Twitch Viewership Plummets in August 2025: What Caused the Decline
- Sagar Mankar
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Twitch experienced its weakest monthly performance in five years this August, with viewership dropping sharply across several key metrics.
The platform recorded a 9% decline in total watch time, 8% decline in average viewers compared to July, while peak concurrent viewership plummeted by a massive 73%.
One of the major reasons for the downturn was Twitch’s renewed crackdown on viewbotting. The platform has long battled bots inflating streamer numbers, and its stricter enforcement in August had a direct effect on viewership stats. According to Steam Charts, the crackdown pushed Twitch’s averages back to levels last seen in early 2020.
Another reason was that July had an extraordinary boost thanks to Ibai “Ibai” Llanos and his blockbuster boxing spectacle, La Velada del Año V, which peaked at over 9.33 million viewers and set multiple Twitch records. Once that one-off surge faded, August naturally looked much weaker in comparison.
Despite the slump, some categories and events managed to keep things lively. League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Grand Theft Auto V retained their top spots. Interestingly, Counter-Strike was the only one to post growth, fueled by esports tournaments like IEM Cologne 2025 and the BLAST Bounty Fall 2025 Season 2. World of Warcraft also had a huge moment, with viewership skyrocketing 107% during the release of The War Within’s third season.
Fortnite continued to prove its staying power as well. The launch of Season 4 drew an impressive 29,500 active channels, as thousands of creators streamed the countdown and first dives into the fresh content.
On the genre side, action games dominated overall watch hours, while adventure titles narrowly overtook RPGs to claim the third spot.
Looking at individual streamers, Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart led the way in August with 8.1 million hours watched, thanks to a mix of Clash Royale and collaborative challenges with fellow creators like Félix “xQc” Lengyel.
Meanwhile, Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar kept fans engaged with streams of the Battlefield 6 beta, and Kai Cenat, despite streaming only once for just 25 minutes, made headlines by announcing Mafiathon 3.
Among female streamers, Emily Beth “Emiru” Schunk continued her reign at the top, while Mexican creator Alana “Alanalarana” Scarlett surged into second place after streaming her Supernova Strikers match, setting a new personal record of 268,100 peak viewers.
In short, Twitch may have posted its weakest stats in years, but the numbers reflect both a correction from July’s record highs and the effects of stricter anti-bot measures.