Executive Summary
We analyzed 198 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
- 198
- Platforms
- 8
- Avg members
- 879K
- Median members
- 112K
Where Gaming Communities Are Hosted
- Discord: 81 communities (41%)
- Reddit: 67 communities (34%)
- Independent Platforms: 39 communities (20%)
- Facebook: 6 communities (3%)
- LinkedIn: 2 communities (1%)
- Telegram: 1 communities (1%)
- Discourse: 1 communities (1%)
- WhatsApp: 1 communities (1%)
- 81(41%)
Discord - 67(34%)
Reddit - 39(20%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 6(3%)
Facebook - 2(1%)
LinkedIn - 1(1%)
Telegram - 1(1%)
Discourse - 1(1%)
WhatsApp
Format mix
- 113(57%)Forum / feed-based
- 83(42%)Chat communities
- 2(1%)Other platforms
Forum / feed-based is most common (57%), but chat communities is also well represented (42%).
Discord leads, but Reddit and Independent Platforms also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 2 communities (1%)
- Small: 8 communities (4%)
- Medium: 23 communities (12%)
- Large: 17 communities (9%)
- Huge: 30 communities (15%)
- Massive: 57 communities (29%)
- Gigantic: 26 communities (13%)
- 2(1%)Tiny<20 members
- 8(4%)Small20-100 members
- 23(12%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 17(9%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 30(15%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 57(29%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 26(13%)Gigantic1M+ members
35 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 188 communities (95%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 10 communities (5%)
The average is much higher than the median (879K vs 112K), 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 | 112K | 25K |
| Average members | 879K | 668K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 5% | 16% |
| Live chat | 47% | 41% |
| Discord share | 41% | 17% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 118 communities (60%)
- Live Chat: 93 communities (47%)
- Online/Offline Events: 48 communities (24%)
- 60%Forum
- 47%Live Chat
- 24%Online/Offline Events
Niche Features
- Pairing: 11 communities (6%)
- Member Perks: 10 communities (5%)
- Newsletter: 7 communities (4%)
- Paid Community: 7 communities (4%)
- Job Board: 4 communities (2%)
- Requires Application: 3 communities (2%)
- Courses: 2 communities (1%)
- Token: 2 communities (1%)
- 6%Pairing
- 5%Member Perks
- 4%Newsletter
- 4%Paid Community
- 2%Job Board
- 2%Requires Application
- 1%Courses
- 1%Token
Forum appears on 60% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 520
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discord | 81 | 41% | 413 | 79% |
| 67 | 34% | 80 | 15% | |
| Independent Platforms | 39 | 20% | 14 | 3% |
| 6 | 3% | 12 | 2% | |
| Telegram | 1 | 1% | 1 | 0% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord hosts 41% of listings and 79% of clicks, so supply and interest line up.
Most-clicked formats
- 414(80%)Chat communities
- 106(20%)Forum / feed-based
Most-clicked features
- 436(84%)Live Chat
- 219(42%)Member Perks
- 126(24%)Forum
- 80(15%)Online/Offline Events
- 17(3%)Job Board
- 14(3%)Newsletter
Most-clicked size ranges
- 213(41%)Gigantic
- 114(22%)Massive
- 70(13%)Huge
- 50(10%)Medium
- 34(7%)Large
Top-clicked listings
- 175(34%)Mika Paradise
- 25(5%)World Soccer Champs Community
- 22(4%)ida's anime cafe
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based 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%)
125 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 47% overall
- Forum40%vs 60% overall
- Online/Offline Eventsover-indexes40%vs 24% 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