• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 2, 2013

The amount of time people spend watching gaming videos on YouTube more than doubled last year, compared with the prior year. In fact, the growth rate of time spent viewing gaming videos was greater than YouTube's overall growth in the U.S.

YouTube analyzed anonymous views of gaming content on the site in the U.S. from 2011 and 2012 to learn how gamers behave, what they value, and what this means to game marketers, according to a white paper titled "Gamers On YouTube: Evolving Video Consumption."

Viewing spiked during the summer months, with views in June growing by 17% sequentially. About 32% of views occurred between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM, traditional prime-time TV hours.

Gamers upload videos about tips, known as "tutorial videos," about one to five minutes long, turning YouTube into a marketing tool and revenue stream. Walkthroughs and parodies are the most popular for gamers to watch once the game has been released. Pre-releases, meaning content released by the brand, such as trailers, gameplay demos and launch videos, are the most popular. While they help gamers decide whether to purchase a title, they also allow individuals to highlight their expertise among the community. They also like the social aspect of "liked" or "disliked," because it lets gamers assess the value of content for others.

Gamers had a preference for viewing certain types of content on certain screens. Pre-launch, 63% of announce videos and 69% of launch videos were viewed on desktops, which have larger screens that demonstrates the cinematic quality of this content. Post-launch, the second screens supplemented the gamer's experience on their PC or television, whereas about half of game tutorial videos were consumed on smartphones or tablets.

Viewing peaks during weekends, summer, and prime time. In 2012, game views grew 18% day-over-day on weekends and 17% month-over-month in June. About 32% of game views occurred during prime time TV hours.

Also, gamers are more likely to share comments on brand-released and third-party videos.  Some one in three views of gaming-related videos occurred on a tablet or smartphone in 2012, up nearly double from 2011.