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Three single item analyses were conducted and compared, each item asking subjects if they watched video game streams before, during, and after the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown. Referring to Table 2, respondents who watched video game streams rose as time went on. Forty-one percent (n=43) of respondents said they watched video game streams before the pandemic lockdown, while 49.5% (n=53) watched during the lockdown period, and 54.1% (n=59) currently watch video games streams.
Table 2:
Comparison of watching video game streams before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown
After analyzing the results, it seems that the amount of participants that watch esports streams has slowly gone up over the years. 41.3% (n=43) of participants said they watched esports streams before COVID, while 49.5% (n=53) said they watched during, and 54.1% (n=59) said they currently watch video game streams. Based on research from Nordland (2023) and Geyser (2023), this rise in viewership may be a product of multiple different reasons. According to Nordland (2023), six different video game titles had peak viewership in 2022, including the League of Legends world championship (5 million viewers) and the Riot world championship (74 million viewers at peak). This research shows that watching esports streams has gained serious popularity over the past few years, and could be the reason we see the rise in this research
In addition, research from Geyser (2023) shows that esports’ combined audiences rose by 134 million viewers from 2019 to 2022, where much of the years in between were affected by the global pandemic. This could suggest that we see these results due to the pandemic, where many were forced to find new hobbies and ways to pass time, and may have remained a trend after the pandemic ended.
Table 3:
Cross-tabulation of playing video games currently and during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown
To understand the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on video game consumption of this group, subjects were asked if they played video games during and after the pandemic. The cross-tabulation in Table 3 reveals that 93.7% (n=74) of the respondents that currently play video games also played video games during the pandemic. 48.4% (n=15) respondents do not play video games currently, but did play during the pandemic lockdowns.
A cross tabulation of these results can be seen in Table 3, which shows that 93.7% (n=74) of participants that currently play video games also played during the pandemic. Not only this, but 48.4% (n=15) of participants said they do not currently play video games, but did during the pandemic. These results not only indicate that playing video games during the pandemic was highly popular, but also showed many continued to play video games after they were allowed to be in public. These findings are similar to the ones that Billings’ and Mikkilineni (2023) found in their research. In their survey, 44% of participants reported no esports consumption prior to March of 2020 (start of the Pandemic), but 56.1% of participants reported increased consumption during and after the pandemic end. Results from both of these studies may suggest that being stuck at home during the pandemic created playing habits that continued beyond their time at home.
Before the pandemic, the hours played per week were steady, and peaked in the 6-10 hour range (23%, n=17), 11-15 hour range (21.6%, n=16), and 16-20 hour range at (20.3%, n=15).
As for during the pandemic, results were at its highest in the 26-30 and 41+ hour range with 15.9% (n=14) of respondents for both. Playing hours during the pandemic also showed a higher percentage of respondents than the other time frames in the 26-30 hours per week, 31-35 hours per week, 36-40 hours per week, and 41+ hours per week ranges.
After the pandemic, results were highest in 6-10 hours per week at 31.7% (n=25), which was also the highest data point seen in Figure 2. This time frame stayed steady in the smaller hour ranges, showing popularity in 1-5 hours per week at 22.8% (n=18).
Figure 2:
Hours spent playing video games per week
The biggest takeaway from Figure 2 was the amount of hours subjects’ played per week during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the four highest hour ranges (26-30, 31-35, 35-40, 41+) subjects played video games during covid much more than before or after. Peaking at 26-30 hours and 41+ hours both at 15.9% (n=14), it was clear that heavy video game play occurred during the pandemic when individuals were forced to stay inside. Only 2.7% (n=2) of respondents said they played 41+ hours per week before the pandemic, while 0 participants said they played this amount after the Pandemic. With school, work, and regular activity started up again after the pandemic, it makes sense to see this kind of drop off.
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