Four million Brits have watched eSports, according to the latest YouGov survey.
The report, ‘Just a game? Understanding the existing and future UK esports market’, states that seven per cent of British adults (approximately four million people) have watched some form of competitive video gaming.
More prominently, it found that six in ten of this group (57 per cent) are interested in watching eSports again. The research covers six markets around the world, and found that, as expected, younger people are the keenest spectators, with a fifth (21 per cent) of 18-24s in Britain having watched, compared to less than one per cent of people aged 55+.
YouGov found that Britain lags behind other markets when it comes to viewership. In China, over four in ten (45 per cent) Chinese adults who have online access have watched eSports while in the US, one in eight (12 per cent) have and in Germany the figures are one in nine (11 per cent).
YouGov senior research executive Chris Polechonski said: “Even those that review the sport in positive terms are unlikely to see competitive video gaming replacing traditional pastimes, so the onus is on the eSports industry to allow it to work alongside familiar favourites.
“Persuading doubters of the sporting merits is a big hurdle as the majority of people do not currently regard eSports as ‘real sport’. However, our research suggests that when people do get round to watching competitive video gaming, their attitudes soften.”
