Facebook Gaming has started making strong gains in terms of viewership to become the second-most popular streaming platform in the world.
According to a report by GamesIndustry earlier today, Facebook Gaming recorded a viewership of more than 1.29 billion hours during the third quarter of the 2021 calendar year. That amounts to a 59-percent year-over-year growth from 1.18 billion hours in the previous quarter which has helped the platform surpass YouTube Gaming for the first time since its launch more than three years ago.
YouTube Gaming recorded a viewership of around 1.13 billion hours during the same quarterly period, which was a year-over-year decrease of 32.5 percent. Facebook Gaming, by that account, takes a share of 15.7 percent of the total number of hours watched in the third quarter across all major streaming platforms, leaving YouTube Gaming with 13.8 percent.
Twitch, a long-standing behemoth, cements its place as the go-to streaming platform with a viewership of more than 5.79 billion hours during the same period. Twitch takes 70.5 percent of all viewership across the globe, making it a daunting challenge for either Facebook Gaming or YouTube Gaming to triple their viewership in order to come any close to Twitch.
The number of streamers playing competitive games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone has surged on Facebook Gaming in recent months. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has similarly seen a boost, as well as other multiplayer games like Apex Legends and Overwatch. Valorant and Among Us have alongside gained a ton of new followers with Fortnite unsurprisingly maintaining its popularity.
