Twitch Faces Pressure as YouTube Gaming and Newcomers Surge in 2025
So, here's something that's been making waves in the livestreaming world—Twitch, the long-reigning king of game streaming, is finally starting to feel the pressure. According to the latest Q2 2025 report from Stream Hatchet, Twitch is still the biggest player in the market, but it just posted its fourth consecutive quarter of decline in viewing hours. That’s right—four in a row.
Twitch racked up 4.64 billion hours watched this quarter, which is still huge, but it actually marks a drop from the same time last year. At the same time, rivals like YouTube Gaming and even newer platforms like Kick and Chzzk have been surging forward. YouTube Gaming, in fact, just hit an all-time high with 2.2 billion hours watched. That’s the platform’s best quarter ever—and it’s being driven by big moments like Nintendo’s Switch 2 announcement, which drew 3.3 million peak concurrent viewers on YouTube Japan alone.
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Now, it’s not like Twitch is going anywhere overnight. They’re still holding 54% of the livestreaming market. But here’s the thing—that's a 4.6% drop compared to last year, and in a space as competitive and fast-moving as this, even single-digit shifts can send strong signals.
Meanwhile, other platforms are aggressively grabbing attention. Kick, for example, has doubled its hours watched year-over-year and jumped from 5.5% to 11% market share. Ten of its creators have crossed the 1 million hours watched mark this quarter—none of whom had any presence on Kick just a year ago. That’s a serious acceleration.
Even Chzzk, which launched in response to Twitch’s exit from South Korea, has grown rapidly, clocking in 525 million viewing hours—up 37% from Q2 last year. So it’s not just the big platforms making gains; regional and niche players are finding their audience too.
What’s driving all this growth? A major factor is esports. Despite a drop in the number of tournaments, esports viewing rose 6% this quarter, totaling 729 million hours. Viewer behavior is also shifting—more fans are tuning into co-streams and creator-led commentary rather than just official broadcasts. It’s a sign that people are craving more interactive and personality-driven content, rather than just polished productions.
And all of this points to one larger trend: livestreaming isn’t just growing—it’s evolving. Twitch helped define what the space looks like, but now it’s being reshaped by a more diverse set of platforms, creators, and content styles. Whether Twitch can adapt fast enough remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure—the streaming wars are heating up again.
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