Gen Z and esports: New study puts global audience at 400 million fans

Hero Esports, ESL FACEIT Group, and Niko Partners have co-released a whitepaper titled The Esports Generation: Who They Are & Why They Spend, revealing that an estimated 400 million members of Gen Z regularly engage with esports worldwide. Data for the report came from a recent survey answered by 8,000 Gen Z ssports fans. To put the 400 million figure into context, it’s roughly one in five Gen Z’s, with males (68%) making up the greater bulk of the audience.

The findings covered a number of things, including content consumption and spending behavior, with genre preferences also taken into account. Altogether, it paints a fairly clear picture of an audience that’s not only digitally native and culturally switched-on – but one that is also willing to spend. Ultimately, the report will be useful to esports brands and organizations who can now make smarter business decisions aimed at younger audiences.