ReportStream Hatchet
Esports Live-Streaming Trends Report: Q1 2023
1 Mar 202318 pages~17 min full read
Esports live-streaming viewership grew 15% year-over-year in Q1 2023 to 651 million hours, bucking the broader industry trend of declining live-streaming viewership.
See it on page 4Audience interest is highly concentrated, with the top 30 tournaments accounting for 68% of total esports hours watched.
See it on page 6Twitch holds 62% of the total esports market share, while YouTube maintains 30% and has successfully captured 34% of viewership for large-scale events with an average minute audience over 80,000.
See it on page 6Co-streaming has become a primary growth driver, exemplified by the Call of Duty League tripling its hours watched as 60% of its peak audience tuned in via creator channels rather than official streams.
See it on page 14Mobile esports demonstrated significant momentum, with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang recording a 273% increase in viewership despite a general downturn in the mobile gaming sector.
See it on page 13While MOBA and FPS remain the dominant genres, Action-Adventure experienced the highest growth during the quarter, driven by specialized events like Minecraft Extremo.
See it on page 8The esports live-streaming market demonstrated significant resilience in the first quarter of 2023, with viewership growing 15% year-over-year to reach 651 million hours watched. This growth occurred despite a general decline in broader live-streaming viewership during the same period. The data, aggregated from major platforms including Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Gaming, and AfreecaTV, indicates that the top 30 tournaments alone account for 68% of total esports viewership, highlighting a heavy concentration of audience interest in premier events.
Twitch maintains its market leadership with a 62% share of esports hours watched, followed by YouTube at 30%. While Twitch dominates smaller events with an 81% market share, YouTube has successfully increased its presence in the large-scale event segment, capturing 34% of viewership for tournaments with an average minute audience exceeding 80,000. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) and First-Person Shooter (FPS) remain the most popular genres, though Action-Adventure saw the highest growth due to specialized events like Minecraft Extremo.
A critical trend identified is the rise of co-streaming, where independent creators broadcast official tournament footage to their own audiences. In the case of the Call of Duty League, co-streaming helped triple the league's hours watched compared to the previous year, with nearly 60% of the peak audience watching via creator channels rather than official streams. Top creators like Tarik and Ibai have become central to this ecosystem, often generating higher chat engagement rates than official broadcasts. Mobile esports also showed strength, particularly Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, which saw a 273% increase in esports viewership despite a general downturn in the mobile gaming sector.
