2025 Yearly Live Streaming Trends Report

Industry Growth & Big Picture Trends

Understand Live Streaming’s Growth

Live streaming viewership reached 36.4B hours in 2025, the highest total since the peak in 2021. This marks a 6% increase from last year, highlighting the medium’s strength and continued importance.

Platform Market Shifts

Learn How Platform Dynamics Changed in 2025:

• Twitch remained the largest platform but saw declining viewership for four quarters after cracking down on viewbotting mid-year.
• Kick was the fastest-growing major platform, jumping 131% year over year to 4.5B hours watched.
• YouTube Gaming had its best live year ever, with 8.8B hours viewed.

Discover what’s capturing attention

Brands that understand streaming culture grow faster.

• First-Person Shooters led all genres with 4.6B hours watched, thanks to interest in esports.
• Non-gaming content, such as Just Chatting (25%) and IRL (19%), continued to grow, making up 22% of Twitch viewership.

Esports & Competitive Viewership

New Record High

Esports viewership reached record highs in 2025, increasing 6% year over year to 2.8B hours watched. Co-streamers accounted for half of the total esports audience, changing how people consume competitive content.