GameSquare’s Stream Hatchet publishes Q1 Live Streaming Trends Report

“Stream Hatchet’s 2025 Q1 report shows live streaming’s positive momentum as it remains one of the fastest growing forms of media and content globally,” said Justin Kenna, CEO. “Stream Hatchet’s reports continue to quantify the dramatic shift in how audiences are consuming media, reflecting trends to more interactive content and engaging experiences.” Key Insights from Stream Hatchet’s 2025 Q1 Report: 8.9 billion hours watched in 2025 Q1, reflecting the highest quarterly level since 2021; The report highlights a 9% year-over-year increase in total hours watched across major live-streaming platforms, signaling continued growth in the industry despite shifting platform dominance.; While Twitch saw a 6.9% YoY decline, competitor platforms Kick and YouTube Gaming drove overall market expansion. Non-gaming content emerged as the most-watched category, up 25.6% YoY, led by platforms such as Kick, Chzzk, and SOOP Korea, each recording ~94% YoY growth in the category. Diversification underscores the broadening appeal of streaming as a mainstream content format. While esports viewership dropped 2.3% YoY due to a reduced number of events, average viewership per tournament reached a five-year high, with major events like LCK Cup and Intel Extreme Masters contributing significantly. The report also covers the shifting platform and language landscape: Kick’s Arabic viewership grew by 491%, overtaking English as the platform’s top language. Chzzk and Rumble joined the Top 10 platforms for the first time. Facebook Live fell out of the Top 10, dropping 77% YoY in viewership. Monster Hunter Wilds delivered the strongest day-one viewership of any title since early 2023 with 10M+ hours watched in its first 24 hours. Meanwhile, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Schedule I broke into the Top 10 most-watched new titles, the latter boosted by heavy adoption among top Twitch streamers.