As streaming gains prominence among different audiences, competition is also growing, but established entities seem to be maintaining their market dominance. For instance, Twitch has sustained viewership and streaming numbers amid a shift to diverse content away from the core gaming segment.

According to data acquired and calculated by Finbold, audiences spent a cumulative 1.34 trillion minutes watching content on Twitch last year. The figure equates to a whopping 2.56 million years. Interestingly, the 2022 figure represents a drop of almost 8% from 2021’s 1.46 trillion minutes. The minutes spent watching content on Twitch also surpassed the 1 trillion mark for the first time in 2020 at 1.11 trillion, a 69% growth from 2019’s 660 billion minutes.

In 2018, internet users spent 560 billion minutes watching Twitch content, representing a growth of over 57% from 2017’s figure of 355 billion. The lowest number of minutes spent viewing on the streaming giant was back in 2012 at 72 billion.

Elsewhere, between January and December 2022, Twitch active streamers dropped by about 17% from 8.56 million to 7.03 million. The active streamers recorded a historical high of 9.89 million in January 2021. Between 2018 and 2022, Twitch’s lowest number of active streamers was in September 2019 at 2.94 million.

Twitch sustains pandemic gains

The research pointed out some drivers behind Twitch’s ability to a higher viewership minutes count. According to the research report:

“At the same time, with the gaming sector recording significant growth since the pandemic period, Twitch has capitalized on the trend by finding means of retaining both gamers and audiences. Twitch has become a hub for gamers to showcase their skills and connect with other gamers. In return, the audiences are helping the gamers through monetization, sponsorships, donations, and subscriptions.”

In the meantime, Twitch still faces increasing competition as established entities such as YouTube and Facebook venture into gaming streaming while capitalizing on their broader primary platforms. To sustain its market dominance, Twitch will need to remain innovative and focus on elements such as improving user experience.