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Twitch viewership in May was up for the first time month-to-month in 2022

Slot machine streaming was one of the categories that helped Twitch see its first month of growth in viewership for 2022.

TJ Denzer

June 23, 2022 10:15 AM

Image via Twitch

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As we’ve exited the worst of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns and restrictions, viewers around the world have strayed away from livestreaming since its absolute height in 2021. There are still a lot of people watching, but Twitch had yet to see a month where viewership didn’t decline in 2022… until May that is. Last month was the first time this year that Twitch viewership was up month-to-month and it had an interesting category to thank for the help: slot machine streaming.

These details were recently reported in the latest StreamElements State of the Stream report for May 2022, with data provided by its analytics partner at Rainmaker.gg. According to the report, Twitch’s viewership was up for the first time in 2022, after every other previous month this year showed a bit of decline. Slot machine streaming was one of the biggest contributors to this positive month for Twitch and a newcomer in the top 10 categories. Reportedly, viewers tuned into about 39 million hours worth of just watching slot machines played on the platform.

We’ll be the first to admit, the lights, sounds, and mechanics of a good slot machine are quite attractive, but it’s interesting to see the category break out so much in May 2022, netting a 24 percent increase in viewership for the month. It joins many of the usual suspects on the Top 10, such as Just Chatting, Grand Theft Auto 5, Dota 2, and Fortnite. Apex Legends also saw quite some growth in viewership on the platform, which can likely be attributed to the launch of Apex Legends Mobile.

Even so, it’s a good sign for Twitch that in a month where not many major events were going on, its viewership is finally up month-to-month. For more Twitch analytics and data, stay tuned to Shacknews for further stories and updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.