logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2022
18m 40s

The business of streaming games

Bbc World Service
About this episode

We explore the world of video game streaming - where players connect their screens to platforms such as Twitch or YouTube so that fans can watch them play.

Elizabeth Hotson talks to Aoife Wilson, head of video at video game website Eurogamer who’s an enthusiastic streamer and industry watcher; she explains why watching people play games has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry.

The BBC’s Faarea Masud gives a fan’s perspective, whilst Sam Matthews, CEO of e-sports brand, Fnatic gives us an insight into the money-making potential of competitive gaming. Thomas Slattery from gaming venue, Platform, in London, tells us why he thinks streaming is so important right now.

Presenter / producer: Elizabeth Hotson Image: A gamer; Credit: Getty Images

Up next
Yesterday
Is Gen Z the most investment-savvy generation?
Generation Z - people born in the mid-to-late 1990s up to the early 2010s - is reportedly the new driving force behind retail investing. We look at the areas they are investing in, and why financial influencers are not always what they seem. To get in touch with the programme, se ... Show More
17m 28s
Aug 24
Spain's power blackout: what went wrong?
On the morning of the 28th of April, Spain lost electric power equivalent to that generated by ten nuclear plants, leaving the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal and parts of France, without electricity for up to 12 hours. We examine the cause of the blackout that ... Show More
17m 28s
Aug 21
Business Daily meets: Spencer Horne
The South African entrepreneur tells us about his experience growing up under the apartheid regime, before securing a scholarship that would take him to Harvard University in the US.He's now returned home to set up Cloudline, an airship company which aims to deliver goods and car ... Show More
17m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2022
Mitch Lasky - The Business of Gaming - [Invest Like the Best, EP.293]
My guest today is Mitch Lasky. Mitch is a partner at Benchmark and one of the leading figures in the video game industry. Over the last 30 years, he has built, led, and invested in a number of the best gaming companies in the world, including Activision, EA, Riot, Snapchat, and D ... Show More
1h 14m
Apr 2023
Money Talks: Will video games eat Hollywood?
Video game makers used to look to Hollywood for their inspiration. But in recent years, the market for games has grown to nearly $200bn, five times more than people spend at the box office and more, even, than they spend on streaming services like Netflix or Disney+. And that has ... Show More
41 m
Apr 2023
Money Talks: Will video games eat Hollywood?
Video game makers used to look to Hollywood for their inspiration. But in recent years, the market for games has grown to nearly $200bn, five times more than people spend at the box office and more, even, than they spend on streaming services like Netflix or Disney+. And that has ... Show More
41 m
May 2022
Future Consolidation in Gaming
If the consumer economy is going well, why do our portfolios not reflect it? (0:20) Asit Sharma discusses: - Sonos being "underrated" as a business - Revenue growth being Sonos' key metric to watch - Why we keep hammering the point about taking the long view in stock investing (1 ... Show More
25m 27s
Jan 2024
The Game of Sports
Internet pioneer, John Kosner, President of Kosner Media, a digital media and sports consultancy and investment advisor in sports tech startups on the future of Sports. His four decades of Sports media expertise include building ESPN into the world's leading digital Sports destin ... Show More
36m 26s
Aug 2021
Rapid Response: How Electronic Arts grows a metaverse, with CEO Andrew Wilson
Hollywood may build stars, but gaming is "the biggest, fastest-growing entertainment medium in the world," says CEO Andrew Wilson of Electronic Arts. That's why businesses from Netflix to Disney to Facebook are eyeing the space, along with creators and startups eager to tap into ... Show More
33m 35s
Apr 2023
Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins on The Art of Business in Gaming
We sit down Benchmark’s legendary gaming investors Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins (now also of the excellent Gamecraft podcast fame) to discuss the history and future of gaming business models. This episode is the perfect bookend to our Nintendo/Sega gaming series this season on A ... Show More
2h 15m
Mar 2021
How investors can profit from the growing video gaming and esports industry
With 65% of American adults now playing video games, how can investors get in on the game as well? In this episode JP Lee, ETF product manager at VanEck explains the recent growth and his expectations for the industry after lockdowns. He also discusses some of the biggest themes ... Show More
14m 9s
Nov 2023
The rise of women in eSports
Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two professional e-sport gamers who earn their living playing online. Julia 'Bish' Robson is a prominent gamer and Twitch streamer who tailors her content for a South African audience. She also hosts LAN events - days of gaming in large conference centers ... Show More
27m 18s
Jul 2022
Twitch: Emmett Shear
In 2011, when Emmett Shear pivoted the live streaming service Justin.tv into the video game platform Twitch, people warned him that gaming was just a niche. But unlike his first two ventures, video games were something Emmett instinctively understood: he and his co-founder Justin ... Show More
1h 22m