Games take over YouTube as 'Minecraft' was the second-most searched topic in 2014

Viewers are spending more time per video with gaming than in any other content area - as the section sees “unprecedented momentum”. Women over 25 are the fastest growing gaming audience

Minecraft is wildly popular among young gamers

Google has revealed that video games are far more popular on YouTube than some might assume.

In a blog post, the internet giant’s pop culture and gaming insights lead Gautam Ramdurai said that adult women are YouTube’s fastest growing gaming audience, as viewership among women over the age of 25 had doubled “year over year” at a time when interest in gaming on YouTube was “soaring”.

Behind 'music', 'Minecraft' was also the second-most searched topic on the video-sharing website in 2014, he disclosed.

Google Trends: YouTube Search, 2014, United States.

“YouTube data tells us that both men and women are spending more time per video with gaming than in any other content area. Women, however, are spending slightly more time watching each gaming video than men are,” he said.

“A generation (18–34-year-old millennials) has grown up on gaming. For them, having a gaming console was as ordinary as having a TV […] And if they grew up on gaming, they came of age in the YouTube era. Many now consider it the best platform to explore their passions.”

Data from the Tubular Labs in December 2013 revealed that millennial women also actively share, like and comment more gaming content than cooking or recipe content.

These statistics reflect findings by the Entertainment Software Association in April 2014. According to the report, women aged 18 or older make up a significantly greater proportion of the gaming population at 36 per cent than boys aged 18 and younger at 17 per cent.

Women overall are also only marginally behind men in the proportion of game players they represent in the report. 48 per cent of gamers are female, while 52 per cent are men.

Mr Ramdurai reflected on the potential of YouTube to break into different demographics, arguing that “its appeal goes far beyond teenage boys”.

“People who watch gaming content have varied interests. This is especially true of women,” he said.

“November 2014 data from comScore Video Metrix reports that two in five 18-34 years old viewers of StyleHaul, a network of female-focused beauty and fashion channels, also watch channels on Machinima, one of the biggest gaming networks.”

He urged gaming brands to take advantage of the “unprecedented momentum” that gaming content is seeing on YouTube.

“Brands have a unique opportunity to jump on a rising trend that millions of millennials engage with every single day and connect with them in a genuine way.”