Twitch continues user growth following record 2020

Twitch, the Amazon-owned live streaming platform, has continued its record 2020 with a positive Q1 2021, a new report has found.

According to figures from mobile analytics business Sensor Tower, the Twitch mobile app was downloaded 22 million times in the first quarter of the year. That is an increase of 62% from Q1 2020, when it was downloaded 13.6 million times. 

Overall, Twitch’s mobile app was installed on 80.6 million devices in 2020, up 134% from 34.5 million in 2019.

January was the strongest month of Q1 2020, and one of the strongest months on record. The app was downloaded 8.1 million times, with a surge of interest thanks to non-gaming streamers like HasanAbi who provided political commentary of the January 6 insurrection attempt of the US Capitol and the subsequent inauguration of president Joe Biden later thant month. 

Unsurprisingly then, the US is the largest market for Twitch. Installs grew 91% year-over-year in 2020 to 17.6 million in the US, while the app was downloaded 5 million times in the country during Q1. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and the UK follow in respective order.

The report also noted that not only were people downloading the app to their devices for the first time, but monthly active users have also steadily increased. The streaming service’s worldwide monthly active users on mobile have continued to climb since March 2020. In March 2021, Twitch’s MAUs had grown 69% year-over-year.

Twitch forms part of Amazon’s ad-supported platform portfolio that the company recently praised. The company recently revealed that its ad-supported OTT content has increased by 100 million viewers over the course of 12 months – with viewers increasing from 20 million in January 2020.