Study: 400 million Gen Z regularly engage with esports
A whitepaper from ESL FACEIT Group, Hero Esports and Niko Partners estimates 400 million Gen Z people regularly engage with esports, based on surveys of 8,000 fans across eight markets.
ESL FACEIT Group, Hero Esports and Niko Partners published a whitepaper titled The Esports Generation: Who They Are & Why They Spend that estimates about 400 million Gen Z individuals regularly engage with esports worldwide. The finding is based on survey responses from 8,000 Gen Z esports fans aged 13 to 30 across eight global markets.
The report, revealed at LIONS Sport in Cannes, maps where Gen Z esports fans spend time and money and how they respond to brand activity. It includes data on content consumption, genre preferences and lifestyle interests.
Researchers found the audience still skews male, with 68% of respondents identifying as male, but female participation is rising. Organizers reported that 41% of attendees at DreamHack Birmingham 2026 were women, and female viewership exceeded 50% in China’s Peacekeeper Elite League (PUBG Mobile) and the Honor of Kings Pro League.
Survey results show high levels of brand awareness and commercial influence. Eighty-five percent of respondents notice brand activity linked to esports, and 74% said such activity influenced their purchasing decisions. About two-thirds of respondents reported buying a product as a result of a collaboration with an esports team, game or player. The most cited product categories were food and beverage, electronics and fashion.
Outside gaming, the surveyed audience reported broad cultural interests. Music was the top non-gaming interest at 48%, followed by TV and film streaming at 37% and traditional sports at 36%. The report also notes that 26% of respondents watch no broadcast or cable television in a typical week.
The whitepaper was presented in Cannes by Hero Esports Co-Founder and CEO Danny Tang and ESL FACEIT Group CEO Niccolo Maisto. The report cites rising esports viewership, including the 2026 Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Counter-Strike grand final and IEM Cologne Major, which drew a peak audience of more than 2.75 million viewers and reported year-on-year growth of 141% in peak viewers and 185% in hours watched.
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