As we’ve previously covered in our State of the Stream analysis, post-pandemic growth in viewership numbers across games streaming services have been slow if not receding. However, according to this month's State of the Stream analysis, this trend may be over, as Youtube increased its hours watched to 305M hours (Up by 4%) and Twitch hit 1.86B (Up by 3%). After numbers receded due, as many posited, to stay-at-home orders being lifted and less time being spent at home and thus watching, that trend seems to have slowed, and growth is once more the norm.
Fallen Guys
Last month we reported on Fall Guys climbing into Twitch’s top 10 most streamed games. However, it seems to have lived up to its name and fallen back down the ladder again, although the previously climbing Monster Hunter Rise has maintained its position at #9. Fall Guys likely capitalised on going free-to-play in June of this year to grab a wider audience. Even dropping from the top 10, a meteoric rise of 131% is likely to only recede slowly if any.
The most prominent mainstay for our site’s focus is PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile remaining in the top 10 games and shifting up by 3%. PUBG accounted for 75% of revenue for parent company KRAFTON as of May this year.
Ninja goes Rogue
Famous Streamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevin has dropped his Twitch partnership in favour of an ‘all-platforms’ approach. Rather than streaming exclusively on Twitch, Ninja will now simultaneously stream on multiple channels, such as Youtube gaming and of course, Twitch. It isn’t the first time Tyler has dropped Twitch, as he famously signed onto an exclusivity deal with Microsoft’s Mixer platform back in 2019.
Holo Lives
The rise of Vtubers (streamers using animated avatars, often in the ‘anime’ style) has been examined since Kizuna AI popped into the mass consciousness back in 2016. Now, three of hololive’s (a vtuber agency) streamers sit comfortably in the Twitch top 10. Sakura Miko, Usada Pekora and Subaru Oozora now join Latin American streamers in pushing English-language streamers into the minority of popularity.
Overall, it’s good news for streamers as the post-pandemic slowing of growth has begun to reverse. Ninja’s move to non-exclusivity suggests he's seeking to expand his audience once more, and hololive continues to push vtubers from a novelty to a real force in online personalities.
