Is Twitch still the reigning king of PC gaming streams?
The world of gaming has seen a massive change in the last few years. The rise of streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Mixer has revolutionized the way gamers consume content, and has given rise to an entirely new generation of influencers and gaming celebrities. But even with all of these new options available, Twitch remains the most dominant streaming platform in the industry.
But is Twitch still the king of the hill when it comes to PC gaming streams? In this blog post, we’re going to take a look at the state of the streaming industry and try to answer that very question.
The Growth of the Streaming Industry
Before we dive into the specifics of Twitch and its competitors, let’s take a moment to talk about the growth of the streaming industry as a whole. The fact is, streaming has become big business, and it’s only getting bigger.
According to a report from Streamlabs and Newzoo, there were over 1.8 billion hours of live streams on Twitch alone in Q2 of 2020. That’s a staggering number, and it represents a 62.7% increase over the same period in 2019.
And it’s not just Twitch that’s seeing this kind of growth. YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming are also experiencing huge uptakes in both viewership and streamer numbers. In fact, YouTube Gaming had the highest growth rate of any platform in Q2 of 2020, with a 39.6% increase in hours watched.
So, with all of these new platforms popping up and growing at breakneck speed, is Twitch still the king of PC gaming streams? Let’s take a deeper look.
The Twitch Advantage
There’s no denying that Twitch has a few key advantages over its competitors. First and foremost, it’s been around longer than any of the other platforms. Twitch was launched in 2011, and it’s had nearly a decade to build up its user base, its technology, and its reputation.
Secondly, Twitch has a huge number of active users. In Q1 of 2020, Twitch had an average of 1.4 million concurrent viewers, with over 3 million unique broadcasters streaming to the platform each month.
This huge user base means that Twitch has a mind-boggling amount of content available for viewers. Whether you’re looking for esports tournaments, speedruns, or just someone playing your favorite game, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll find it on Twitch.
Finally, Twitch has the advantage of being owned by Amazon. This provides the platform with deep pockets and a formidable tech team, which means that it can invest in developing new features and improving the user experience at a rate that its competitors can’t match.
So, with all of these advantages, it’s easy to see why Twitch has remained the dominant force in the streaming industry for so long. But that’s not to say that it’s invincible.
The Rise of YouTube Gaming
As we mentioned earlier, YouTube Gaming has been growing at an incredible rate over the past few years. So, what is it about this platform that’s making it such a strong contender to Twitch’s throne?
One of the biggest advantages that YouTube Gaming has is its integration with the rest of YouTube. Where Twitch is essentially an isolated platform, YouTube Gaming allows streamers to reach a wider audience by embedding their streams in regular YouTube videos.
This means that if you’re a content creator who already has a successful YouTube channel, you can easily incorporate streaming into your existing content. And for viewers, it means they can easily discover new streams through their regular YouTube subscriptions and recommendations.
In addition, YouTube Gaming has been investing heavily in improving its live streaming technology. In 2017, the platform launched a new streaming infrastructure called “Ultra Low Latency,” which dramatically reduces the delay between a streamer’s actions and what the viewer sees on screen.
Plus, YouTube has a massive user base. As of 2020, the platform had over 2 billion monthly active users, which is more than twice the number of users on Twitch. This gives YouTube Gaming a huge potential audience that it can tap into.
These factors, combined with the already enormous reach of YouTube as a whole, are making YouTube Gaming a very attractive alternative for both streamers and viewers alike.
The Upstart: Facebook Gaming
While both Twitch and YouTube Gaming have been around for years, Facebook Gaming is the relative upstart in the streaming industry. Launched in 2018, Facebook Gaming has been steadily growing in popularity over the past few years.
One of the biggest advantages that Facebook Gaming has is its integration with the rest of Facebook. This means that if you’re already a Facebook user, you can easily discover and watch live streams from your favorite creators without having to go to a separate platform.
In addition, Facebook has been investing heavily in creating original content for its gaming platform. In 2019, the company signed exclusive streaming deals with several high-profile streamers, including Ninja and Shroud.
And with Facebook’s huge user base – over 2.7 billion monthly active users as of Q2 2020 – there’s a massive potential audience for streamers on the platform.
So, while Facebook Gaming may not be as well-established as Twitch or YouTube Gaming, it’s definitely one to watch in the coming years.
The Future of Streaming
So, with all of these different platforms vying for dominance, what does the future of the streaming industry hold? It’s impossible to say for sure, but there are a few trends that are worth paying attention to.
First, it seems likely that we’ll continue to see the big players investing heavily in exclusive content deals. As we mentioned earlier, Facebook Gaming has already been making moves in this direction, and it’s likely that we’ll see more of the same from Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
Secondly, we’ll likely see more and more platforms trying to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This could take the form of new features, better user experiences, or unique content offerings.
Finally, it seems likely that we’ll see more consolidation in the industry. We’ve already seen a number of high-profile acquisitions in recent years, such as Microsoft’s purchase of Mixer and Amazon’s purchase of Twitch. As the industry continues to grow and evolve, it’s likely that we’ll see more of these types of deals.
Conclusion
So, to return to our original question: is Twitch still the reigning king of PC gaming streams? The answer, as is so often the case, is “it depends.”
Twitch has a number of key advantages over its competitors, including its massive user base, its long-standing reputation as a gaming platform, and its massive resources thanks to its ownership by Amazon.
However, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming are both rapidly growing in popularity, and have their own unique advantages that set them apart from Twitch.
Ultimately, the streaming industry is still evolving and changing rapidly. Whether Twitch can maintain its dominance in the long run remains to be seen. But for now, it remains the platform to beat in the world of PC gaming streams.