In a world where we can only leave our homes for state-mandated exercise or shopping, live streaming is helping fill the void. According to a new report from Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet, more people than ever before are tuning in to watch others stream, helping the likes of Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook post new quarterly records.
In the last quarter alone, half of which has been dominated by the COVID-19 quarantine policies around the world, Twitch has hit a new all-time high for hours watched hours streamed (three billion), and average concurrent users. YouTube’s CCU is also at an all-time high increasing by 15.5% since the last quarter, and Facebook Gaming tripled its hours watched, doubled its hours streamed, and its average concurrent user count quadrupled.
And although we haven’t mentioned Mixer yet, it’s doing numbers. The platform has more active streamers than Facebook Gaming and YouTube Gaming combined, and out of all the platforms it has the second most hours streamed (28.3 million) this quarter, trailing only behind Twitch (121.4 million).
But it’s Twitch that seems to have benefitted the most from the last quarter. The platform has seen a 17% increase in hours watched this quarter, giving it a 65% market share over the other platforms. Its total hours streamed, which we previously reported was declining, has also bounced back and is now at an all-time high at 121 million.
.@streamlabs x @StreamHatchet Stream Report
▶ Most-watched: League of Legends
▶ Mixer has 36% of channels streaming but 2% of viewership
▶ YouTube CCV up 15.5%
▶ Twitch over 3B hours watched
▶ More streamers on Mixer than Facebook & YouTube combinedhttps://t.co/bSycCiAE3t pic.twitter.com/1fOzlH80GV— Chris Mayo (@smithymayo) April 3, 2020
The streaming war was meant to threaten Twitch. But with more people staying at home than ever before, its position in the market as the go-to platform for streaming has solidified. Even though the likes of Facebook Gaming is hitting year on year growth, it’s not enough just yet to question Twitch’s authority.
