US Twitch Usage Accelerates amid Lockdowns

Live streaming video platform Twitch has seen its user base growth accelerate this year, rising by 26.2% to 41.5 million users. And 17.0% of digital video viewers in the US will watch content on Twitch, up from 13.9% last year.

“Twitch is benefiting hugely from the overall spike in live video viewers,” said eMarketer forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle. “While more people are watching video game live streams on the platform, nongaming channels like ‘Music’ and ‘Just Chatting’ are attracting many first-time viewers.”

An increase in online gamers is also driving Twitch’s growth . The number of US gamers will jump 5.0% in 2020—the highest growth rate since 2015—to 174.7 million.

If a vaccine is approved and things return to normal in 2021, we expect growth to slow considerably for both Twitch users and gamers in general.