A report from YouTube revealed that in 2021, videos related to speedruns were viewed at least 7 billion times, and it seems that there's no sign of the community slowing down. The top three most-viewed speedrunning games are Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V, and Roblox.
Speedrunning is all about completing a game, or a smaller segment within the game, as quickly as humanly as possible. As a community, it exists within the gaming vertical. This community now has more than 400 channels that have a significant portion of their content all about speedrunning. A lot of the channels feature gameplay footage of actual speedruns being completed. There is a subset of channels that focus on the culture, history, and lore of speedrunning.
Two Categories
In a post, YouTube Culture and Trends Manager for the US and Canada Madeline Buxton revealed that while the videos take on different forms, they can be grouped into one of two categories. The first is known as "Let's Play." This is pretty much the basis of the speedrunning community. Here, creators post recordings of their gameplay and in return, not only get credibility but also prove to everyone that the record-breaking times are indeed legitimate.
There are different kinds of speedruns from one without limitations to one where no steps can be skipped in completing a challenge.
The second category is called "Analysis and Commentary." According to Buxton, part of the thrill when it comes to speedrunning content is tracking both when and how the time records are broken. Creators like Karl Jobst and Summoning Salt, for example, release videos that break down the stories behind various legendary speedruns. These videos get tens of millions of views every year.
Most Channels and Views
In terms of region, the US has the largest number of speedruns channels in the community with over 100 channels. It's also the country that has, so far, the greatest viewership of videos from the community. There are actually more than 45 countries with the U.K., Germany, Brazil, and Australia joining the US in the top five.
Top Creators
For those of you wondering, the popular speedrunning channels include creators:
- EasyPeezy
- DarkViperAU
- Karl Jobst
- ProfessorBiggy
- HeyRosalinaSpeedruns
You can read the complete report here.
