While a lot of industries are seeing a sharp decline as more and more measures are introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus, the streaming industry is seeing the opposite. As more people stay indoors and self-isolate – and therefore look for ways to keep entertained – Twitch has seen viewership continue to increase as the pandemic worsens, with viewership currently being 10% higher than at this time in 2019, according to Stream Hatchet.
What’s more incredible is that it has continued to rise in the absence of several massive esports events, the broadcasts of which often make up a decent percentage of Twitch viewership. Once they all resume (almost certainly in an online format rather than at LAN events) we can expect to see viewership spike even higher.
Some of Twitch’s biggest streamers are also seeing increases in their viewership. Take Jaryd ‘Summit1g’ Lazar for example. In the last 30 days, he has been the most watched channel on all of Twitch with around 10.7 million hours watched, according to Twitch Tracker. In the same 30 day period in 2019, he achieved just 6.6 million.
Hey @RobinhoodSnacks we’ve got a #SnackFactOfTheDay for you around the #WFH economy. Live streaming engagement on platforms like @Twitch is spiking with the #CONVID19. We’ve seen a 10% increase in the platforms audience since Nov ’19 & a 10% increase YoY. pic.twitter.com/Sl4uBBjj0a
— Stream Hatchet (@StreamHatchet) March 16, 2020
It also means that it’s as good a time as any to drop a new game or mode to take advantage of the increased number of people at home and watching gaming streamers; say, a nice big free-to-play battle royale?
The hype on Twitch around the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Warzone has been enormous and has even surpassed the numbers Modern Warfare achieved when it launched in 2019.
Streams on platforms like Twitch are even plugging the gap left by the cancellation of big sports events, with F1 driver Lando Norris’ stream of ‘Not The Australian Grand Prix’ topping the Twitch charts on Sunday, March 15.
