Peak Play: Trends in East Asian Videogame Streaming H1 2023

Sep, 2023 Peak Play: Trends in East Asian
Videogame Streaming H1 2023
Niko Partners and Streams Charts Joint Bulletin
nikopartners.com | Silicon Valley • Shanghai • London • Bangkok • Jakarta research@nikopartners.com | © Niko Partners
streamscharts .com | team@streamscharts.com | © Streams Charts

Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Livestreaming Trends in East Asia 4
Korean Game Streaming Landscape 5
Japanese Game Streaming Landscape 10
Chinese Game Streaming Landscape 15
Methodology 20
About Niko Partners 22
About Streams Charts 23

3
Livestreaming is a cornerstone of the games industry in Asia. It is a leading avenue for game marketing and discovery, for co mmu nity
building, and for highlighting competition and esports. This bulletin explains the high -level trends in game and esports livestr eaming
in China , Japan , and Korea , and is intended to be a tool for anyone hoping to understand differences and similarities between these
three Asian markets.
With thirteen platforms, both international and regional, covered by the data in this bulletin, this report reflects the matu rit y of
streaming in East Asia. Each of the markets covered here have developed their own unique streaming ecosystem, with roots in
broader trends in gaming and culture. Whether it’s Korea’s history as the global center of esports, Japan’s legacy as a conso le
gaming powerhouse, or China’s careful regulation of content, cultural legacies clearly shape streaming ecosystems. Today,
competition between platforms for content and talent is at an all -time high, and international powerhouses Twitch and YouTube as
well as domestic standouts, like Afreeca TV and Huya , and are looking to maximize their footprints. Platforms have long sought
content exclusivity around events, but increasingly, retaining and developing the right opinion leaders and their correspondi ng
audiences is also key to success. As livestreaming in East Asia demonstrates maturity, platforms and creators are evolving to find their
edge over the competition.
Read on to learn about the titles and influencers making waves in East Asia.
Introduction

4
Livestreaming Trends in East Asia
This bulletin is the first in a partnership between Streams Charts and Niko Partners , building on both companies’ expertise in
gaming and livestreaming trends in Asia. The trends this bulletin highlights include:
● Esports ongoing relevance to gamers in Asia . Competitive gaming remains a strong motivator for Asian viewers. Over half of
the top streamed games are esports titles. MOBAs , FPS , and Battle Royale are the leading esports genres. League of
Legends is the only title to appear on all there top -10 lists, demonstrating ongoing relevance to gamers in Asia.
● Key opinion leaders (KOL) shape trends. In all three markets, the leading channels for top games regularly account for
between 2 -15% of all viewership for that title. This means top KOLs have the power to lead the way in each market. In H1 for
example, VTubers and Broadcast Jockeys played a key role in pushing Minecraft into the top 10 rankings in Japan and Korea.
● It takes a lot to reach the top. Only three titles released in 2023 have managed to break into the H1 top 10 rankings. These
are, Diablo IV in Korea, Honkai : Star Rail in China, and Street Fighter 6 in Japan. Viewership trends take time to change, but
blockbuster releases still make waves.
● Titles to pay attention to. PUBG and Apex Legends are two battle royale titles that popular across the three markets. Genshin
Impact is a multi -platform MMO, popular in both China and Japan. VALORANT is a leading title in Japan and Korea, it also just
received its official release in China at the start of H2 2023, where it is quickly rising in the rankings. Escape From Tarkov is a
tactical multiplayer FPS that saw explosive growth in popularity in Korea and Japan.

Korean Game
Streaming Landscape
Videogame Streaming in East Asia

Korean Livestreaming Ecosystem
• Korea is a mature streaming market with healthy competition between
homegrown Afreeca TV and international platforms like Twitch and YouTube .
• Korea’s pedigree as an esports powerhouse remains apparent in its streaming
landscape, where many top Korean KOLs are former esports professionals .
This esports legacy also made Korea one of the first markets globally to
integrate gaming and live streaming. The predominance of PC gaming is still
apparent in looking at the leading titles in the market.
• Gaming shares 38.4% of total watch time for YouTube Live’s Korean
segment in H1 2023. Top -3 segments also includes Music (14.3%) and
Entertainment (11%).
• League of Legends (including AfreecaTV’s LCK broadcasts) was the most
watched video game. It has a 16.8% share of total watch time for gaming
streams.
• Diablo IV is the only game released in 2023 to rank among the top 10 in hours
watched. This is particularly impressive as it was released in Q2, and has
accumulated these over the span of only one month.
Korean Game Streaming Trends
• Minecraft (+401.5%), Escape from Tarkov (+288.2%), FIFA Online 4 (+148.3%)
and MapleStory (+120.1%) are the only games to more than double in total
watch time during H1.
• Minecraft ’s total watch time on AfreecaTV grew ( +1340% ), and the number
of active streamers grew ( +228.7% ).
• Escape from Tarkov ’s January’s activities in the game (particularly a patch,
Christmas gifts and Twitch Drops) influenced its boost in popularity.
• FIFA Online 4 ’s total watch time skyrocketed on all major live streaming
platforms, including AfreecaTV (+73.1%), Twitch (+3209.3%), and YouTube
(+228.7%). Twitch content creator handongsuk become the #1 Korean
streamer of the game, covering 35.4% of its entire watch time for the
platform. Similarly, 감스트 GAMST became the top YouTube channel (48.4%
of the platform’s HW). The FIFA World Cup was also a major factor in this
growth.
• PUBG has the largest drop in watch time among the top 10 video games: –
26.4% compared to H2 2022. In quantitative terms, the drop was 11 million
hours of watch time, of which 10.4 million is a decrease of AfreecaTV stats.
6
H1 2023 Livestreaming in Korea Overview

7
Korean Streaming Landscape — H1 2023
Source: Streams Charts
Source: Streams Charts
Most Popular Gaming Titles by Hours Watched Viewership Share Among Leading Game Titles
* – YouTube and Kick gaming category

Title Platforms Hours Watched Top Channel Top Channel Platform Top Channel
Hours Watched
Top Channel
% of Total
League of Legends 157 190 061 _ 김민교 Afreeca TV 19 422 983 12.36%
Minecraft 94 621 837 _ 항상 #킴성태 Afreeca TV 8 363 454 8.84%
Gaming * 77 794 305 _ RYG Game Animation YouTube 1 428 946 1.84%
StarCraft: Remastered 65 100 392 _ Bisu 김택용 Afreeca TV 8 229 882 12.64%
FIFA Online 4 36 864 898 _ BJ 두치와뿌꾸 Afreeca TV 5 103 728 13.84%
Lost Ark 35 359 587 _ 한동숙 Twitch 3 202 104 9.06%
PUBG 30 610 791 _ 항상 #킴성태 Afreeca TV 2 414 894 7.89%
VALORANT 28 830 228 _ 김된모 Twitch 2 110 092 7.32%
MapleStory 19 499 293 _ 명훈 Twitch 2 847 470 14.60%
Diablo IV 17 923 290 _ 풍월량 Twitch 2 109 087 11.77%
Korean Top Titles by Hours Watched — H1 2023
8
Source: Streams Charts * – includes streams that are not in the top live -streams of specific game categories

Top Channel Top Channel Platform Title Overview of Channel
김민교 Afreeca TV League of Legends Kim Min Gyo is a League of Legends broadcaster and Afreeca TV partner, also known for
replays and commenting on LCK events.
항상 #킴성태 Afreeca TV Minecraft “Always #Kim Seongtae” is a former esports pro known for Sudden Attack and Overwatch, he
is now an Afreeca TV Broadcast Jockey and variety streamer.
RYG Game Animation YouTube Gaming RYG Game Animation is a small animation studio that makes short animations about popular
games for the YouTube platform.
Bisu 김택용 Afreeca TV StarCraft: Remastered “Bisu” or Kim Taek Yong is a former StarCraft esports pro, considered one of the best Protoss
players ever. He is now retired and streams StarCraft as an Afreeca TV partner.
BJ 두치와뿌꾸 Afreeca TV FIFA Online 4 Duchiwa Puku / Doochi and Pooki were a broadcast duo, only Pooki remains active as a
broadcast affiliate with Afreeca TV.
한동숙 Twitch Lost Ark Handongsuk was originally an Afreeca TV partner/affiliate who moved to Twitch and gained
popularity in Lost Ark alongside his club/clan “Mountain Club”.
김된모 Twitch VALORANT Doenmo is an esports professional currently signed to Gen.G as part of their content creator
roster. He participated in VALORANT Challengers Korea with FQ4 in 2021.
항상 #킴성태 Afreeca TV PUBG “Always #Kim Seongtae” is a former esports pro known for Sudden Attack and Overwatch, he
is now an Afreeca TV partner and variety streamer.
명훈 Twitch MapleStory “Medal of Honor,” Seongmin Cho is a former Overwatch and Bubble Fighter pro who also
plays MapleStory.
풍월량 Twitch Diablo IV Kim Young -tae is a variety streamer who was formerly affiliated with Afreeca TV, in 2016 he
departed Afreeca TV for Twitch.
Korean Top Streamers Per Leading Title — H1
2023
9
Source: Streams Charts

Japanese Game
Streaming Landscape
Videogame Streaming in East Asia

Japanese Livestreaming Ecosytem
• Japan’s livestreaming ecosystem is dominated by international platforms,
YouTube and Twitch . Game streaming popularity in Japan is developing
compared to East Asia’s more mature markets, Korea and China.
• Japan was historically a console -first gaming market and was slower to
develop a domestic esports ecosystem. As a result, game streaming in Japan
has been slower to catch on compared to Korea and China. As it has grown in
popularity, we are seeing a higher than average representation of console
titles , as well as the influence of Japanese anime subculture at play.
• Japanese excitement for VALORANT has exploded this year, it has become
the most watched video game in Japanese with 10.7% share in all gaming
streams. The game’s total increased by 14.5% compared to H2 2022. The
official VALORANT channel was the most watched in H1, indicating the
importance of official esports broadcasts in this growth.
• A leading trend in Japan is VTuber content. This popular format uses motion
capture software to bring to life Anime -inspired avatars. Several agencies, most
notably Hololive Productions , exist to manage these content creators. This
brings together gaming and anime subcultures.
Japanese Game Streaming Trends
• Gaming accounted for 66.9% of all Japanese livestreaming watch time over
the period. The top 3 also includes Entertainment (10.8%) and News & Politics
(8.2%).
• The popularity of VTubers contributed the most to the rise of Minecraft , with
top VTubers such as Pekora , Watame , Miko , and others becoming the biggest
streamers of the game. The title’s watch time increased by 177.9% compared to
H2 2022.
• The top -10 games rating includes a single title released in 2023: Street Fighter
6. SF6 was also the only fighting game to make any of the East Asian top 10
lists. Reflecting Japan’s long history with the genre.
• Escape from Tarkov and Rust also showed and impressive growth at 75.9%
and 73.7%, respectively. The increase in stats is due to various streamer
activities that included Twitch Drops, a big factor for statistics growth.
• Splatoon 3 had the biggest drop in watch time among the top 10 video games:
(-68.5%) compared to H2 2022. This is due to the general decline in interest in
the title since its release in Q3 2022.
11
H1 2023 Livestreaming in Japan Overview

12
Japan Streaming Landscape — H1 2023
Source: Streams Charts
Source: Streams Charts
Most Popular Gaming Titles by Hours Watched Viewership Share Among Leading Game Titles
* – YouTube and Kick gaming category

Title Platforms Hours Watched Top Channel Top Channel Platform Top Channel
Hours Watched
Top Channel
% of Total
VALORANT 113 437 379 _ VALORANT_jpn Twitch 14 048 532 12.38%
Apex Legends 109 892 015 _ tttcheekyttt YouTube 6 138 758 5.59%
Minecraft 58 374 973 _ Pekora Ch, 兎田ぺこら YouTube 2 684 089 4.60%
League of Legends 38 285 417 _ fps_shaka Twitch 6 324 380 16.52%
Rust 34 335 825 _ fps_shaka Twitch 5 841 451 17.01%
Escape from Tarkov 26 418 514 _ stylishnoob4 Twitch 6 347 844 24.03%
STREET FIGHTER 6 25 908 458 _ stylishnoob4 Twitch 2 901 553 11.20%
Genshin Impact 16 260 715 _ ねるめろ / Nerumero YouTube 3 375 977 20.76%
Splatoon 3 13 912 133 _ けんしろ / サ ーモンラ YouTube 1 454 048 10.03%
Dead by Daylight 13 912 133 _ りぜる YouTube 1 096 246 7.88%
Japanese Top Titles by Hours Watched — H1 2023
13
Source: Streams Charts

Top Channel Top Channel Platform Title Overview of Channel
VALORANT_jpn Twitch Valorant The official Japanese broadcast platforms for Valorant. It’s popularity is largely due to hosting
esports content
tttcheekyttt YouTube Apex Legends Cheeky is a Japanese esports player and streamer who is currently playing for SBI e -Sports.
Pekora Ch, 兎田ぺこら YouTube Minecraft Pekora is a Japanese vtuber who appears as an anime character with rabbit ears. She is
associated with Hololive Production, a vtuber talent agency.
fps_shaka Twitch League of Legends
Chikara “SHAKA” Kawakami is a variety streamer and commentator, most strongly associated
with FPS titles like PUBG, Apex, and Escape from Tarkov.
fps_shaka Twitch Rust
stylishnoob4 Twitch Escape from Tarkov
Yuta Seki is a variety streamer and former professional overwatch player best known for
playing FPS titles on twitch.
stylishnoob4 Twitch STREET FIGHTER 6
ねるめろ / Nerumero YouTube Genshin Impact Numero is an independent vtuber who debuted in 2019. He appears as an androgynous
anime -style character with long white hair.
けんしろ / サ ーモンラン YouTube Splatoon 3 Kenshiro SalmonRun is a Japanese Splatoon player who primarily plays the Salmon Run
Game mode.
りぜる YouTube Dead by Daylight Rizeru/R1zel is a Dead by Daylight streamer and commentator
Japanese Top Streamers Per Leading Title — H1 2023
14
Source: Streams Charts

Chinese Game
Streaming Landscape
Videogame Streaming in East Asia

Chinese Livestreaming Ecosystem
• BiliBili , Huya , and Douyu are the leading game streaming platforms in China,
all three have strong ties to Tencent . In 2021, a merger between Huya and
Douyu was blocked by Chinese regulators.
• Streaming platforms in China technically do not allow broadcasts of games that
have not received official licenses in the Chinese market, but this is often rarely
enforced and many streamers find workarounds. VALORANT , for example, has
taken off more strongly on streaming platforms after receiving license approval
and as more esports teams have begun fielding VALORANT rosters.
• Chinese game live streaming platforms compete for license exclusivity for top
leagues and events. In 2023 DouYu secured non -exclusive broadcasting rights
for the 2023 League of Legends Professional League (LPL). Former and current
esports professionals are also highly represented among China’s leading
KOLs.
• In April of 2023, top Bilibili streamers protested changes on the platform that
affected payouts for streamers.
Chinese Game Streaming Trends
• Honkai : Star Rail was released in China in late April of 2023, it quickly became
one of the most popular streaming titles in the market, it was the third most
viewed title in May and dropping to fourth in June.
• Over the course of H1 2023, viewership for Genshin Impact , also published by
miHoYo and set in the same universe as Star Rail , declined by 31%.
Anticipation for the release of Star Rail did produce a 23% increase in views in
March of 2023.
• Honor of Kings and League of Legends are the two most popular streamed
titles in the Chinese market, remaining consistently in the first and second
positions for monthly views for the entirety of H1 2023.
• MOBAs still perform strongly in China. Honor of Kings , saw no major change in
monthly views over H1 overall, but did see a slight (7%) increase between
January and April, which returned to normal by June. League of Legends
views grew by 15% in H1 while League of Legends: Wild Rift viewership saw a
decline of 26%
• Naraka: Bladepoint saw the highest growth among top titles in H1 2023, with
monthly views up 41% between January and June.
16
H1 2023 Livestreaming in China Overview

17
Chinese Streaming Landscape — H1 2023
Source: NIKO Partners
Most Popular Gaming Titles by Total Views
Source: NIKO Partners
Viewership Share Among Leading Game Titles

Title Platforms Total Views Top Channel Top Channel
Platform
Top Channel
Views
Top Channel
% of Total
Honor of Kings 5 668 533 892 _ 狂魔哥解 说 Bilibili 61 511 287 1.09%
League of Legends 4 477 373 103 _ 老 实憨厚的笑笑 Bilibili 98 879 722 2.21%
Genshin Impact 2 529 214 233 _ 原神 Bilibili 65 145 086 2.58%
CS:GO 1 228 505 127 _ 废物弟弟汉堡包 Bilibili 28 018 777 2.28%
Peacekeeper Elite 1 043 241 440 _ 若若 跑的 贼快 Douyu 27 628 489 2.65%
Dota 2 850 440 619 _ longdd 黄翔 Bilibili 54 659 472 6.43%
Dungeon Fighter Online 833 930 900 _ 旭旭 宝宝 Douyu 44 160 892 5.30%
Naraka: Bladepoint 798 560 174 _ 小 铭 XiaoMing 阿 Douyu 12 835 204 1.61%
Honkai: Star Rail 794 509 475 _ 棉花大哥哥 Bilibili 13 333 478 1.68%
APEX Legends 762 084 025 _ 飞天狙想要努力变胖 Bilibili 45 966 896 6.03%
Сhinese Top Titles by Total Views — H1 2023
18
Source: NIKO Partners

Top Channel Top Channel Platform Title Overview of Channel
狂魔哥解 说 Bilibili Honor of Kings Kuang Mo Ge Jie Shuo, whose real name is Liu Wei, is a Bilibili streamer who became famous for playing
against the Honor of Kings professional players.
老 实憨厚的笑笑 Bilibili League of Legends
Lao Shi Han Hou De Xiao Xiao, whose actual name is Sun Ya Long, was a popular League of Legends
streamer on Tencent’s now -defunct Penguin Esports live streaming platform. He is a former League of
Legends professional player and former support for the IG team.
原神 Bilibili Genshin Impact 原神 is the official channel of Chinese version Genshin Impact on Huya, DouYu and Bilibili.
废物弟弟汉堡包 Bilibili CS:GO Known as 汉堡 (Burger), he is popular with young audience, because of his funny comments and fast
reactions. He primarily uploads CS:GO content.
若若 跑的 贼快 Douyu Peacekeeper Elite Her real name is Liu Dalong, one of the most popular female streamers, she is famous for her nice voice,
very popular on Douyin. Peacekeeper elite created a voice pack for her.
longdd 黄翔 Bilibili Dota 2 Longdd, whose real name is Huang Xiang, is a professional DOTA player and former coach at LGD. He
was inducted into the People’s Esports China Esports Players Hall of Fame in 2020.
旭旭 宝宝 Douyu Dungeon Fighter Online
Xu Xu Bao Bao, also known as Ren Yixu, is an esports player for Dungeons and Warriors. On July 16, 2018,
Xuxu Baobao became an official member of Douyu TV. He is a co -founder of Shanghai Wufeng Network
Technology.
小 铭 XiaoMing 阿 Douyu Naraka: Bladepoint Popular for playing national style games.
棉花大哥哥 Bilibili Honkai: Star Rail
Mian Hua Da Ge Ge, also known as Cotton is a well -known console game streamer on Bilibili. He has
released over a thousand videos on Bilibili, covering titles such as Blue Archive, Honkai Impact 3rd,
Honkai: Star Rail, and more.
飞天狙想要努力变胖 Bilibili APEX Known as Apex FtJ, popular for playing Apex Legends professionally and with random fans online.
Chinese Top Streamers Per Leading Title — H1 2023
19
Source: NIKO Partners

20
• This bulletin covers livestreaming in East Asia, including Japan,
Korea, and China, in the first half of 2023, a period from January
to June 2023.
• Data in this bulletin is collected using public APIs from 13
platforms used to stream game content in East Asia. This data is
further refined and analyzed by Niko Partners and Streams
Charts, using proprietary tools.
• Japan and Korean streaming data is provided by Streams Charts
while Chinese livestreaming data is provided by Niko Partners
through their China Games Streaming Tracker.
• The Korean and Japanese audience stats are based on Twitch,
Bigo Live, Facebook, Kick, Nimo TV, Nonolive , Trovo , YouTube,
Mildom , and Afreeca TV viewership data.
• Chinese audience stats are based on Huya , Douyu , and Bilibili
viewership data.
Methodology and Context
• Japanese and Korean title rankings for are based on ‘Hours –
Watched’ while Chinese Data is based on ‘Total Monthly Views’.
The choice of different metrics is the result of differences in the
public APIs and data available for streaming platforms in each
market.
• This bulletin demonstrates title popularity and market share
across the three markets as a market share ratios. Our goal is to
present market overviews based on available data to best allow
comparisons between the three markets, despite diffident
metrics for Korean and Japanese livestreaming markets versus
the Chinese market.

21
Glossary of Terms
Term Explanation
Livestreaming The act of broadcasting video or audio content in real -time over the internet, allowing viewers to watch or listen as it happens . This
report focuses specifically on game livetreaming and uses streaming, game streaming, and livestreaming interchangeably.
Channel The dedicated online space where a content creator broadcasts their content. A channel is tied to and hosted by a livestreami ng
platform.
Platform Platform refers to the specific website, application, or service where livestreamers host and broadcast their content to an a udi ence.
Viewers / Audience The collective group of individual viewers who watch and engage with a livestream.
KOL (Key Opinion Leader) A term referring to individuals who have a significant and engaged following in a specific niche or industry.
Hours Watched A metric used to measure the total amount of time viewers have spent watching livestreams or video content on a livestreaming
platform. It reflects the combined duration of all viewership across multiple streams or videos.
Total Views A metric used to measure the total number of views (not unique) a channel or broadcast receives over a designated period of time .
Partner / Broadcast Jockey
Content creators who have reached a certain level of recognition and engagement on the platform. Becoming a partner often com es
with various benefits, which may include revenue -sharing options, access to premium features, additional support from the platfo rm,
and in some cases may be tied to contractual obligations. Broadcast Jockey is a term used specifically on Afreeca TV.
Vtuber (Virtual YouTuber) A content creator who uses an animated or computer -generated avatar, often with a distinctive persona and voice, to represent
themselves in livestreams and online content. Many VTubers use anime inspired avatars.
Twitch Drops / Drops A feature on the Twitch platform that allows game developers and content creators to reward viewers with in -game items. It
incentivises viewer participation and engagement.
Esports Organized, competitive video gaming that is often conducted in a professional or competitive setting.

22
About Niko Partners
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and suppliers can make smarter business decisions with the utmost confidence.
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/StreamsCharts Streams Charts enables the analysis of all key metrics for channels, streams,
games, communities, and even clips. Streams Charts collects data from the
most popular broadcasting platforms, providing an insight into detailed and
relevant streaming analytics.
Unique data and functions provided by Streams Charts, such as audience
retention rate, custom time filters, and personal lists, make it easy to identify
market opportunities based on activity, reach, and audience demographics.
Today Streams Charts supports active platforms: Twitch, Trovo, YouTube, Kick,
NimoTV, BIGO LIVE, Mildom, Rumble, Nonolive, and AfreecaTV.
As the streaming market develops and changes, Streams Charts’ data will assist
you in staying informed and prepared for complex decisions.
23
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