Esports viewership and streaming platforms highlighted in Stream Hatchet Q3 2024 report

Streaming analytics company and GameSquare Holdings subsidiary, Stream Hatchet, has released its Q3 2024 report, highlighting the growth of gaming and live-streaming viewership.

The report showed that live-streaming viewership has grown to 8.5bn hours watched, a year-over-year increase of 12% and marks the highest growth since the pandemic’s peak.

The Stream Hatchet report also noted the rise of esports within the live-streaming industry. It claimed that esports now comprises one-fifth of all live-streaming viewership. The company particularly highlighted tournaments such as MPL Indonesia Season 14 and LCK Summer 2024, which generated a combined 130m hours watched.

There has also been a rise in popularity for some broadcasting platforms, with KICK and YouTube Gaming creating further competition for Twitch. Twitch’s market share dropped to 60% whilst YouTube Gaming grew its year-over-year market share from 17% to 23%. Meanwhile, KICK had a huge 163% increase in hours watched compared to last year.

Stream Hatchet also noted that Facebook Live has fallen out of the top five streaming platforms, with newer platforms like AfreecaTV and Rumble filling the gap.

In terms of language broadcasts, Spanish became the second most-watched language on Kick with 129 million hours, an increase of 59%.

Justin Kenna, CEO of GameSquare spoke about the report: “Live streaming is at the forefront of a broader shift in how audiences engage with entertainment. The Stream Hatchet Q3 2024 report demonstrates that as video continues to dominate the entertainment industry and creator economy, platforms like YouTube Gaming and Kick are seizing opportunities to reshape the competitive landscape.

“This data underscores a trend where audience attention—and platform strategies—are diversifying, fuelling innovation and growth in live streaming as a primary medium of engagement.”