Video game streams have seen a decline in both viewership and hours streamed over the past quarter, according to new numbers from Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet. The drop in streamers and viewership could be attributed to the gradual passing of the pandemic, which is allowing people to spend more time outside than being stuck at home.
Across Twitch, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming, a combined 7.36 billion hours of livestreams was watched by viewers, marking a significant 18.1 percent drop year-over-year and an 8.4 percent decline compared to Q1 of 2022. Streamers were only live for 273 million hours as well, equating to a 19.4 percent plummet from the same period last year and 12 percent from last quarter.
Twitch continues to perform the best in the industry, holding 76.7 percent of the market share with its 5.64 billion hours watched and a whopping 92.7 percent of hours streamed at 204.2 million hours. Despite the strong performance against competitors, the figures still mark a 13.4 percent and 16 percent drop respectively when compared to Q2 of last year.
While YouTube Gaming managed to maintain viewership levels at roughly the same, Facebook Gaming was hit the hardest, with a 51 percent decline in hours watched to just 580 million while hours streamed came down by a staggering 62 percent to 7.9 million.
In other gaming news, Take-Two Interactive has delayed Marvel’s Midnight Suns once again.
Tagged: gaming