In the competition of earning power in the global short field, China and Europe and the United States show a completely different pattern. In China, live streaming has become a leader in making money in the field of short sales, with a transaction volume of hundreds of millions of dollars at every turn, which has attracted the attention of the market. However, in the European and American markets, game live streaming has sprung up as the field with the strongest ability to attract money, and game broadcasters on YouTube have occupied the top of the gold absorption list all year round. This difference reflects the differences between the two markets in terms of user habits, cultural backgrounds, and market needs.
Twitch, the U.S.-based gaming live streaming platform, once accounted for as much as 70% of the game live streaming market, and its influence dwarfed even giants such as YouTube and Meta. Behind this brilliant achievement is Twitch's accurate grasp of the pulse of the game live streaming market, as well as its deep foundation among game enthusiasts. During the pandemic, Twitch's user usage surged by 45%, and annual revenue peaked at $2.8 billion. This series of digital growth marks Twitch's supremacy in the field of game live streaming.
However, as Twitch celebrates its 10th anniversary, it comes with unprecedented challenges. In 2023, both in terms of user time and user count, Twitch has seen a clear downward trend. This change has sparked a lot of attention and speculation in the industry, what caused Twitch's peak to start going downhill after that?
Analysts believe that Twitch's decline may be related to many factors such as intensified market competition, user aesthetic fatigue, and lack of platform innovation. First of all, as the game live streaming market continues to grow, so do the number of competitors, which leads to increased competition in the market. Secondly, long-term game live streaming may lead to user aesthetic fatigue, requiring the platform to constantly innovate and update content to attract users. However, Twitch's pace of innovation doesn't seem to have kept up with the changes in the market, resulting in a loss of users.
To meet this challenge, Twitch needed to rethink its market positioning and growth strategy. On the one hand, the platform can strengthen cooperation with game developers, introduce more high-quality game content, and improve the user experience. On the other hand, Twitch can also try to expand its business scope, such as developing more game-related spin-offs, or exploring opportunities for cooperation with other entertainment industries.
In the context of the ever-changing global game live streaming industry, how to adjust its strategy and respond to market challenges after the peak of Twitch will become the focus of the industry. And whether it's Twitch or other game streaming platforms, they need to constantly innovate and improve to gain a foothold in this competitive market.
Data support: Tianyancha).