You might have been one of the millions of people that were stuck at home watching Animal Crossing streams during a pandemic. Game Streaming peaked at the heart of the lockdown and COVID-19 protocols. However, for six straight quarters, video game streaming has tanked massively.
Game Streaming Tanks
According to data analyst site Safe Betting Sites, global game viewership has dropped 16 percent. In the early months of 2023, only 7.4 billion hours were watched compared to 2021’s all-time high of 9 billion hours.
“Game streaming viewership continues fading away across all markets and platforms. After falling for six straight quarters in a row, the global game streaming audience slightly recovered in the first months of 2023 but remained deep below the 2021 levels.” – Jastra Kranjec, Safe Betting Sites.
Since 2020, major streaming sites have lost viewership year by year. Facebook Live’s viewership dropped massively by 69%, which pushed them behind South Korean Afreeca TV. Over three years, Twitch has dropped 10%, and luckily, Youtube Gaming viewership remained largely unchanged.
The heavy hitters are still hitting heavy
While the industry has dropped considerably, Twitch and Youtube Gaming have increased market shares since 2020. According to Stream Hatchet, Twitch market shares rose by 4%, hitting 74% at the beginning of 2023. Youtube Gaming rose to about 2% within the same period.
As life gets back to normal following a surprise global pandemic, video game streaming will always see some decline. However, many channels and streamers were exposed to millions of people during that time and maintained viewership even with the now-known decrease.
What do you think about the decline of game streaming, and what games do you watch? Let us know in the comments.
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