Twitch and Facebook Gaming See Continued Growth in February
According to data from Rainmaker.gg, Twitch and Facebook Gaming experienced significant year-over-year growth in February, with Twitch growing by 82% and Facebook Gaming growing by 79% in hours watched.
Twitch and Facebook Gaming Viewer Numbers
Twitch’s total viewership decreased from its highest point of two billion hours watched in January to around 1.86 billion hours watched in February. Similarly, Facebook Gaming saw a decrease from its record peak of 439 million hours watched to just under 400 million hours.
Top Games on Twitch
Twitch’s growth can be attributed to the popularity of games like Grand Theft Auto V, VALORANT, and Apex Legends, which saw significant increases in viewership.
Just Chatting remained the top category on Twitch in February, with 245 million hours watched. League of Legends reclaimed the second spot with 135 million hours, while GTAV jumped to the third spot with the same viewership numbers. This increase in GTAV viewership can be credited to the launch of new GTA roleplaying servers, which attracted more creators and players.
Changes in Top Titles
Rust saw a significant drop in viewership, falling from the second spot in January to tenth place in February. It went from 189 million hours watched to just over 43 million hours.
On the other hand, Chess experienced its fourth consecutive month of increased viewership, setting a new record with 21 million hours watched. Much of this viewership came from popular streamers such as GMHikaru, Sardoche, Ludwig, and BotezLive.
Chess Emerges as a Popular Category
StreamElements CEO Doron Nir highlighted the growing popularity of Chess as a streaming category, stating that it has remained compelling thanks to popular streamers. In February, Chess reached a new milestone with over 21 million hours watched, compared to just one million hours a year ago. It even received a viewership boost around the premiere of “The Queen’s Gambit” in October.
Top Streamers on Twitch
xQc continues to dominate as the top streamer on Twitch, accumulating over 17 million hours watched in February. Gaules and Trymax secured the second and third spots with around 12 million and 10 million hours watched, respectively.
Twitch, Facebook Gaming, viewership, growth, Grand Theft Auto V, VALORANT, Apex Legends, Just Chatting, League of Legends, GTAV, Rust, Chess, popular streamers, xQc