Twitch viewership has risen considerably in the wake of stay-at-home orders, according to a new State of the Stream analytics report from streaming data groups StreamElements and Arsenal.gg.
Twitch has been a huge player in the livestreaming market for years, attracting popular streamers and millions of viewers to its platform. With stay-at-home orders in place, those setting outdoor activities aside often turned to gaming and other digital activities as an outlet.
The livestreaming report, which covers data from the second quarter of 2020, shows an increase of 56% in Twitch viewership from the first quarter. Viewership reached a peak in April, with 1.8 billion hours watched on the streaming platform, though this number has slightly declined since.
June 2020 Twitch viewership was 60% higher than June 2019’s viewership, with 1.5 billion hours watched compared to 939 million hours watched.
While Twitch continues to dominate, Facebook Gaming also saw increased user activity on its platform. With 75% growth in viewership from the first quarter to the second quarter, Facebook Gaming reached its peak in May with 342 million hours watched. June 2020’s hours watched exceeded June 2019’s hours watched by 200%.
The report also shows the most-watched games in June 2020 compared to their standing in January 2020. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s viewership dramatically increased from 7 million hours watched in January to 76 million in June. “Just Chatting” was the most-watched category, with 167 million hours watched in June, up from 87 million in January.
Digital Trends has reached out to Twitch for comment on the matter and we will update this story when we hear back.
This data coincides with recent reports that gaming’s popularity has increased dramatically during the pandemic. As more people have increased their gaming time or begun gaming, it seems to follow that an increase in viewership of livestreams would occur.
Despite Twitch’s reckoning with a flood of sexual harassment allegations in its community, the company remains on top in the livestream space. Twitch vowed to atone for the situation by quickly addressing allegations of sexual assault, which may have curbed some ire directed at Twitch.
Twitch viewership up 60% year-over-year amid pandemic [Digital Trends]