they have never been hugely popular, mainly due to them not being particularly entertaining. Let’s-plays merged the format of video game videos with entertainment and had commentary alongside gameplay with the purpose of entertaining the viewer.
Image sourced from YouTube
The simple concept that is the let’s-play spawned an entire internet culture. From an outside perspective, let’s-plays can seem weird because it's just people playing a game while talking over it, but the format allowed for wide varieties within the medium. Some treat each video like an episode of a TV show, each continuing from the last, some have highly edited one-off videos with a ton of jokes packed in, and some will treat each video more like a podcast between friends while they play a game. These are just a few examples; many creators have found ways to make their videos unique in some way. While let’s-plays are still prevalent today, they’re much less popular than they used to be: live streaming is the main reason behind this.
Game streaming has existed for a long time, but it hit its stride within the last ten years and had a massive surge in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, keeping everyone inside. The leading streaming platform used today is Twitch, but there are other streaming platforms, including even Youtube and Facebook. The immediate connection between the viewer and the streamer made streaming more appealing than let’s-plays for many. It is almost like the viewer is right there, watching the game being played as it is happening. They are, in real-time, watching the streamer and interacting with them in the chat. Just streaming yourself playing a game is not hard, or so people think, but there's a reason only some people that play games are streamers.
People enjoy the streamers that they watch for many different reasons, but generally it is because it provides them with entertainment. Playing a game by itself is easy, but making it entertaining for others is not. One of the main reasons people find streamers to be entertaining is because they are often really good at the games they play. It's a rare talent, and it takes a lot of skill to be good at a variety of games. Wondering why people watch games rather than just play them is like asking why people watch sports instead of playing them: It is entertaining to watch someone be good at something, no matter what they are good at.
Not all streamers and let’s-players are particularly good at the game – some are just entertaining people to watch. Watching an entertaining let's-play can be like watching your favourite show; each video is a performance to be enjoyed episodically as they progress through the game. There's something particularly entertaining about it because they must constantly be improvisationally entertaining, along with focusing on the game they are playing. To be a great streamer, you've got to be better than most people at a game, entertaining, and captivating enough to keep a group of potentially thousands of people from watching something else. The effort to keep people in is not always a solo effort, often multiple people contribute to each stream or video.
Collaboration among content creators is another draw to watching people play games. Collaborations are so enticing to a viewer because you could have multiple of your favourite creators all talking and interacting in one game. Some examples are games like “Among Us”, where groups of up to 15 players play together in one game where they speak and lie to each other to win. Games like “Minecraft” are also commonly played in collaborations, as all the creators can share one massive world where they can team up, fight each other, or just joke around. The wide variety of online games creates so many possibilities for collaboration or interaction.
Image sourced from Twitch
A lot of the appeal of watching others play games comes from the interaction between the viewer and the creator. Whether it is the YouTube comment section or the Twitch chat, people like that engagement. Some games even allow viewers to influence or play with or against the creator directly. The Jackbox Party Pack games allow viewers to vote on what they think is funny, and games like VR Chat allow in-game players to share the same space to talk. It differs from meeting them in person, but it is a form of interactivity that is not really seen in other mediums.
However, interactions between viewer and creator are not always good. Many people that watch can be rude to the creator and can be very vocal about their dislike in the chat or comments. Additionally, many people who frequently watch a creator can begin to develop a parasocial relationship with them. A parasocial relationship is when the viewer begins to treat the creator like a close friend they know very well, while the creator has no idea the viewer even exists. This unhealthy relationship can cause a lot of problems for both parties, and It is important for viewers to know that these creators are there to entertain them and not to be their friends.
While there are some negative aspects associated with watching others play video games, it remains a very rich source of entertainment. There are so many different factors and reasons that make watching video games entertaining; the main reason for it being so popular today is because of the interactivity with the host or streamer. Whether it is for you or not, watching other people play games continues to grow in popularity. It will likely continue to grow as the video game industry grows and developers find new ways to facilitate interaction between the creators and the viewers.