The Influence of YouTube Gaming Activities on the Video Game Industry

The Influence of YouTube Gaming Activities on the Video Game Industry
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The Influence of YouTube Gaming Activities on the Video Game Industry
Introduction
The discussion in research proposal 1 highlighted and discussed several factors that arose from the introduction of the gaming world into the social world of YouTube. The use of the platform for gaming activities caused a plethora of activity in video game industry. There was an increase of traffic to both YouTube gaming accounts and the organizations with ownership of the video games. The result was an upsurge in interactions between the gamers, the developers, the marketers and sale persons of the products. The different interactions caused both desirable and undesirable consequences for all the parties involved. The research sought to address the following concerns:
* The effect YouTube had on the marketing aspect of the gaming industry.
* The benefits and fallbacks YouTube effected on video game companies and developers.
* The influence YouTube ensured on professional gamers.
Based on the overall observations discussed in the literature review from the first research proposal, there is need to propose quantitative or qualitative research methods to test the research questions. The essay will reflect on investigation techniques to provide insight on the questions outlined above.
Participants
The participation section of the research will focus on the consumers of video games, and the developers and video game companies. Gamers are the first set of participants to study ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption", 2018;Jiow et al., 2018). Professional gamers tend to run successful YouTube gaming accounts, an activity done on full-time basis as a career (Foster, 2016; Karbun, 2015).In some instances, non- professional gamers run the accounts. Such are just YouTubers who play games online for fun, without a push from corporations. Gamers are the consumers of video games developed and consumed by video game companies. Any relevant information of interest comes from the study of consumer behavioral patterns, and the response to released products and gaming community activities. Marketers are the next group of interest ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption" 2018). Information about the response of marketers to the trends and behaviors of gamers is useful to inform decisions about how dealers influence consumption of games, and so drive the progress of the gaming industry. There is importance in the study of how the salespersons determine whether the implemented approach will be successful, especially at the launch of a product.
Materials
Acquisition of proper information would necessitate the use of suitable tools for use in the venture. The first set of materials that prove useful is the statistics on all video game related activities on the social platform ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption", 2018). The statistics include information on the number of gamers, the frequency with which gamers visit gaming channels, the channels gamers tend to frequent most, and gamer preferences according to gamer behavior on YouTube channels (Taylor, 2018; Ribaudo, 2017). The information on the preference of devices used also matters to the developers and the marketing departments of video game companies ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption", 2018; Rijk, 2016). The developers would need the data when choosing the approach that would suit a particular game, in terms of visual preferences. Another set of useful statistics is data about the behavior of gamers before the release of a new product ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption", 2018; Foster, 2016). A collection of data in relation to the responses observed from the traffic in gaming community activities and generated content would offer useful insight to marketers. Emphasis will go to the votes on up votes and down votes on the content. The researcher also requires data on marketing activities, goals and achievement of set targets throughout the process of release and final consumption of a product (Klimas, 2017). The collected information would also focus on the state of the gaming industry since the growth of gaming on YouTube (Jiow et al., 2018). The data would include facts to deal with the demand for more games, and so for developers to create new content. The final group of interest is the developers. The group is in charge of the development of new gaming ideas and programs, without which the gaming industry would collapse. The research would have to consider the contribution of the game writers to obtain sufficient information on the effects of gaming on YouTube, first on the developers then on the entire industry.
Design
The researcher would need to gather information on the statistics of the gamers, developers and video game companies. Such information would include the types of devices gamers use for gaming activities, and the amount of time spent on games ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption", 2018, Karbun, 2015). The researcher will uncover factors leading to the growth of the consumption of video games. One factor is the upsurge in subscribers to gaming channels on YouTube. Previous studies show that subscribers tend to spend more time on the channels compared to non-subscribers. The next step would be to investigate what kind of content the gamers prefer ("Gamers On Youtube: Evolving Video Consumption", 2018; Taylor, 2018). One needs to look at the broad overview of game cat...