December 2022 saw a new record set by the video game streaming site Twitch. Over 40,000 games were streamed in the month. Active channels on Twitch also grew by 6% month-over-month. The peak number of live Twitch channels grew by an impressive 50%.
However, viewership on Twitch saw a decline. Peak viewers were down 22%, the lowest since August 2020. Additionally, the average amount of viewers on Twitch dipped for the third time in the last four months. The full report shows mixed results for active Twitch channels, games streamed, and viewership for Twitch in 2022.
The data is compiled by Best Sport Betting Canada. It accounts for all of 2022, not just the month of December. Let’s go over the details.
Monthly Total of Games Streamed in 2022
For the most part, 2022 saw steady month-to-month growth in total games streamed. Starting in January, 34,644 total games were streamed. Admittedly, this dipped in February and March to the mid-33,000s. A possible reason is the highly anticipated release of Elden Ring, a popular Twitch game. Come April, the number of games on Twitch continued to grow. April saw 34,774 games streamed, and May and June featured 35,600 games. July saw 36,172 games streamed, while August featured a whopping 40,116 games. Things dipped slightly following that, ranging between 38,000 and 39,000 from September through November before the record-setting December: 40,376 total games streamed.
Active Twitch Channels in 2022
This past year was a solid year for the number of unique active Twitch channels. Things started strong in January, with 4.156 million channels in January. The following months saw dips, however. February featured 3.93 million channels. March saw 3.65 million channels. April saw a slight drop with 3.63 million channels. May is the lowest month of active Twitch channels, with just under 3.5 million channels. From there, things began to rise. June saw just under 3.6 million channels, and July with just under 3.8 million. August was the most active month of 2022 on Twitch, with an impressive 5 million active channels.
Things dipped after that peak, however. September, October, and November all hovered close to the 4.5 million mark, whereas December finished with 4.7 million active channels.
Peak Twitch Viewers by Month in 2022
A lot of people watched Twitch streams last year. But, remarkably, despite a record-breaking December in terms of games streamed, it was the lowest month of 2022 for peak viewership. With only 4.1 million peak viewers, this is the lowest count since August 2020. That’s a long way down from an all-time high in June, with 6.64 million peak viewers.
To round out the entire year, here are the month-by-month numbers.
January and February featured 5.5 million peak viewers. March dipped a bit, down to 4.77 million viewers. Things rose in April, with just over 5 million viewers, and again in May, with 5.27 million viewers. June hit that record high of 6.64 million peak viewers. Things dipped briefly in July (4.475 million) before a strong rebound in August (6.342 million). The rest of the year saw a dip in numbers. September and October saw 4.6 million peak viewers, November saw a slight jump with 5.3 million, and then December saw it slip down to 4.13 million.
Average Twitch Viewers Declined at the End of 2022
As the year went on, average viewership declined in 2022 as the year progressed.
Things started strong at the start of the year. January and February saw nearly 3 million average viewers a month. That count dipped to around 2.5 million in March and maintained close to that through July. August saw a rise to 2.6 million average viewers. After that, however, things started to decline to round out the year. September and October saw 2.5 million average viewers. November saw 2.4 million viewers; December is the lowest of the year, with 2.27 million average viewers.
Additionally, the total number of hours watched fell in December 2022 by 3%.
