March was a return to the status quo on Twitch according to StreamElements’ State of the Stream for March 2023 in partnership with Rainmaker.gg. From hours watched to the most popular streamers and games, March exemplified previous trends.
Last month, viewers watched 1.556 billion hours of Twitch content. This is about 5% fewer hours watched compared to February 2023. However, Q1 of 2023 was stable compared to Q4 of 2022 with less than a 1% difference in the total hours watched.
According to Gil Hirsh, CEO of StreamElements Twitch is searching for the next spark to increase momentum, however the platform is far ahead of pre-pandemic totals. “Looking back on Q1 2019, the last quarter before the pandemic viewership boom, Twitch has 95% more hours being watched right now,” said Hirsch.
However, this decline is somewhat more concerning than the top line numbers suggest. February has three fewer days than March, which means that consistent viewership should lead to a month-over-month increase.
March’s top Twitch streamers
xQc is back on top of the Twitch platform after falling behind Kai Cenat in February. Despite retaking the crown, xQc brought in fewer hours watched than he did in February. Part of this is a result of xQc streaming fewer hours compared to the previous month. Additionally, Kai Cenat took a break the first half of the month after his month-long Subathon.
Gaules, ibai, Loud Coringa and Tarik took second, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. All four costreamed various esports events for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Valorant.
Additionally, Japanese streamer Junichi Kato hit the top 10 for the first time in March, making him Japan’s most popular streamer. He initially rose to prominence on YouTube and Japan’s Niconico, but he has quickly grown on Twitch. Kato nearly doubled his broadcast hours from February to March — enough to take the ninth spot.
Most watched games on Twitch
Twitch’s most popular games have remained relatively stable. The top four titles kept their spots from February, though the number of hours watched decreased for all except Grand Theft Auto V.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has surged over the last few months. Part of this is a result of more esports events in addition to beta for Valve’s upcoming sequel/upgrade: Counter-Strike 2.
Minecraft also saw a major boost in popularity as a result of Twitch Rival’s Squid Craft Games 2. Major streamers — including several of this month’s top 10 — participated in the event.
Finally, StreamElements showed just how close the race was for the final spot on the list. Diablo IV’s beta narrowly beat out the newly remastered Resident Evil 4 for the honor. The record-breaking beta and its popularity with streamers bodes well for the final release due out on June 6, 2023.