Support NeoGAF

[Mista]

StreamElements, along with Twitch stats/analytics website SullyGnomes, released the latest quarterly State of Stream report that showed declines from April to June for hours watched on all of the top games in the genre such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, and PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds. The report used data from all of the top streaming sites such as Twitch, Youtube Live, Facebook Gaming, and Mixer.

Fortnite’s viewership dropped about 3.66% to just a little over 300 million hours watched. It is still the most-watched game on all of the streaming platforms.

Apex Legends saw the largest drop in viewership out of all of the battle royale games. In Q1, the game had almost 183 million hours watched while in this quarter the game dropped out of the top 10 entirely with less than 65.4 million hours watched.

PUBG was the last battle royale game still in the top 10 in viewership that saw a decline. The game dropped about 4.3% to 65.4 million hours watched which puts it in 10th place.

The genre is certainly not dead yet. Whenever Fortnite seems to have hit a wall, Epic releases a new event that seemingly brings everyone back to their game. However, its not to crazy to say that interest is slowly diminishing since this is the fourth quarter in a row with a decline in viewership.

Fortnite and Other Battle Royale's Streaming Viewership Have Dropped Once Again

Fortnite and other popular battle royales have seen a steady decline in streaming viewership during the last 4 quarters.

www.dualshockers.com

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Fortnite is at the very end of its current season, wait until next season starts.

 

[Holammer]

if it continues to drop, Epic will just pour more money on the problem.

 

[Beelzebubs]

It seems weird but the new game mode in League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics is usually the most watched thing on Twitch recently. Might have eaten into some of the Footnote popularity. Hell, even I've started doing YouTube videos on it.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Since when is a games popularity rated by how many people watch other people playing, vs people actually playing?

Like, who gives a shit who watches it, surely the money is in the players playing the game?

Watching somebody play a game you haven't paid for is technically piracy. Just throwing that out there

 

[Mista]

Watching somebody play a game you haven't paid for is technically piracy. Just throwing that out there

 

[CeroFrio996]

Watching somebody play a game you haven't paid for is technically piracy. Just throwing that out there

... no it's not... streaming it publicly is questionable, though companies tend to view it as free advertisement, but consuming that content is 100% legal.

On topic, all multiplayer games have a half life. Something will grow to take the place of these battle royale games

 

[Birdo]

No fad lasts forever.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Just Chatting is basically unbearable. The only time I'll ever watch it is when Doc or somebody starts their stream off in JC.

 

[iconmaster]

Since when is a games popularity rated by how many people watch other people playing, vs people actually playing?

It’s a proxy metric. The people who could give us accurate playtime measures are those least inclined to do so. This is the best alternative.

Fortnite has to fade eventually, even if this isn’t yet that. But Epic has made so much money off it already. Remember when they literally refunded everything anyone ever spent on Paragon, just because they could?

Epic is doing the smart thing investing its gains in a platform that has the potential for more staying power than a single title can have.

 

[Cynn]

Viewership drops by 3% and 4%. Oh boy! Time to write a clickbait article.

 

[Lupin3]

Fortnite down 3.66%?

Meanwhile, at Epic HQ...

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Can anyone give me a Basket to puke?

.

 

[Ol'Scratch]

I would sell many souls to see a resurgence in Arena Shooters like Quake/Unreal Tournament. I always found those to be faster paced and more exciting. Overwatch does not do it for me because you get the same five characters running the same formations charging up the same specials at the same choke points. BRs to me are boring because there is usually just far too much time between engagement where as the Arena style and the respawn mechanics and more interesting weapons always created more exciting possibilities. I would love to see what they could do with modern tech.

 

[Mista]

I would sell many souls to see a resurgence in Arena Shooters like Quake/Unreal Tournament. I always found those to be faster paced and more exciting. Overwatch does not do it for me because you get the same five characters running the same formations charging up the same specials at the same choke points. BRs to me are boring because there is usually just far too much time between engagement where as the Arena style and the respawn mechanics and more interesting weapons always created more exciting possibilities. I would love to see what they could do with modern tech.

I like you Scratch, I really do. Damn if this happens next-gen! I'll be more than happy

 

[TeamGhobad]

apex is in trouble and their new season hasn't fixed any of the problems and has made the map more shit.

 

[joe_zazen]

No fad lasts forever.

Minecraft, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Chess, Football...yeah, idk, some games are gonna be around until we are all dead.

It does seem like Fortnite requires a lot more dev resources than the other top ten games, though that could just be my perception.

 

[Birdo]

Minecraft, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Chess, Football...yeah, idk, some games are gonna be around until we are all dead.

Chess and Football will outlive all other games on that list. Know why? They aren't a service.

 

[Woo-Fu]

The conclusions they're drawing are not directly attributable the way they're saying.

Even a monkey could look at that chart and notice that in most cases established games slowly lose viewership if they don't have seasons, or are near the end of seasons. The exceptions are usually due to new content/events/ways of playing, like GTA RP.

Just chatting went up because Twitch has become more strict about people you know, actually playing the game they're streaming which is why you see more people switching over to Just Chatting during game downtimes. Hell, all of it could be from when Shroud had his scooter accident, lol.

tldr; It isn't a genre thing. it isn't a gaming vs. chatting thing. It is the natural rise and fall of viewership on Twitch for most games in most genres.

 

[juliotendo]

No fad lasts forever.

This is the raw truth.

Game streaming is by far one of the biggest bullshit fads I have ever seen. Along with Battle Royale games. Not surprised the two go hand in hand.

Why the fuck would I want to watch someone play a video game on YouTube or Twitch when I can play it myself.

Would I watch someone watch a movie on YouTube or Twitch? Of course not.

Honestly steaming caters to 13 year olds who don’t have money to buy video games so it’s like being at your friends house watching them play the latest video game.

If you’re past your teenage years and you’re watching game streaming you’re a loser.

 

[VertigoOA]

I get the appeal in competitive streaming. The live video blog shit full of beggars is what’s nonsense.

Twitch views are not the best metric of a game’s success either.

But when the choice is to watch casuals play fornite or to casually play fornite yourself... I think most gamers know its more fun to run the game yourself.

I still haven’t found these hot gamer chicks anywhere in real life tho. I’ve been looking

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Shout out to R Raph64 for introducing me to this gif.

 

[MightySquirrel]

How many copies did BF5 sold? exactly! It only has 740 viewers right now.... and it's an online game.

Games are made to be played not watched ....well except for most sony exclusives.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

What happened to just playing games rather than watching others play it? Why IN MY DAY I :cough: PLAYED :cough: where am I?

 

[VertigoOA]

twitch is going to need something new soon. People do enjoy watching dynamic sandboxes that allow tons of random shit to happen. They’re competing with tv. It’s not a fad it just needs to diversify further

 

[iconmaster]

Honestly steaming caters to 13 year olds who don’t have money to buy video games so it’s like being at your friends house watching them play the latest video game.

If you’re past your teenage years and you’re watching game streaming you’re a loser.

Watch Kyle Bosman play Labo Vehicle Kit. It’s a delight seeing him slowly realize how much fun he’s having playing with these cardboard constructions.

Happiness is just attractive, I think.

Part 1

Part 2

 

[Codes 208]

I noticed a lot of big names going back to minecraft.

 

[Digity]

This is the raw truth.

Game streaming is by far one of the biggest bullshit fads I have ever seen. Along with Battle Royale games. Not surprised the two go hand in hand.

Why the fuck would I want to watch someone play a video game on YouTube or Twitch when I can play it myself.

Would I watch someone watch a movie on YouTube or Twitch? Of course not.

Honestly steaming caters to 13 year olds who don’t have money to buy video games so it’s like being at your friends house watching them play the latest video game.

If you’re past your teenage years and you’re watching game streaming you’re a loser.

When you're right, you're right.

 

[Tesseract]

all those numbers are fine, especially apex as it's still got two more seasons in the quarter

almost none of these games were overnight successes except apex (sent to die, btw)