Executive Summary
We analyzed 218 gaming communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: gaming communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 218
- Platforms
- 8
- Avg members
- 807K
- Median members
- 70K
Where Gaming Communities Are Hosted
- Discord: 94 communities (43%)
- Reddit: 67 communities (31%)
- Independent Platforms: 44 communities (20%)
- Facebook: 6 communities (3%)
- WhatsApp: 3 communities (1%)
- LinkedIn: 2 communities (1%)
- Telegram: 1 communities (0%)
- Discourse: 1 communities (0%)
- 94(43%)
Discord - 67(31%)
Reddit - 44(20%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 6(3%)
Facebook - 3(1%)
WhatsApp - 2(1%)
LinkedIn - 1(0%)
Telegram - 1(0%)
Discourse
Format mix
- 118(54%)Forum / feed-based
- 98(45%)Chat communities
- 2(1%)Other platforms
Forum / feed-based is most common (54%), but chat communities is also well represented (45%).
Discord leads, but Reddit and Independent Platforms also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 5 communities (2%)
- Small: 12 communities (6%)
- Medium: 26 communities (12%)
- Large: 19 communities (9%)
- Huge: 33 communities (15%)
- Massive: 58 communities (27%)
- Gigantic: 26 communities (12%)
- 5(2%)Tiny<20 members
- 12(6%)Small20-100 members
- 26(12%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 19(9%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 33(15%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 58(27%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 26(12%)Gigantic1M+ members
39 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 208 communities (95%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 10 communities (5%)
The average is much higher than the median (807K vs 70K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Gaming Differs From Other Categories
Gaming is more free-to-join, larger, and more platform-diverse, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Gaming | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 95% | 84% |
| Median members | 70K | 25K |
| Average members | 807K | 662K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 5% | 16% |
| Live chat | 51% | 41% |
| Discord share | 43% | 18% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 120 communities (55%)
- Live Chat: 112 communities (51%)
- Online/Offline Events: 55 communities (25%)
- 55%Forum
- 51%Live Chat
- 25%Online/Offline Events
Niche Features
- Pairing: 12 communities (6%)
- Member Perks: 10 communities (5%)
- Newsletter: 7 communities (3%)
- Paid Community: 7 communities (3%)
- Job Board: 4 communities (2%)
- Requires Application: 3 communities (1%)
- Courses: 2 communities (1%)
- Token: 2 communities (1%)
- 6%Pairing
- 5%Member Perks
- 3%Newsletter
- 3%Paid Community
- 2%Job Board
- 1%Requires Application
- 1%Courses
- 1%Token
Live Chat appears on 51% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 1K
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discord | 94 | 43% | 541 | 42% |
| 67 | 31% | 100 | 8% | |
| Independent Platforms | 44 | 20% | 574 | 45% |
| 6 | 3% | 3 | 0% | |
| 3 | 1% | 59 | 5% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Independent Platforms gets 45% of clicks but only 20% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 677(53%)Forum / feed-based
- 600(47%)Chat communities
Most-clicked features
- 707(55%)Forum
- 691(54%)Online/Offline Events
- 614(48%)Live Chat
- 247(19%)Member Perks
- 19(1%)Job Board
- 18(1%)Requires Application
Most-clicked size ranges
- 239(19%)Gigantic
- 143(11%)Massive
- 88(7%)Huge
- 74(6%)Small
- 60(5%)Medium
Top-clicked listings
- 534(42%)HLTV.org
- 209(16%)Mika Paradise
- 49(4%)Gaming Community
Most clicks go to forum / feed-based and chat communities communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 1996: 1 communities (1%)
- 2000: 1 communities (1%)
- 2001: 2 communities (3%)
- 2007: 3 communities (4%)
- 2008: 2 communities (3%)
- 2009: 2 communities (3%)
- 2010: 3 communities (4%)
- 2011: 4 communities (5%)
- 2012: 4 communities (5%)
- 2013: 6 communities (8%)
- 2014: 7 communities (10%)
- 2015: 3 communities (4%)
- 2016: 7 communities (10%)
- 2017: 4 communities (5%)
- 2018: 7 communities (10%)
- 2019: 9 communities (12%)
- 2020: 4 communities (5%)
- 2021: 2 communities (3%)
- 2022: 1 communities (1%)
- 2023: 1 communities (1%)
145 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2019.
Community Quality & Ratings
Rating breakdown
- 8(73%)
- 1(9%)
- 1(9%)
- 1(9%)
- 0(0%)
11 reviews across 6 communities · 4.5 average rating.
Among highly rated communities
- Live Chatover-indexes80%vs 51% overall
- Forum40%vs 55% overall
- Online/Offline Eventsover-indexes40%vs 25% overall
- Member Perksover-indexes20%vs 5% overall
- Pairingover-indexes20%vs 6% overall
Based on 5 communities rated 4+ stars.
Among reviewed communities, highly rated groups often include live chat, forum, and online/offline events.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Gaming. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
Updated periodically