StreamElements releases State of the Stream for October 2022

StreamElements has released the October 2022 State of the Stream report. In addition to an overview of the market, StreamElements also reported on the best streamers and games of the month.

Post-pandemic normal

According to data partner Rainmaker.gg, live streaming platforms — Twitch in particular — are adjusting to a new post-pandemic normal.

While monthly viewing hours in 2022 follow similar seasonal patterns to 2021, monthly totals have declined year-over-year. For Twitch, the new monthly baseline appears to be around 1.7 billion hours watched. In October 2021this benchmark was about 1.9 billion viewing hours per month.

The pandemic was a turning point for live streaming, introducing millions of new viewers to Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Gaming and more. A drop from pandemic-era peaks is to be expected as restrictions are lifted, but it was unclear how large this drop would be.

Overall, the industry is still performing much better than pre-pandemic numbers. Before Covid-19, Rainmaker.gg reported that Twitch was watched an average of 1 billion hours per month — a 70% gain.

Gil Hirsch, CEO and co-founder of StreamElements added, “Twitch has reached an interesting point where we have a clear baseline for 2022 that represents a huge audience as growth simmers beyond that. This is probably less about live streaming losing momentum and more about creators diversifying where they create content, especially as we see their expansion into TikTok and the collective growth of live streaming.

Gaules directs streamers

StreamElements reports that Gaules was the most watched streamer on Twitch in October 2022. The Brazilian creator co-streamed several esports events for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – primarily ESL’s IEM Road to Rio. Gaules has become a central hub for Portuguese speaking viewers, making him a reliable partner for esports event organizers looking to boost overall event viewership.

Likewise, Nix took advantage of esports co-streaming. The Russian Dota 2 pro gave his own commentary and perspective on The International, the game’s main event. Nix streams less consistently than the other streamers mentioned, but TI is reliably increasing its viewership.

Finally, StreamElements highlighted the gender disparity in Twitch’s top streamers. Amouranth was the only woman in the top 100 most viewed creators on the platform in October 2022. Top female creators, Fuslie and LilyPichu, have left the platform in recent months. Likewise, Pokimane is streaming fewer hours after taking a break in August.

Overwatch 2 has a strong debut

Overwatch 2 brought in 133 million watch hours on Twitch in October. It was the third most viewed category on Twitch and the second most popular game after League of Legends. Blizzard’s latest release is just one of four new titles to gain enough hours to spend a month in the top 10. This was also good enough to beat its predecessor’s peak of number 5.

There are several factors driving this viewership, but two stand out. One is the Overwatch League, which held major playoff-relevant tournament matches in October. Another is xQc, which mainly streamed Overwatch 2 in October. As one of the most popular streamers on the platform and a former Overwatch League pro, xQc was able to bring more visibility to the game.

However, it’s unclear how much of this viewership was due to organic interest versus decline. At launch, Blizzard rewarded Overwatch 2 viewers with in-game items, including a legendary skin, for hours of live streaming. This practice is common for esports events and game launches to generate buzz and boost viewership,

Esports also played a big part in the viewership of other games in October 2022. Dota 2 hours watched grew 76% thanks to The International. Meanwhile, League of Legends grew 41% as October hosted the qualifying stages for Worlds 2022.