The most-watched game on Twitch last year was Grand Theft Auto 5, still, after more than a decade on sale.
Of course, Rockstar’s ever-evolving GTA Online is the big draw here – and the developer is still regularly updating the game’s online portion with new story beats and quests. But its 25.8m hours broadcast and 1.4bn hours viewed in 2024 is still extraordinary – and also highlights the astronomical potential of GTA 6.
Outside of GTA, Twitch viewers flocked to League of Legends (1.18bn hours watched), and then the usual evergreen shooters such as Valorant (804m hours), Fortnite (539m hours) and Call of Duty (a combined 451m hours).
Overall, gaming content on Twitch was viewed for 15.6bn hours across 2024, and the platform had an average of 105 million monthly visitors.
Back in February, Twitch boss Dan Clancy detailed the company’s plans for 2025, following a bumpy 2024 marked by layoffs.
Alongside including improvements to the Twitch mobile app, the company confirmed it would be opening up monetisation for “most” streamers, including the ability to offer subscriptions and bits.
As our Ed wrote at the time, usually streamers need to reach Affiliate status before monetisation tools kick in, but this year streamers will be able to start earning immediately – something that not only benefits the streamer but also Twitch, which takes a cut.
For more, Ed chatted with Twitch last year about the future of the company and its approaches to safety, growth, and online communities.