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News video games 21 June 2021, 17:12

author: Angelika Kaldus

Twitch With New New Streaming Record and Scandals in the Background

Twitch set another record in May in the number of watched hours of streams. The platform grows in strength despite the controversies surrounding its functioning.

IN A NUTSHELL:
  • Twitch set its fourth viewership record this year with 2.3 billion hours watched;
  • The podium of the most popular stream categories included: "Just Chatting", GTA V and LoL. Fourth place went to Valorant.

Twitch breaks viewership record for fourth time in 2021 - in May, users watched streams with a total duration of 2.3 billion hours. If you count the time spent watching them since the beginning of the year, it turns out that the platform's viewers have spent as much as 12 billion hours on this entertainment. As you can see, subsequent stages of the pandemic bring more and more profits to the platform.

Twitch With New New Streaming Record and Scandals in the Background - picture #1
Number of watched hours of Twitch broadcasts / Source: https://twitchtracker.com/statistics

Despite the new record in terms of watched streaming hours, the number of active streamers in May was the lowest in almost half a year - just over 9 million users. Until recently, there were more than 9.5 million.

It remains to be seen what this month's statistics will look like, given recent bans for Amouranth and Indiefoxx, whose hot tub streams were deemed too controversial by Twitch, or another information about the removal of videos using illegal music. According to Twitch, record labels have reported as many as 1000 cases of negligence in this matter.

Twitch With New New Streaming Record and Scandals in the Background - picture #2
Streaming statistics on Twitch / Source: https://twitchtracker.com/statistics

As the statistics show, the biggest increase was achieved by streams from Apex Legends - in May, 33% more hours were watched in comparison to April. The second place in the ranking was taken by Valorant with a 19% increase in viewership, and the third place by League of Legends with a growth of 11%.

However, if one were to look not at the growth, but the total number of hours viewed from a given category, "Just Chatting" is still the undisputed king with a score of 279 million hours. It is followed by Grand Theft Auto V (250 million hours), League of Legends (168 million hours) and Valorant (95 million hours).

Twitch With New New Streaming Record and Scandals in the Background - picture #3
Ranking of the most popular categories on Twitch / Source: StreamElements

As for the statistics of individual creators, in May the most watched streamer was xQcOW, whose viewers watched a total of almost 39 million hours of streaming. In second place was taken by Gaules with 15 million hours, and in third place was shroud (13 million hours). The recently banned Amouranth (almost 4.5 million hours) and IamCristinini (3.3 million hours) were the leading female streamers, while pokimane (2.4 million hours) was also on the podium in May.

Twitch With New New Streaming Record and Scandals in the Background - picture #4
Source: https://streamscharts.com/news/twitch-may-2021