Streaming Platforms See Shifts in Q3 Viewership, Twitch Loses Ground
In the third quarter of this year, the landscape of streaming platforms underwent some changes. With the absence of Mixer, the remaining major platforms have begun to settle in terms of viewership numbers. According to a recent data report from Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet, Facebook Gaming achieved a significant milestone by surpassing one billion hours watched for the first time.
During the same period, YouTube Gaming experienced the highest growth in terms of hours watched, increasing from 1.51 billion to 1.67 billion, marking a 10.5 percent increase. In contrast, Twitch saw a decline of approximately 377 million hours watched in Q3, while Facebook Gaming gained 71 million hours.
Breakdown of Q3 Hours Watched on Major Platforms
Let’s take a look at the breakdown of hours watched on the major streaming platforms in Q3 and how it compares to their Q2 numbers:
- Twitch: 63.6 percent (2.7 percent decrease)
- YouTube Gaming: 22.5 percent (2.8 percent increase)
- Facebook Gaming: 14 percent (1.4 percent increase)
While Twitch experienced a significant loss in hours watched, it did gain a substantial market share in terms of streamer usage, as many former Mixer streamers migrated to the platform. Overall, Twitch has seen a 14.5 percent increase in hours streamed, giving it a dominant 91.1 percent market share.
In total, Twitch had 185 million more hours of content streamed on its platform in Q3 compared to Facebook and YouTube combined. This represents a staggering 96 percent increase from the same period in 2019, which saw 105 million hours streamed.
Although Facebook Gaming didn’t experience the same level of growth as Twitch in terms of unique channels, it did witness increases in hours watched, hours streamed, and new channels after Mixer’s closure. The partnership between Facebook and Mixer seems to have paid off for the platform.
YouTube Gaming saw growth in its live viewing audience, but it wasn’t able to significantly increase the number of streamers on its platform.
In terms of the most-watched games in Q3, League of Legends reclaimed its top spot with over 543 million hours watched. The “Just Chatting” category emerged as the second most-watched category across all livestream platforms, accumulating 533 million hours watched.