Top markets driving lifetime spending include the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, South Korea, Italy, Mexico and Spain, respectively. 2021 was a standout year for Twitch in particular — breaking into the top 10 non-gaming apps by annual global consumer spend for the first time, up 2 ranks from 2020 to land at #9.
Twitch initially rose to popularity among gamers. However, over the last 3 years, Twitch has seen phenomenal growth in all categories outside of gaming as more consumers than ever before turned to Twitch for authentic real-time connection through live streaming.
“The core components that make up Twitch — livestreaming, real-time interactions, and a powerful sense of community— have driven our success over the last decade. We pioneered live streaming first within the gaming community, building our expertise around creating immersive experiences, and now our content spans gaming, entertainment, sports, music, and more.”
— Doug Scott, Chief Marketing Officer, Twitch
Creator Economy Fueling Growth in Consumer Spend as Viewers “Gift” their Favorite Twitch Streamers
Consumer spending is driven by in-app purchases tied to ‘gifting’ content creators during live streams. On Twitch, ‘Bits’ are a virtual good that gives viewers the power to “cheer” and support streamers financially and ‘subs’ (monthly channel subscriptions) allow viewers to access exclusive benefits from their favourite creators such as custom emotes (custom Twitch-specific emoticons) and subscriber badges. This is a similar tactic other live streaming services also use. Generally, the content creators can exchange in-app currency for funds paid out to them. Creators are encouraged to give shout outs to gifters, which creates a positive feedback loop.
According to our State of Mobile 2022 report, global consumer spending in the top 25 live streaming apps grew 57% year over year in 2021 driven by increased usage. Global time spent grew 40% during the same time period. Consumers are hungry for live streaming content and are opening their wallets to ‘gift’ their favourite streamers — a move aimed at compensating them for the content they produce.
Live streaming is the latest evolution of the social media landscape and represents an important driver of growth in the mobile economy at large.
