The popular streaming site, Twitch, is on pace to have over 40 million viewers in the United States by 2021, according to eMarketer. This makes it the biggest streaming site by a wide margin.
The platform launched as a streaming service for gaming in 2011 and had close to 3.2 million unique visitors per month in its first year. That number would grow to 20 million in 2012. In 2014, Amazon purchased Twitch and it has continued to grow ever since.
According to eMarketer, Twitch will have 37.5 million people in the United States watching monthly in 2020. They estimate it will grow all year and have over 40 million United States viewers by the end of 2021.
While Twitch started as a streaming service for gamers, it has expanded over the years. Peter Vahle, an eMarketer forecasting analyst, states: “One way Twitch can continue to grow its platform is through nongaming content, which began driving significant traffic in 2019,” he said. “Its platform is designed for live streaming video and streamer/viewer interaction; these features are certainly intriguing to content creators outside of gaming.”
Twitch is ahead of all other streaming platforms
Twitch is not the only streaming platform. There is, of course, YouTube, which recently got a big esports deal with Activision Blizzard. This deal will bring all Activision Blizzard esports to the platform and off of Twitch, which should help it compete in the future.
There are also slightly less-known sites such as Mixer. Mixer had a big deal with Tyler “Ninja” Blevins that brought him from Twitch last year. He was one of the most successful streamers, so Mixer was hopeful that he would be able to boost their numbers.
Despite its competition, Twitch continues to grow. This is great news for those who have invested in esports and hope to see it continue to gain popularity. Becoming a streamer is starting to look more and more like a legitimate career.
