Has Fortnite peaked on Twitch? Viewership numbers begin to decline
Fortnite, undoubtedly the most popular game in the world for the better part of the past 12 months, seems to be in somewhat of a decline in terms of Twitch viewership, as we head into the fall season of new game releases.
After releasing the battle royale mode in late September 2017, Fortnite’s popularity grew not only in players but also spectators, as millions tuned in to watch the game played by streamers and YouTubers.
The two biggest peaks in independent Twitch stream history (Ninja playing with Drake, and Ninja’s Las Vegas Fortnite tournament), were both Fortnite gameplay oriented, but its momentum may be losing steam.
Even after Ninja’s record breaking streams, Fortnite continued to dominate Twitch, with more streamers and the start of the competitive season with community events like Friday Fortnite and the developer run Summer and Fall Skirmishes.
But, the peak average daily concurrent viewer count in July of 305K, has dropped to only 182K in October, with numbers dipping as low as to go below the 90K mark in late September, according to data from Thinknum.
This coincides with the Fall game period, which begins in mid-September as lots of new games are released in the build up to the holiday season.
Thinknum also points out that this dip isn’t just because of the back to school period or work nights, as weekend viewership also follows a similar trend.
On September 15, weekend viewership (daily average concurrent) dipped below the 100K mark for the first time since at least March 2018.
Thinknum also ensures that Fortnite’s drop is not part of a bigger picture of overall viewership decline on Twitch.
Rather, Twitch viewership has been on a steady increase overall, which Thinknum says is a “sign for concern” for Fortnite, as it appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
Source: Thinknum