With the global pandemic forcing people inside, video game livestreaming platforms saw significant growth in viewership according to a report by StreamElements and Arsenal.gg.
Compared to the first quarter of 2020, Twitch viewership grew 56%, with viewership for the month of June growing 60% year-over-year. As shown in The Esports Observer’s weekly Twitch Top 10, StreamElements reports that the most popular category on the platform is Just Chatting. The category grew 94% since January. StreamElements also notes that the Music & Performing Arts category ranked 16th for Q2, growing 268% from January to June.
Twitch has made a concerted effort to broaden the scope of its platform beyond video games, and viewers appear to be responding favorably to that push. Earlier this week, Twitch made another move to widen its reach, launching a dedicated category for traditional sports.
Facebook Gaming also saw a boost from the shelter-in-place orders and quarantines throughout Q2, growing 75% from Q1. June 2020 saw 200% growth year-over-year for the platform. Earlier this month, Facebook Gaming seized an opportunity to grow its streamer base, teaming up with the now-defunct Mixer to offer its streamers partner status once Mixer shut down. It is unknown how many streamers took Facebook up on its offer, but many have publicly announced their move to Twitch instead.
According to a release, StreamElements report did not include data on YouTube Gaming as it could not be completed in time, but the livestreaming services company notes that the platform “also experienced massive growth quarter-over-quarter.”
In that release, StreamElements also stated that it has seen an increase in its own monthly users, growing from 305K in January to over 680K in June, indicating a significant growth in the number of people who have become involved in streaming since the start of 2020.
