• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, July 3, 2013

Gaming videos are immensely popular on YouTube, and their number is growing by leaps and bounds. For marketers going after this segment, YouTube recently analyzed  specific video viewing patternsin a study that reveals interesting details about viewers’ consumption habits.

For starters, YouTube found that in 2012 the amount of time spent watching gaming videos on YouTube doubled. That growth is driven in large part by viewing on mobile devices, since now one in three views of gaming videos occurs on a tablet or smartphone, nearly double the amount in 2011, YouTube said.

Similarly, gaming programmer Machinima has also seen a huge rise in mobile views and is now nearing about one billion video views each month via mobile, the company’s founder told Beet.TV in a recent interview.

Gamers are repeat viewers. The YouTube study found that the growth in consumption also came from more subscribers to gaming channels. Subscribers accounted for a nine times increase in gaming video views in 2012. Subscribers watch twice as much as non-subscribers.

Gamers watch a range of videos. Previews are popular, as are gameplay demos, launch videos, tutorials, and reviews. But the so-called “game-powered entertainment,” such as community-generated content and parodies, was most popular and comprised 39% of all gaming content with announcements from brands at 24%. This suggests that marketers aiming to reach gamers should consider partnering with those making videos in addition to creating their own content.

The key takeaway, according to YouTube, is that gamers have come to rely on video for information and entertainment. “To engage with gamers meaningfully, game brands must meet them where they’re choosing to spend their time.  Increasingly, their time is spent with online video,” YouTube said.

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Correction: Yesterday’s Online Video Insider was sent out with the wrong author byline. The name has since been corrected online to the right author: Boaz Ram