Minecraft Was The Most-Watched Game On YouTube In 2020
2020 is finally coming to a close, and in a year that's left us more battered and bruised than usual, many will be glad to see the back of it. However, as the year winds down. we're subjected to the usual flood of information on what we've been searching, watching, and listening to in 2020. While our social media feeds are inundated with the same generic Spotify Wrapped playlists from your nearest and dearest, YouTube has revealed what you've all been watching.
With gaming fans trapped in their homes for most of this year, it's no surprise we've been streaming a lot of hours this year. To put it into context, we've apparently watched a billion hours of video games on YouTube in 2020, which works out at a hefty 114,155 years. As games like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout and Among Us have rocketed to the top of the Twitch charts, YouTube has an old favourite sitting pretty in first place.
How did Minecraft become the most-watched YouTube game of 2020?
According to YouTube Gaming our time was spread over 40 million active gaming channels. Crunching the numbers, 80,000 of these channels reached 100,000 subscribers in 2020, 1,000 hit 5 million, and 350 crossed the milestone of 10 million subscribers. When it comes to the game that rules the roost, it's Mojang's Minecraft. Although Minecraft was fully unleashed to the public back in 2011, it has proved it's the game that just won't die thanks to a jaw-dropping 201 billion views on YouTube this year.
Minecraft was streaks ahead of its next biggest rival, Roblox. The two have often drawn comparisons, but still, Minecraft's 201 billion was far ahead of Roblox's 75 billion views. Third place is awarded to battle royale game Garena Free Fire with 72 billion. Given that we've ploughed so much time into battle royale game sin 2020, it continues to be a market on the rise, while Garena Free Fire will undoubtedly be helped by picking up the title of Esports Game of the Year.
Rounding off the big five, the seemingly immortal Grand Theft Auto V took fourth (70 billion) and Fortnite snatched fifth (67 billion). Despite fans looking for even the slightest hint of Grand Theft Auto 6, its predecessor is still going strong and is bolstered by the ongoing love for Grand Theft Auto Online. As for Fortnite, it recently broke its concurrent player record and rounded off the Marvel-themed Chapter Season 5 in style with the supersized Galactus event.
When it comes to live games watched in 2020, Minecraft once again came first, followed by Garena Free Fire, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto V, and PUBG Mobile. For those questioning why the recent success of Among Us hasn't seen it crack the charts, it's important to remember it only really rose to prominence in Q3.
Despite the social deduction game being out since 2018, it found a new fanbase when famous streamers like Felix "xQc" Lengyel started playing the title in the latter part of this year. This means it had an almost impossible task of trying to catch up to Minecraft on YouTube.
Elsewhere, there was a special shoutout to Rachell "Valkyrae" Hofstetter, who has become the most-watched female streamer on all platforms since she signed her exclusive deal with YouTube. Unsurprisingly, this was YouTube's biggest year ever for gaming content as the industry has blossomed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking ahead to 2021, it'll be interesting to see whether Minecraft can hold its position or something else will take its place.
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Images via YouTube | Mojang