For the second consecutive quarter, game streaming viewership has tumbled–but all is not lost, according to a new report.
Stream Hatchet’s Video Game Live-Streaming Trends Report for Q2 2023 found that the total hours watched by gaming fans across the likes of Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live declined across all major platforms, falling by 9% during the quarter.
While you can undoubtedly attribute the downward trend to a post-COVID cooldown in online streaming, viewership still remains 97% higher than Q2 2019. YouTube Gaming proved to be the most resilient long-term host, with a 4.7% rise in hours watched during the last three months.
The same can’t be said for the juggernaut Twitch–it dropped by 4.9%. Facebook Live, which halved its viewership in 2022, saw a massive 56.7% decline.
As voids appear, new challengers spot an opportunity. Kick, which officially launched in January of this year–and has since announced a raft of new contracts with high-profile streamers including xQc, Amouranth, and Destiny–has secured itself as the fifth most-watched platform in the live-streaming market during Q2 2023.
This might not be as incredible as it seems at face value, given it still only commands 2% of the market, but its trajectory is incredible; according to Stream Hatchet, hours watched on Kick increased by 79% between the first week of the quarter to the last.
What’s more, the number of unique channels going live on Kick “exploded” in June, rising by 204% from the first week to the last of the quarter, settling at just over 190,000 channels, dropping slightly from a peak of 224,000.
Then there’s esports. While many people harbor concerns about the long-term future of the industry, fans don’t seem to; despite the 9% decline in overall live-streaming hours watched over the last year, esports drew a 4.1% rise in viewers over the same period. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of esports viewership in Q2 was watched on Twitch, with the vast remainder taking to YouTube Gaming.
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