Twitch took a small, but still noteworthy hit on September 1 when a number of streamers and viewers protested the platform. A collection of users vowed to not use Twitch on September 1 in solidarity with those who have been exposed to excessive levels of harassment, with little noteworthy action from Twitch. It would seem as though this move was effective enough to have caused a notable drop in viewership and engagement across the platform during the day.
The virtual strike against Twitch was something that was planned weeks in advance and it was just one of many ways the platform struggled on September 1. Simultaneously, massive streamer TimTheTatman announced he was leaving the platform to pursue an exclusive deal with YouTube Gaming along with DrLupo. Although this was unrelated to the Twitch controversy, it certainly played a role in a decline in engagement and also reflects on Twitch’s reputation. At the time, TimTheTatman noted he was joining YouTube Gaming for a variety of reasons, including the platform’s ability to connect and engage with its creators, something he said Twitch struggles with.
For the last month, Twitch’s relationship with its streamers has been on thin ice as creators push back against the company’s lack of action for things such as harassment. CreatorHype‘s Zach Bussey gathered data with the help of SullyGnome and gathered that September 1 was the second-lowest day for Twitch viewers in the last 30 days with a 10-15% drop in viewership. Similarly, there was a 10 – 12% drop in the number of active streamers broadcasting on the platform. Bussey noted that even with factors such as school starting up, streamers moving to other platforms, and some inflated numbers due to Gamescom, the decrease in viewership could be as low as 5%.
Although Twitch has promised to do more, it’s likely streamers and viewers will grow more irritated until the requested changes are reflected in practice. As of right now, Twitch has addressed issues with some chat filters, but some are still demanding more tools be put in place such as more proactive protection against bots through two-factor authentication and other methods.
Twitch hasn’t spoken publicly about the #ADayOffTwitch protest. Whether or not the company is prepping something to address these issues remains to be seen, but it’s entirely possible the impact wasn’t enough for the Amazon-owned company to care. If nothing changes, it seems likely Twitch will continue to face pushback from both the creators and its viewers, which could be damaging as YouTube Gaming is quietly rising up as a serious rival.
Sources: Zach Bussey/Twitter, CreatorHype, SullyGnome
