Twitch continues to grow in Q1 2021, but YouTube Gaming is lagging
Streaming platforms Twitch and Facebook Gaming have seen considerable growth in the first quarter of 2021, but YouTube ā¦
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Twitch continues to grow in Q1 2021, but YouTube Gaming is lagging
Hours watched on Twitch are up 97%, but Facebook is poised to overtake YouTube
Streaming platforms Twitch and Facebook Gaming have seen considerable growth in the first quarter of 2021, but YouTube Gaming has stumbled.
A new report from StreamLabs and Stream Hatchet shows Twitch remains the uncontested forerunner of the streaming space, generating over 72% of all hours watched across the market in Q1 2021.
YouTube Gaming also continues to grow, but has started to dwindle in the last 12 months. In contrast, Facebook Gaming has almost doubled its hours watched in the last year, and is steadily gunning for second place.
While all three platforms saw sizable audience increases in Q1, Twitch saw larger levels of growth compared to last year. The streaming giant generated 6.3 billion hours watched in Q1 2021 -- a 97% increase year-on-year.
Hours watched on YouTube Gaming grew from 1.1 billion to 1.4 billion, just about keeping the platform in second place.
Facebook Gaming, the third biggest live streaming platform, has broken its own records across multiple areas, including hours watched. Audiences skyrocketed, growing from 0.6 billion hours watched in Q1 2020 to 1.1 billion in 2021 -- an increase of 34.5% on the previous quarter. It's also an 119% increase year-on-year, which puts the platform on par with where YouTube was a year ago.
If that level of growth continues, Facebook Gaming could knock YouTube Gaming down a spot for the first time ever since its launch in 2018.