Fans around the world came to Twitter in '20 to talk about videogaming’s biggest moments and used the social network as a place to connect with each other when many couldn’t do so in person. With more than 2 billion gaming-related tweets in '20, Twitter Head of Gaming Content Partnerships Rishi Chadha joined our Andrew Levin on the episode of "SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead," to break down the unprecedented engagement, provide data and discuss what’s ahead for gaming content on the platform in '21.
On factors that led to the engagement growth around gaming in '20:
Chadha: Coming into the year, we knew it was going to start to be a big year, but I don’t think we realized just how big the year was going to be, and I think a lot of that then leads into the fact that people were at home. People were staying home and playing videogames more than ever, and so, they were tweeting about videogames more than ever … and they’re excited about a lot of these new consoles and these new games.
On surprises to emerge among the most-talked-about topics within the gaming category on Twitter:
Chadha: Esports being so high up was really impressive to me. That’s one I was really, really happy to see because while esports continues to be the zeitgeist of gaming and whatnot, it’s still a small portion of the overall conversation. But to see it so high up on the list was really great to see. Then, seeing gaming influencers, that makes a ton of sense; just seeing them high up on the list was great.
On Twitter's strategy as it relates to signing exclusive deals within the esports category:
Chadha: No matter what videogame it is or where that videogame is being broadcast, people are coming to Twitter to talk about it. We’re really that home for the gaming conversation, no matter where people are consuming it. For us, it’s never been about, "Hey, how do we get exclusive content on the platform?" It’s about how do we continue to foster that conversation in a meaningful, impactful way by having content that’s going to complement that?
