Big-Name Streamers Leaving Twitch for Other Platforms
In the past year, several popular streamers have left Twitch and moved to different platforms. For example, Ninja and shroud joined Mixer, while CouRage and DisguisedToast chose YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming respectively.
However, the transition to new platforms has been more challenging for some than others. Ninja and shroud, despite their huge followings on Twitch, were unable to bring the majority of their audience to Mixer. On the other hand, CouRage has seen continued success on YouTube.
Mixer’s Failure and the Battle for Viewers
The platforms themselves are also competing to gain viewers. Mixer, being the first of the big four sites, didn’t succeed and Microsoft recently announced its closure, merging with Facebook Gaming. Even though Microsoft made efforts to retain Ninja and shroud, they were not successful.
It’s not surprising that Mixer failed, as it only saw a 0.2 percent growth from April 2019 to April 2020, according to a report by Stream Elements and Arsenal. In the same period, Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming all grew by at least 65 percent. Mixer’s viewership of 37.11 million hours in April 2020 was far behind the industry’s year-over-year growth of 99 percent.
Twitch Remains the Top Streaming Platform
Twitch continues to dominate the streaming industry, despite losing shroud and Ninja in 2019. According to Stream Elements and Arsenal, Twitch held 73 percent of the market share in hours watched, down only two percent from 2018. In comparison, Mixer and Facebook Gaming each had a three percent share, while YouTube Gaming had 21 percent.
The Potential for YouTube and Facebook Gaming
Unlike Mixer, YouTube and Facebook Gaming have the potential for significant viewership due to their existing user base. However, they will need to attract and engage these users to start watching live gaming content on their platforms instead of Twitch.