Live video-streaming service Twitch is “benefiting hugely” from the overall spike in live video viewers driven by the coronavirus shelter-at-home mode, reports eMarketer.
The researcher’s new forecast for Twitch projects that U.S. usage of the platform, known mainly for video-game live streaming, will jump 26.2% this year, to 41.5 million. That’s up from 37.5 million predicted as of February.
The forecast also projects that 17% of digital video viewers in the U.S. will watch content on Twitch this year—a year-over-year increase of 13.9%.
And the increase isn’t all due to video games.
“While more people are watching video-game livestreams on the platform, the rise of nongaming channels like Music and Just Chatting is attracting many first-time viewers,” noted eMarketer forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle.
A general increase in online gamers is also driving Twitch’s growth.
The number of U.S. gamers is expected to reach 174.7 million this year. That would represent an increase of 5% — the highest growth rate since 2015.
If a vaccine is approved and things return to normal in 2021, eMarketer expects the growth of Twitch users and gamers in general to slow considerably.
One wonders when the digerati will mature enough to walk away from the "at least once per month" metric.
When it was a nascent industry, say, a quarter of a century ago, that was fair game. But being the 'always on' medium why not start talking about more meaningful time frames such as 'weekly' or 'daily'.
I won't be holding my breath.