Streamers Are Returning To Twitch. Did YouTube Live Streaming Fail?

The era of streaming platforms offering exclusivity deals to creators may have just reached its conclusion.

This week several YouTube-exclusive streamers including DrLupo, TimTheTatman, and FaZe Swagg announced their return to Twitch following the termination of their YouTube contracts.

With many creators making the decision to leave YouTube in favor of Twitch you have to ask yourself, “has live streaming on YouTube failed?".

Why are streamers going back to Twitch?

Every streamer has their own reasoning for returning to Twitch, but I think we can boil it down to these main reasons.

Exclusivity contracts are no longer being offered

You may remember the buzz online when Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins signed that huge $30 million exclusivity deal with Mixer (RIP) all those years ago.

That one contract started a bidding war between Twitch and YouTube as they swiped all the creators they could afford. Even newer platforms like Kick got involved offering creators like Adin Ross and xQc millions of dollars to be the face of their platform.

YouTube in particular made a big push by signing on talent like Myth, Ludwig, TimTheTatman, Sykkuno and DrLupo.

At the time, Twitch was in a far worse place than it is today and had exhausted the trust of its loyal creators. The streamer exodus from Twitch spelled doom for the platform as creators excitedly anticipated how YouTube would improve its live streaming features. The future certainly looked brighter.

However, these exclusive contracts are seemingly off the table. Without these contracts offering guaranteed money, streamers are more reliant on other revenue sources like subscriptions and donations. They are also far more reliant on viewership numbers.

If viewership is the goal, than I think these numbers speak for themselves. Here are some stats from StreamCharts comparing the viewership for TimTheTatman, DrLupo, and Swagg.

If these creators are trying to maximize their viewership and revenue, Twitch is the easy choice.

Live Streaming is not a priority at YouTube

While Twitch is exclusively a live streaming service, YouTube live streaming is just one small part of YouTube’s money-making business. Both long form and short form content on YouTube generate loads of cash for YouTube.

Since those first contracts were signed YouTube welcomed a new CEO who has invested heavily in features using artificial intelligence. Here are just a few of those features:

• AI-powered auto dubbing tool

• AI Insights for video ideas and outline suggestions

• AI-generated video and image backgrounds for YouTube Shorts

• A/B Thumbnail Testing tool

All of these features are meant to empower creators to publish more long and short form content on the platform. Not live stream.

Streamers recognize that YouTube isn’t going to prioritize releasing new features to better support live streaming. Meanwhile, Twitch has introduced (for better or for worse) several features including a new clip editor, stream together collaboration tool, enhanced broadcasting, a new mobile app and more.

Did YouTube Live Streaming Fail?

The short answer? Yes and No.

Ludwig published a video recently that I think answers this question pretty well.

In his video, Ludwig clarifies that YouTube Live Streaming still racks up an insane amount of hours watched compared to Twitch. However, the type of live streaming content on YouTube varies greatly compared to Twitch. If you look beyond gaming content, YouTube has lots of livestreaming channels. Ludwig uses the example of LoFi Girl which has over 14 million subscribers and is often running concurrent live streams featuring original music.

If you only focus on YouTube Gaming, Twitch is definitely the winner with 60% market share and over 5 billion hours watched.

However, there is evidence that YouTube is earning market share and growing fast. According to Stream Hatchet, YouTube Gaming's share grew from 17% to 23% in Q2 2024. In terms of hours watched, YouTube grew by 50% reaching 2 billion hours over the last year.

Ludwig points out that the growth isn’t taking place in America, but is instead coming from other countries. YouTube’s main advantage is that it can compete on a global scale which Twitch cannot. If you remember, Twitch hastily pulled out of South Korea earlier this year which definitely hurt its overall viewership. This one advantage allows YouTube to grow on an exponentially faster level than Twitch could ever dream.

While YouTube has not performed how many had hoped in America, the platform has grown globally and has a higher ceiling to reach. Twitch, on the other hand, has stagnated despite continuing to lead the charts.

Where Should I Stream?

Whether you are new to streaming or are a seasoned content creator, you might be considering your options. Ultimately, where you stream depends on what YOU value most.

Do you live stream exclusively?
Do you prefer the Twitch culture?
What type of content do you stream? Games, IRL, Music?
Do you create short form content?
Where do you streamer friends stream?

Depending on your answers, you may prefer one platform over the other. The important thing is that each platform offers opportunities for creators to be successful.

And if you’re undecided on where to stream, you can try both. More tools exist today to multi-stream efficiently that didn’t exist a few years ago. You can stream on YouTube and Twitch with tools like Restream and Aitum. I recommend checking them out if you’re interested in multi-streaming.