Cosy game Stardew Valley one of highest-earning games on YouTube

Stardew Valley crowned highest-earning cosy game on YouTube, worth £10.8k per hour

• Stardew Valley is the most profitable cosy game on YouTube, raking in more than £10.8k for each hour-long playthrough video
• Each of the platform’s most-watched Stardew Valley playthroughs earned an average of £181 per minute, with views equalling 995,700
• With most videos earning £10.90 per thousand views, the most-watched playthrough from PewDiePie is worth a huge £50k alone
• Also amongst the most-valuable games to play on YouTube were GTA V – ten years old this year – Elden Ring, and Red Dead Redemption 2

Stardew Valley has been named the highest-earning cosy video game on YouTube, with views of playthrough videos earning £10,860 per hour of footage.

The research, conducted by Bonusninja, found that – of the top 25 most popular games last year – Stardew Valley had one of the highest earning potentials on YouTube, with an average of 995,700 views reported across each of the most-watched playthroughs. 

The analysis involved looking at the top 20 most-viewed playthroughs for some of the most in-demand games – including GTA V, Portal 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 – and each video’s duration, to calculate how much creators have earnt per-minute whilst playing. 

Cosy games have increased in popularity over the last year due to platforms as creators on TikTok and Instagram recommend titles with cute characters, wholesome reward-based activities and in-game socialisation for a feel-good gaming experience. 

Other popular titles that fit into this category are Animal Crossing, The Sims, and Disney’s Dreamlight Valley and – although none proved as popular last year as Stardew Valley.

Each Stardew Valley upload can expect to accumulate almost a million views per hour, or 16,595 per minute – equivalent to earnings of £181 each minute, or £10,860 an hour.

This is based on the average CPM (cost per thousand) advertisers pay for the ads that run alongside each upload, which sees every 1k views earning creators £10.90. 

Although the calculations are based on the most-viewed playthroughs per game, these videos aren’t exclusively uploaded by prolific creators – there are some small creators featured, meaning the earning potential is there regardless of channel popularity.

However, the most-viewed Stardew Valley playthrough on YouTube belongs to established gaming creator PewDiePie – who, after 4.6 million views, earned a staggering £50k. 

PewDiePie also made an impressive amount from playing cosy game Animal Crossing online, accumulating 9.6 million views for 20 minutes of gameplay – equivalent to £104,620. 

Creators’ actual earnings could be even higher, as YouTube also awards higher earnings based on their subscriber count, how many ads are displayed, and creator’s location.

However, although cosy games have increased in popularity, there are still other games that boast a higher earning potential on the platform – with GTA V the most valuable overall.

Each GTA V upload can expect to accumulate up to 18,120,000 views per hour, or 302,000 per minute – equivalent to earnings of £3,293 each minute, or £197,624 each hour. Other high-earners came out as Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2, and God of War.

Top 5 most profitable playthroughs on YouTube

1. Grand Theft Auto V – £3,373 per minute
2. Elden Ring – £1,316 per minute
3. Red Dead Redemption 2 – £573 per minute
4. God of War – £531 per minute
5. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – £521 per minute

The games analysed in the study were those that are labelled most popular on HowLongToBeat – although plenty of other games have earnt thousands on YouTube.

A Bonusninja spokesperson commented on the findings, saying: “The earning potential behind YouTube has long been utilised as a revenue stream by content creators – but many might be surprised to find that video game playthroughs can earn thousands.

“Cosy games have a particular appeal as they can be soothing to watch in videos even if people aren’t planning to play the game themselves – so it’s no surprise that Stardew Valley is amongst the highest-earners.

“It just goes to show that it’s worth putting gaming content and reviews out there, particularly if you’re passionate about what you’re playing, as you could become a regular streamer.”

Sources: YouTube, HowLongToBeat. Youtube CPM as reported by Influencer Marketing Hub

Credit to bonusninja.com who provided the above post