Dragon Quest creator and industry legend Yuri Horii says that he doesn’t understand how live streaming games has become so popular, and he wonders if the practice helps advertise games or not. He believes that streaming fans are the result of a new type of light, or casual, gamer who just wants to see what a game is about without playing it themselves.
In an interview with Famitsu that’s been translated by GamesRadar+, Horii discusses how much player tastes have changed when it comes to the types of experiences people seek out with games. He believes the gaming audience has split into two distinct categories: core gamers who want to know everything about their games, and casual gamers who skip through and want to finish quickly.
“In terms of more casual gamers, people have increasingly enjoyed game live streaming,” Horii says. “In the past, just watching people play games all the time was not seen as a form of entertainment. Though saying that, I used to watch my friends play over their shoulders. But now live streaming has become really popular.”
Displaying some truly powerful ‘back in my day’ energy, Horii admits that he doesn’t understand the allure of watching someone else play a game over playing it yourself, even if the streamer adds interesting commentary. “It used to be unthinkable that the player would be the funny one and attract fans rather than the game,” he says.
However, while the rise of live streaming means that developers now have a much bigger potential audience for their games, Horii is still unsure if it works as a marketing strategy. “It’s really interesting to see how people play the games you made,” he says. “But I don’t know if it works as a marketing tool. Some people will be satisfied by just watching the live stream, and some will want to play after seeing it. I’m really not sure yet.”
A similar sentiment was echoed earlier this year by Final Fantasy 7 Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi, who believes that streamers have changed gaming forever. He says that during development it’s important to consider making games that people want to play rather than just watch.