Twitch Viewership Plummets 73% Amid Viewbotting Crackdown and Competitive Streaming Landscape

A recent report from Streams Charts has underscored the profound impact of viewbotting on Twitch, highlighting tens of millions of hours attributed to fraudulent watch time. This issue has been a crucial factor in the platform’s performance downturn, with August showing the lowest viewership statistics in five years. Several elements have contributed to this decline, including increased competition, inactivity among top streamers, and a lull in the esports season. However, a significant primary reason was Twitch’s recent crackdown on viewbotting, which has substantially altered viewership figures.

The crackdown on viewbotting was pivotal, as Twitch has seen a reduction in key metrics to levels not observed since March 2020. Watch time decreased by 9% from July, and peak concurrent viewership experienced a staggering drop of 73%. This was anticipated as Twitch returned to typical levels following an unusual surge driven by Spanish streamer Ibai “Ibai” Llanos and his boxing event, La Velada del Año V, which set new records with over 9.33 million peak viewers.

Despite the overall decline in viewership, certain game categories on Twitch remained stable. League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Grand Theft Auto V maintained their positions at the top, with Counter-Strike enjoying growth in watch hours due to major esports events like IEM Cologne 2025 and BLAST Bounty Fall 2025. World of Warcraft demonstrated an extraordinary 107% increase in watch hours, catalyzed by the launch of The War Within’s third season and the Manaforge Omega raid. Additional engagement came from the Race to World First competition among top guilds. Meanwhile, Fortnite saw strong performance, leading all categories by peak active channels amid the launch of its Season 4.

Amid these dynamics, Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart emerged as the most-watched Twitch streamer in August 2025, featuring content focused on Clash Royale and collaborative challenges with fellow streamers. Other notable streamers, such as 加藤純一うん〇ちゃん and Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont, maintained their positions in the top rankings despite experiencing a decline in watch hours.

In terms of events, the Supernova Strikers 2025 boxing showcase received attention, drawing nearly 750,000 concurrent viewers and demonstrating the popularity of similar content formats. Mexican streamer Alana “Alanalarana” Scarlett also captured viewer interest, streaming her fight live during the event.

The crackdown on viewbotting has spurred discussions among streamers, with Trainwreck advocating for third-party audits to ensure accurate viewership tracking. Similarly, streamer Quin69 raised concerns over subscriptions being allocated to bot accounts, further illustrating the challenges Twitch faces in addressing this matter. Despite facing these hurdles, Twitch remains a leading interactive livestreaming service, delivering diverse content ranging from gaming to entertainment and music. Nonetheless, its recent strategic actions, such as suspending multi-streaming, have sparked criticism for potentially hindering community building.

The ongoing battle against viewbotting and its repercussions for viewership metrics present significant challenges as Twitch endeavors to sustain its position in the competitive livestreaming landscape. Analysts predict continued scrutiny and adjustments as Twitch seeks to tackle these issues and optimize its platform for genuine engagement and growth.