This week, Stream Hatchet measured the top live stream genres across Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming. The top genres were Battle Royale, First-Person Shooter, and MOBA. Popular titles like League of Legends, CS:GO, and Call Of Duty fall into these various categories. Over the past six months, these genres have combined to fall over 3% in total hours watched. The MOBA genre was the only one to increase while the other two each dropped over 5%. Their total viewership decreased from 1.35B hours watched in August 2020 to 1.30B in Jan 2021.
The recent surge of strategy, party, and open-world games likely contributed to the viewership falloff from the top genres. Content on live streaming platforms is as diverse as ever causing audiences to spread across many genres. However, titles like COD: Warzone or VALORANT provided sustained spikes in viewership for certain categories. Heading into Q2, trendy games like Valheim, and previously Among Us, may be susceptible to major decreases if they can’t produce new content regularly. This could push more viewership back to top genres like Battle Royale, First-Person Shooter, and MOBA.
Top-tier esports leagues will also drive viewership towards the popular genres. League of Legends, Call Of Duty, CS:GO, and others professional leagues are all in season. Towards the end of the year, these genres will likely see a bump in hours watched from postseason and championship events.
Be sure to visit our website for more updates about the top live stream genres. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest live streaming insights and trends delivered every Friday to your inbox:
