So, Twitch is undergoing some issues right now, and by issues, I mean Twitch is going for a complete nosedive. In recent issues of StreamCharts, it seems to have been noted that Twitch viewership is at an all-time low, with it not having been this low since 2020. All of this was caused by the widespread viewbot crackdown enforced by Twitch this August.
2020? Oh right, during the peak of the pandemic, everyone was stuck at home binge watching Twitch streams featuring the “Among Us” craze. For viewership to decline this much is certainly shocking. Apparently, since July, there has been a 9% drop in watch time, with the peak number of concurrent viewers dropping by a staggering 73%. Which, might I add, is not a decline, but a cliff. And I really want to draw attention to the number 73, as that is the percentage by which the peak count of simultaneous viewers has regressed. That is not a dip; that is a cliff.
@IgnitionCasino’s tweet “So most of the people on Twitch were actually bot accounts?” encapsulated well the shock and the ‘I told you so’ reactions we see across the internet. With all this chatter, no one seems to talk about the dip, or rather the nosedive, in viewership metrics that was noted last week. It’s like, imagine pulling back the curtain and the so-called wizard behind it is just a dude with some smoke machines and a couple of levers.
Earlier, I discussed how significant the viewbot crackdown was in the eyes of Twitch CEO Dan Clancy. The new detection tools introduced on the platform in July 2025, which according to Clancy was to increase the chances of viewbots getting expelled once and for all. In the words of AI account Grok in a reply, it is not a done deal. Put simply, it is an ongoing, “cat and mouse” challenge. Twitch getting smarter at finding the bots, and the bots getting smarter at hiding themselves, the cycle continues. It’s a whole thing.
The real kicker is that it doesn’t end with just bots. The original post’s replies indicate that players and streamers have a whole slew of other issues. @jayhay_a stated “twitch focused more on monetization than sustainability and it shows.” which, ouch. But is it true? The ad situation over there is… something else. @DynamicMegacorp jokingly said “They should put more unskippable ads in the streams, that will bring back the viewers.” You could cut the sarcasm with a knife.
Up next is the competition. Several people put the blame on Kick. @not_rho put it plainly: “Kick is really kicking their ass fr.” And @SeedworldMeta chimed in saying “I think Kick is taking the viewers.” It’s a whole new world out there, and Twitch isn’t the only game in town anymore.
Some people believe the model for streaming, in general, is… just old fashioned. @ArmedNReady24 thinks, “people had enough with live streaming. Way too many streamers not enough people to watch them. The industry needs a total realignment.” And @ItsjayoFR added, “Streaming is not where the money is anymore it’s short form content creation (from the streams) now.” Maybe the audience just transitioned to TikTok clips and YouTube highlights.
There’s also an assumption that the content has gotten boring. @NctrlGG pleaded “IRL Streamers aren’t entertaining anymore. Bring back gaming!” Do you remember when Twitch was primarily about games? Yes, those were the good old days. Now people are just… talking. Sometimes while gaming and sometimes not.
So, what does that imply? Well, the current metrics are, unfortunately, much closer to the genuine count of Twitch users. As @MisunderstNomad said, the numbers we are seeing now are probably “the actual numbers, if not less.” So strangely, even if this purge makes the numbers look worse, it might be a more honest depiction of the platform’s condition.
Streamers who formerly padded their numbers with fake views must be struggling. On the other hand, smaller creators might have a shot at some fortune, as @LiquidCognition put it. It might become easier to find channels that truly have followings if there are fewer fake views, assuming there are fewer fake views to sift through.
For years, Twitch was the only notable live streaming service in the world, so it’s surprising to see it stumble like this. But with the bot purge, the emergence of new competitors like Kick, and the possible shift in what viewers want to see, the throne does seem a bit unsteady. It would be interesting to see how they respond. Do they double down on the housecleaning? Do they entice people back with new features and a more enjoyable experience? Only time will tell. Until then, the era of inflated numbers is behind us—and that’s probably a good thing in the long run, even if it looks grim on today’s charts.
