Twitch enjoys 23% monthly rise in watch hours as people stay home

Between February and March, streaming service Twitch saw a whopping 23% rise in watch hours as the global pandemic kept people home, Engadget reports. These figures are to be expected, judging by the situation with other services like YouTube, Facebook Gaming, and Mixer, which all saw a boost in users and watch hours for the same period. Many countries are in a lockdown state, and people are left with a limited choice of entertainment.

Watch hours are 17% up compared to the previous quarter, there’s a 19.5% increase of returning viewers, and 33% rise in unique channels. It appears that people are not just passively viewing others’ content but are also streaming hard. The total streamed hours are at the record number of 121 million.

This might have something to do with the current initiatives to keep people occupied at home. Even the World Health Organization backed the #PlayApartTogether campaign and encouraged people to play more games. Many big publishers offer games at big discounts or for free, and game streaming services are already seeing the results.



Twitch figures are a bit higher compared to those of direct competitors, though. The platform remains the preferred way for gamers to share their craft. The rise in watch hours between February and March looks a little different for Facebook Gaming (3.8%), Mixer (15.9%) and YouTube game streams (10.7%). Statistics aside, the current increase shows that gaming and game streaming is one way for people to cope with the situation. Which has to be a positive thing.