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Anatomy of a video's views (Patreon)

Published:
2016-10-11 09:24:18
Imported:
2021-01

Content

Hey everyone. I thought it might be fun to dig into the analytics of a random Game Maker's Toolkit video, to see who watched it, where they found it, and how long they watched it for.

I keep an eye on this stuff to help me promote my videos and pick topics. I find it interesting, so maybe you will too!

Okay, let's look at the Shovel Knight video. It's been out for a while now. How did that one go down?

It's had 78,344 views. 28,000 on the day it came out, 12,000 the day after, 5,000 after that. It's had around 1,000 a day since then but has petered off recently. A few hundred views a day.

Not bad, but I need to figure out how to give these things longer legs*.

Audience retention for this video was great: The average person watched 61% of it. The graph shows a few people ditching the video early, then people mostly watch the whole thing and drop off at the credits (sorry $5 people - not everyone reads your names :P).

This is the stat I'm most proud of, and it's higher than most videos online. I try really hard to keep people entertained and watching from start to finish. That involves writing a script that flows nicely, keeping people interested to see where I go next, and keeping things on screen fresh and exciting. It's hard work, but it pays off.

Also of note: people didn't sharply drop off when I called Shovel Knight progressive. They might have gotten angry in the comments (there are 228 comments overall) but they didn't stop watching. That's all that matters!

The video was watched overwhelmingly by men. Now, we have to remember that Google is often guessing your gender based on what you do online. And maybe they think anyone who searches for video games is a dude! But still, my videos are routinely watched by men. A shame, and not sure what I can do to fix that. As for ages: most viewers are 25-34.

As for geography, the video was most popular in the US. Lots of views from the UK and Canada. And then plenty of views from Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Brazil, and Sweden. It was seen in at least 73 different countries, including Kazakhstan, Iceland, and South Korea!

The views were split almost in half between people who subscribe to my channel (53%) and those who don't (47%). Almost everyone watched on YouTube - just 141 people on YouTube Gaming. Oh dear. I don't think that platform has been a huge success for Google.

How did people watch the video? 87% of people watched it on YouTube itself, and only 13% as an embedded video on another website (mostly Polygon.com). 52,000 people watched on a computer (and 81% of them on Windows), 17,000 used a phone (66% Android), and only 4,000 used a tablet (65% iPad).

1,600 views came from PlayStation consoles, 500 from Xbox devices, 222 people watched it on a Wii, 18 people watched it on a Nin­tendo 3DS, almost 2000 people watched it on a Smart TV or set-top box.

How did people find the video? That's really important for me to know. Let's break it down:

  • 14,415 - Subscription box
  • 12,729 - YouTube's home page (!)
  • 11,724 - My YouTube channel
  • 6,038 - Polygon.com
  • 3,175 - Searching on YouTube
  • 2,533 - Digg
  • 2,425 - Reddit
  • 1,514 - Twitter
  • 172 - Patreon (That's you!)

Woah, Reddit is low on that list. Reddit is an absolute king maker for videos - get on r/gaming or r/videos and you're in View City. I got on r/games but to see it beneath Digg is surprising.

Google even tells me what people searched for: Shovel Knight, Game Maker's Toolkit, Yooka Laylee, Nostalgia, Mighty No 9, "How to Make Shovel Knight in Game Maker" (Good luck!).

I got an extra 1,200 subscribers from Shovel Knight, but lost 28. It had 5,421 likes and 42 dislikes. People added it to 3,289 playlists but removed it from 2,081 of them. Presumably "I will watch this later" type playlists. 72,000 of people watched it without subtitles, 5,200 with the official English subs, 458 in Spanish, 138 in German, and 122 in French.

Hoo boy, that's a lot of stats. Probably boring but hopefully someone found it useful or interesting. Let me know if you have any questions!

*The video "What Capcom Didn't Tell You About Resident Evil 4" is one of my only videos that's made a comeback. It had around 30,000 views around launch but in September it randomly got 56,000 views in one day! It's now my most-viewed vid at 300k views. Looking at the stats, it seems that YouTube pushed that video to lots of people as a recommendation on their home pages. Sweet! More of that, please Google!

Files

Comments

Ossian Olausson

This is great, do more analysis like this Mark!

Anonymous

If I can offer a suggestion for attracting more diverse viewers: why not a couple videos on diversity in games? Games that have believable female characters, or that don't fall prey to generic racial stereotypes. How about an analysis of which games handle diversity and inclusion well, and which handle it poorly. I know I would like to see more discussion in this vein.

GameMakersToolkit
>>2748958

Yeah, I'm definitely interested in this subject. My only hesitation is that I like to come at things from a design angle (mechanics, systems, etc) and when diversity is done well it shouldn't matter to the gameplay what race / gender / etc the character is! I'll keep thinking on it, cheers for the suggestion.

Anonymous

Interesting post, Mark. Like seeing some of the numbers and the explanation behind it. And it's quite the eye-opener to see what detailed stats you can track based on your viewers. When they stop watching the video for instance, had no idea that was tracked - although I could have known, since almost everything is tracked nowadays :D

PrimeSonic

Well, those statistics won't give you everything. ;) I watch GMTK with my wife every time it's in my sub box. It just usually goes into my Watch Later playlist for viewing during dinnertime.

Anonymous

These kind of statistics are super interesting! You don't need to show us every video statistic, but a "recap" in perhaps half a year or after you reached your next Youtube-Milestone would be really nice.

Anonymous

Pretty nice stuff. Thanks for allowing us to see what's behind the curtain. I think this activity is essential for channels to widen its audience. One thing I heard on another channel, speaking about subs boxes and notoriety on YT, is to mix the topics/games that you cover in your videos. It's important that after a particularly exhausting episode (both for you and the viewer), you include lighter stuff that appeals a wide audience. In that regard, I think Boss Keys is an excellent addition. Just my 2 cents. Cheers !

Anonymous

I add up to the crowd, Spanish guy living in sweden now that usually sees your videos when they pop up in the sub box or when I receive your emails. Love this kind of anatomy blogs, it's nice to know how everything works under the cortina!

Anonymous

"Plenty of views from Brazil" I'm satisfied with those numbers :) Also, I thought your "4 step level design" was your most watched video... It seems that it was in more places than the Resident Evil one

Anonymous

Pretty sure YouTube thinks I'm a guy, but woman,37, viewer here. Love your videos.

Anonymous

Great stats! Could you elaborate on what you did to grow your audience sometime? My friends and I have been putting out a design-focused podcast for the last year (inspired in part by GMT), but we've had a hard time expanding beyond our core group of friends, coworkers, and the one subreddit that seems to put up with me posting there each month. It would be interesting to hear what strategies worked (and didn't work) for you in the early days of GMT.

Anonymous

Wait, there's YouTube Gaming o.O?

Daniel Haas

This is really cool - could you post it publicly? I'd like to share it around with some gaming+stats/analytics nerd friends

GameMakersToolkit
>>2751554

Hm, I'd rather keep it for Patreon people as you guys are super special and team GMTK! - but I don't mind if you share stuff with a few friends. I guess just copy and paste it into an email or whatever

GameMakersToolkit
>>2750624

Yeah - I didn't do much. A few cheeky Reddit posts (blatantly against Reddit rules :p) and was lucky to have a nice bunch of Twitter followers to help me out. it's tough - and podcasts might be even harder. Share a link here though! I'm sure Toolkit fans will be interested

Anonymous

I wonder what the comparison between game devs/consumers looks like... no easy way to find this out, but it makes a huge difference! Devs (or fledgling devs) watching your videos has a huge positive impact on the community. As you grow I would imagine your demographic will shift toward consumers. You've done a fantastic job so far of keeping pretty deep discussion of systems entertaining and approachable. But as you grow don't get swayed by the masses. Keep the "Toolkit" the most important part of GMTK ;)

Anonymous

Very interesting stuff, thanks for sharing :)

Anonymous

Cool stats! When you said it was "progressive", I laughed at how hard you were dissing the game. After a little more, I figured you didn't really understand what you had said.

Anonymous

"The video "What Capcom Didn't Tell You About Resident Evil 4" is one of my only videos that's made a comeback. " - Maybe because it's the only clickbaity title among all the GMTK videos ;).

Anonymous

Hey I'm a recent patron, and I'm really liking all the content here (watched 2 playlist episodes so far and I'm looking forward to watching the rest). I've been watching your videos for a while but only recently decided to donate. If I would have known about the extra content earlier, I probably would have started donating sooner. I suppose that's my fault though for not checking out the page until now.

GameMakersToolkit
>>2810267

Hey Arend! Thanks for your support :) I guess I should talk more about the perks at the end of episodes!

Anonymous

Anyway I liked the stats, only thing is that the game maker jab stung a little :P. I've actually been making game maker tutorials on my channel (Arend Peter Teaches) for years. I really like game maker and it has gotten a lot more powerful over the years. I'm sure it could handle making games at the caliber of shovel knight.

GameMakersToolkit
>>2810274

Haha, i meant it sincerely - i have thought about trying some game maker stuff myself for a while now. i'll check out your channel if i ever make the plunge!