2021 Live Streaming Report

VIDEO GAME STREAMING TRENDS REPORT
2021 YEARLY REPORT 1

ABOUT STREAM HATCHET’S YEARLY REPORT ■ Stream Hatchet’s Yearly Report is a culmination of the biggest
trends, stories, and insights from the live streaming and
gaming industry in 2021. A quarterly report is also distributed
every 90 days. Want to be among the first to hear about
future reports? Subscribe to our newsletter today!
■ Stream Hatchet works with a consortium of industry leading
analysts and business leaders to understand key trends
related to the impact of live streaming audiences on gaming
creators, esports and the broader video games industry.
The growth rate achieved across the leading western
streaming platforms demonstrates that esports and video
game streaming are not lockdown fads. In 2021, video game
streaming has become a central component in global pop
culture.
■ Video game streaming watch time grew 21% year over
year. While not as significant as the 81% growth rate
achieved in 2020, the global video game streaming
audience has grown considerably.
■ Video game streaming has evolved past console & PC
based experiences. Major mobile games like Garena
Free Fire and PUBG Mobile have helped foster
massive audiences for the world’s largest gaming
creators and esports events.
■ Gaming communities continue to struggle to build
inclusive environments for women. Only 5% of this
year’s Top 200 streamers were female gaming
creators.
2 REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYA NOTE FROM EDUARD MONTSERRAT (CEO)“We hope you enjoy our 2021 video game
streaming insights report. We have analyzed and
identified key insights and trends across the video
game industry, including emerging regions,
challenges facing marginalized gaming
communities and the growing creator economy.”

MARKET INSIGHTS
3
Combined and individual growth of the leading western streaming platforms

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET LIVE GAME STREAMING WATCH TIME INCREASES 21% YOY 4 Q1 2018 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING■ 2020 ■ 2019 ■ 2018 ■ 2021
■ The 21% growth rate of 2021
demonstrates that audiences grew
during global lockdowns as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic, and are still
strongly invested in video game
streaming content.
■ Content consumption habits for video
game streamers are sizable. In 2021,
streaming fans watched an average of
653M hours of live streams each week.
■ 2021 saw consistently higher hours
watched, despite a small dip of 2% in
Q4’21, primarily driven by delayed
game launches and major events
changes driven by Covid-19 variants.
800M600M400M200MJANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC34.6B28.7B15.8B11.8BYEARLY
TOTAL

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET5
■ Twitch continues to lead the
market among western live video
game streaming platforms,
accounting for 71% of the total
2021 hours watched.
■ While Twitch and Facebook have
grown considerably year over year,
YouTube was the only major
western platform to experience a
decrease in live streaming watch
time (Q2 – Q4).
■ The competition between
YouTube and Facebook has
grown even closer this year. While
YouTube led Facebook in the first
half of the year ( 2.7M vs 2.2M ),
Facebook’s strong Q3 gains
helped it pull ahead of YouTube in
Q3 & Q4 ( 2.3M vs 2.5M ).
LEADING WESTERN PLATFORM WATCH TIME COMPARISON
Q1 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING
HOURS WATCHED PER QUARTER & YOY % CHANGE 8B6B4B2B Q1Q2Q3Q4 6.3B6.5B5.8B5.7B1.4B1.3B1.1B1.2B1.1B1.2B1.3B1.2B 2021 +97%+28%+22%+5%+87%+43%+59%+35%+26%-15%-33%-37%

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET 6
■ 2021 was filled with internet-breaking
moments, as many of the top
streamers amassed millions of
concurrent viewers.
■ TheGrefg set an all-time record in
video game streaming, reaching a
peak of 2.47M concurrent viewers on
January 11th, around the reveal of his
custom Fortnite skin.
■ YouTube Live Gaming has become
the destination to watch hype
moments. 6 of the top 10 peak
moments in 2021 were generated by
YouTubers.
■ Esports (particularly of mobile games)
accounted for 4 of the top 10
moments this year (Free Fire, Mobile
Legends and League of Legends
World Championships Finals).
2.47M2.03M TOP 10 PEAK MOMENTS OF 2021 PEAK CCV
TheGrefg
TheGrefg presents his new Fortnite Skin
Free Fire Esports India
Free Fire World Series 2021 Finals)
ibai
Boxing fight of ElmiilloR vs ReventXz
Nintendo
Nintendo Direct – Potential big announcements Free Fire – LATAM
Free Fire League Apertura 2021 Final
Brawl Stars
Brawl Stars first Brawl Talk of 2021
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang – MM
MLBB World Championship M2 Grand Finals Dream
Technoblade vs Dream brawl in Minecraft
Riot Games
League of Legends World Finals 2021
Technoblade
Technoblade vs Dream brawl in Minecraft 2.47M2.03M1.54M1.39M1.31M954.9K925.87K871.74K866.68K854.97KQ1 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET 7 ■ Twitch continues to grow at impressive
rates each year. The market leader in
live streaming increased its total hours
watched by 31.4% year over year, and
added approximately 6 billion hours
watched in 2021.
■ While most of Twitch’s growth was
experienced in Q1 2021, due primarily to
global lockdowns instituted by the
COVID-19 pandemic, it’s worth
considering that its growth rate in Q2
was a significant increase relative to an
already sizable Q2 2021 audience.
■ The Twitch platform has continued to
develop massive audiences outside of
gaming; all non-gaming categories
accounted for 12% of the total Twitch
hours watched, and grew 64% since
2020.
HOURS WATCHED (YoY % GROWTH vs. 2020) 6B4B2B 6.3B
+97%
6.5B
+28%
5.8B
+22%
5.7B
+5%2021 Q2Q3Q4Q1
2020202118.5 B 24.3 B (+31.6%)

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET 8 ■ While gaming live stream hours
watched decreased in 2021, YouTube has
cemented itself as the go-to-platform
for VOD content. YouTube self-reported
800 billion gaming-related video
viewers.
■ The YouTube partnerships team has
been hard at work to acquire new
creators in exclusive streaming deals for
their platform. This year YouTube signed
both DrLupo and TimTheTatMan, who
generated a collective 19 million hours
watched since their partnership
announcement in September 2021.
■ Japanese gaming creators led YouTube
Live Gaming last year and generated
17% of the platforms total hours
watched this year.
HOURS WATCHED (YoY % GROWTH vs. 2020) 2B1B0.5B2021 Q2Q3Q4 1.4B
+26%
1.3B
-15%1.3B1.1B
-33%
1.2B
-37% Q1
202020216.2 B 5.0 B (-19.29%)

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET 9 ■ Facebook’s rebrand to Meta
Platforms, Inc. coincides perfectly
with the growth they have
experienced in the video game live
stream market.
■ In Q3 2021, Facebook Gaming
surpassed YouTube Live Gaming as
the 2nd most watched video game
live streaming platform, and tied YTG
in Q4. In 2022, we will see the thinnest
margins in Hours Watched between
two of the world’s largest video game
streaming platforms.
■ Facebook Gaming’s growth was led
by international creators streaming
mobile games titles. All of the top five
streamers were broadcasters outside
of the United States.
HOURS WATCHED (YoY % GROWTH vs. 2020) 1.5B1B0.5B1.1B
+87%
1.2B
+43%1.2B1.3B
+59%
1.2B
+35% 2021Q1Q2Q3Q4
202020213.1 B 4.8 B (+52.74%)

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET MOST POPULAR PLATFORM FOR STREAMERS BY COUNTRY 10 ■ All three of the major streaming platforms
have established massive regional
followings, propelled by massive gaming
creators.
■ Twitch has become the preferred platform
of the top gaming creators in the Americas,
Western Europe, Australia, Sub-Saharan &
Southern Africa.
■ YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming
have become the preferred gaming
platforms for much of the Asian continent,
possibly by leveraging their mobile-friendly
apps in a region where the internet is
primarily accessed via mobile devices.
■ Facebook Gaming has been driving growth
in Southeast Asia by partnering with
regional publishers Tencent, Moonton, and
Riot Games on tournaments and has been
actively working on building community
with streamers in the area.
# Streamer by HW | Q1 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMINGStream Hatchet analyzed the top 500 streamers of each sub-region and looked at what
platform had the majority to determine popularity by country. SH does not include China in
this report as the majority of creators use smaller, alternative platforms.

LEADERBOARDS
11
Top performing video games, game streamers and creator networks

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET TOP 20 GAMES THIS YEAR BY GENRE CLUSTER 12 2021 HOURS WATCHED | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING
■ Shooters & Battle Royales resonated
strongly with video game live streaming
enthusiasts in 2021, with the likes of
Fortnite, Garena Free Fire, VALORANT,
PUBG Mobile and COD: Warzone all
generating over 1 billion hours watched.
■ The billions of hours watched generated
by open world games like Minecraft,
Grand Theft Auto V and Rust shows that
there is strong interest in future
‘metaverse’ platforms.
■ Riot Games has continued to dominate
streaming charts with two titles, League
of Legends and VALORANT, generating
over 1 billion hours watched. In total
that’s 18% of the hours watched among
the top 20 games.
(19.2%)(18.5%) (32.3%)

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET TOP 10 GAMES OF THE YEAR 13 ■ GTA V was the definitive game to live
stream in 2021, generating 2.7B hours
watched, and climbing from the 5th
most watched title in 2020 to number 1.
■ It’s tough to break into the top 10, as 9
of the top 10 games in 2020 have
sustained their popularity in 2021. Apex
Legends, EA’s take on the BR genre,
was the only new game in this year’s
top 10, pushing out popular tactical
shooter CS:GO.
■ Mobile gaming continues to rise. It
should come as no surprise that 3 of
the top 10 titles are mobile exclusives
(Garena, PUBG Mobile and Mobile
Legends).
■ While Twitch certainly leads in PC /
Console-based titles, Facebook and
YouTube dominate the lion’s share of
mobile game live streaming
viewership.
Grand Theft Auto V League of Legends Garena Free Fire MinecraftFortnite PUBG Mobile VALORANTCall of Duty:
Warzone Apex LegendsMobile Legends:
Bang Bang HOURS WATCHED2.7B2.01B1.23B1.22B1.16B1.09B1.07B1.05B895.28M889.2MQ1 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET TOP 10 STREAMERS OF THE YEAR 14 Q1 2021 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING
■ xQcOW continues to lead the pack as
the most watched streamer across
the leading western live streaming
platforms. While 272.9M hours
watched is an impressive stat on its
own, it’s worth noting that xQc
streamed for a grand total of 3,629
hours last year, or 151 full days!
■ Twitch dominates the leaderboards
among the top video game
streamers, with all 10 of this year’s top
streamers broadcasting on Twitch.
■ Non-English-speaking creators
continue to develop a major presence
as video game streaming audiences
grow globally. 3 of the top 10
streamers are Spanish-speaking and 2
of the top 10 streamers are
Portuguese speakers.
HOURS WATCHED xQcOWGaules auronplay ibai loud_coringa summit1g shroud HasanAbi NICKMERCS TheGrefg 272.9M165.3M117.9M103.3M99.0M91.8M85.1M82.2M80.4M78.1M

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET TOP 10 CONTENT CREATOR NETWORKS 15
■ The rise of creator networks is a key
trend for brands and marketers to
watch. Creator networks enable
brands to activate across multiple
touchpoints to hit broader groups of
fans.
■ Luminosity was the #1 creator
network in 2021, driven by its
association with xQc, who accounted
for 76% of the network’s total hours
watched.
■ In contrast, TSM has built a strong
network of streamers, with its top
streamer, Buddha, contributing only
18% of the organization’s total hours
watched.
■ 100 Thieves was the only organization
on this year’s top creator networks to
feature a female creator as its top
streamer.
TEAM HOURS WATCHED
TOP CONTENT CREATOR HOURS WATCHED
Q1 2021 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING Luminosity
Gaming
Team SoloMidTribo GaulesNRG Esports FaZe Clan OTK Cloud9 Team Liquid T1 100 ThievesxQcOW (76%)buddha (18%)Gaules (77%)sodapoppin (25%)NICKMERCS (45%) Mizkif (29%)forsen (18%)midbeast (7%)loltyler1 (60%)Valkyrae (25%)359M285M215M202M180M160M156M137M128M124M

GAMING GENDER GAP
16
Are women fairly represented across gaming media?

As video gaming increases in popularity in the cultural zeitgeist, more and
more women are getting into gaming. While women represent about half of
the global population, only 27% of the top 3,000 video game streamers on
Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming are female. This number has
decreased slightly from 2020 , when 28% of the top creators were female.
While these numbers have increased over the past years, female streamers
are still not fully represented in the gaming community. A recent study finds
that 72% of female esports fans believe that women are not represented
well in the esports space.
Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming are working to improve
these statistics, however, more work still needs to be done to close the
gender gap in gaming.
17
ABOUT THE GAMING GENDER GAP
ZOOMPH ‘WOMEN FANDOM IN GAMING’ REPORT

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET TOP 5 FEMALE STREAMERS OF THE YEAR 18 Q1 2021 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING■ The gap between top female and
male streamers is continuing to close.
Across all streamers, Valkyrae placed
63rd.
■ Amouranth was the top female
streamer of the year, with her
“polemic” content especially in the
ASMR and Pools, Hot Tubs and
Beaches categories.
■ Valkyrae (last year’s #1) placed second
with 8M fewer hours watched than
Amouranth.
■ Last year the top female streamer
placed #63 in the overall ranking; this
year Amouranth reached #46.
■ Two of the top five female streamers
use YouTube Gaming; the other three
are on Twitch.
HOURS WATCHED Amouranth Valkyrae Pekora Ch.
兎田ぺこら
서새봄냥
(saddummy) pokimane
38.8M30.6M26.9M20.6M20.5M

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET
WOMEN IN GAMING
19
Are gaming audiences disproportionately skewed male?
■ While gaming has been thought of as a traditionally
male-dominated space, more and more women (and gender
non-comforming people) are active in the space.
○ According to a YouGov poll, only 13% of women and 24% of
men believe that video games do a good job of portraying
women.
○ Stream Hatchet estimates that only 5% of the top 200
Gaming Influencers are female.
■ While each platform has made efforts to combat misogyny
and hate speech with policy changes made throughout 2021,
the distribution of female gaming creators across the top
creators has only changed by 2 percentage points.
LIVE STREAMING CREATORS DEMOGRAPHICS
(TOP 200 CREATORS) Male 95 %
Female
5 %
Q1 2021 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING 97 % 2020 3% 2021 YOUGOV “Do video games do a good job portraying women and minorities?”

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET % OF FEMALE INFLUENCERS IN TOP 1000 CHANNELS
(AVG VIEWERS) OF EACH PLATFORM
20 Q1 2021 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH, YOUTUBE GAMING, AND FACEBOOK GAMING■ While the gap between top female
and male streamers varies platform to
platform, there is an immaterial
difference between distribution of
female streamers across the top
western streaming platforms.
■ Twitch has updated its misconduct
policy several times in the past year,
cracking down on harassment and
hateful conduct towards women and
other marginalized users.
■ YouTube has promoted Valkyrae
broadly across entertainment media
as a role model for future female
gaming creators.
■ Facebook Gaming launched a series
of female creator spotlights and
virtual meetups to discuss issues in
the industry.
11.3%8.3%7.4%

HOW ARE TWITCH STREAMERS MONETIZING?
21
Analyzing the distribution of Twitch Subscriptions and Bits across influencer tier

22
GAMING CREATOR ECONOMICSThe gaming creator economy is mirroring the broader influencer marketing
trend that 1% of influencers generate a disproportionate amount of revenue.
In our analysis of the total publicly-captured Twitch subscriptions & bits*, the
top 1.2% of influencers generate 15.83% of the total estimated revenue.
Meaning the average Mega tier** influencer generates $841K per year.
DEVIN NASH
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
“Out of 10,000 people that click the start
streaming button – only 5 of them will make
minimum wage. We see 5,000 to 25,000 viewer
streams generating over 70% of Twitch’s
revenue, but they represent less than .001% of
Twitch’s total streams. It’s more difficul t to
become a broadcaster than ever before.”
**Influencer tiers are described in detail on the following page. *Twitch Bits are a virtual good viewers can purchase to cheer and support streamers.

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET MICRO INFLUENCERS ACCOUNT FOR 93% OF TWITCH STREAMERS, YET GENERATE 56% OF TOTAL
SUBSCRIPTION & BITS REVENUE
2323
Macro
(0.5%)
Mid-Tier
(6.22%)
Micro
(93%)
Mega
(0.07%)
Mega
(5.19%)
Macro
(10.67%)
Mid-Tier
(28.43%)
Micro
(55.71%) Proportion by # of Influencer TierProportion by Total Annual Estimated
Revenue ($) of Influencer Tier
MEGA: AVG CCV >25k MACRO AVG CCV: 5K – 25K MID-TIER AVG CCV: 500 – 5K MICRO AVG CCV: 25 – 500 Q1 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH
$811 M
Total Annual
Revenue
76.3 K
Total Twitch
Influencers
Average Yearly Revenue is estimated by looking at publicly accepted
subscriptions and bits. This excludes channels with 0 subscriptions and looking
at influencers who streamed at least 145 hours throughout the year.

REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET
■ On average, it takes five years for a
Twitch streamer to reach mega tier
influencer status, generating an
estimated yearly revenue of $841K.
Currently only 50 influencers are able
to reach this level of income.
■ An overwhelming majority of the
content creators on Twitch are Micro
Influencers (93%), who have spent an
average of 33 consecutive months
streaming and have generated an
annual average revenue of $6k from
subs and bits.
AVERAGE REVENUE PER INFLUENCER TIER (SUBS & BITS) 24 ● Months to Reach Influencer Tier Level ■ Total
MEGA
AVG CCV
>25k
MACRO
AVG CCV
5K – 25K
$1,000K$750K$500K$250K 6020 TOTAL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BITS REVENUE BY INFLUENCER TIER Q1 – Q4 2021 | ON TWITCH
# MONTHS ESTIMATED AVERAGE YEARLY REVENUE IN USD ( $ ) $841 K 57$228 K $48 K $6 K 544133
MID-TIER
AVG CCV
500 – 5K
MICRO
AVG CCV
25 – 500
40 Average Yearly Revenue is estimated by looking at publicly accepted
subscriptions and bits. This excludes channels with 0 subscriptions and looking
at influencers who streamed at least 145 hours throughout the year.
“Consistency over a long period of
time is the battle most aspiring
creators lose. If you want to make
this a career, you need to think in
years, not months.”
STEPHEN ELLIS
FOUNDER OF PIPELINE

ABOUT THIS REPORT
25
DETAILED METHODOLOGY & COMPANY OVERVIEW

26 METRICS USED OTHER CONCEPTS HOURS WATCHED: Total amount of time that
has been watched by ALL the viewers that have
tuned in the specified channels and/or platforms
during the specified timeframe.
PEAK CCV / PEAK VIEWERS: Maximum
concurrent viewers tuned in the specified
channels and/or platforms during the specified
timeframe. This metric refers only to the number
of viewers captured at the minute of maximum
viewership.
PLATFORM WARS: Term that refers to
Streaming Platforms offering top streaming
better deals for them to migrate from their
previous platform to a new one with the goal of
drawing these streamers viewership.
CREATOR ECONOMY: This term refers to the
economy built around content creators who
utilize social media and streaming services to
grow their following and monetize their content.
METRICS & CONCEPTS DEFINITIONS / APPENDIXHW =
AVERAGE VIEWERS PER MINUTE * AIRTIME
60 INFLUENCER TIERS: A custom Stream Hatchet
methodology is utilized to categorize Twitch
streamers into specific influencer cohorts by
average concurrents. These tiers are as follows:
Mega, Macro, Mid-Tier, and Micro influencers.

STAY IN TOUCHABOUT STREAM HATCHET■ Stream Hatchet provides data from the top video game
streaming sites via a robust business intelligence
platform. We power insightful, informed decisions
leading to innovation and growth through the
aggregation of dynamic, granular data.
27 REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET ■ Engine Gaming and Media, Inc. is traded publicly under
the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: GAME) (TSX-V: GAME).
Engine provides premium social sports and esports
gaming experiences, as well as unparalleled data
analytics, marketing, advertising, and intellectual
property to support its owned and operated
direct-to-consumer properties while also providing these
services to enable its clients and partners. The company’s
subsidiaries include Stream Hatchet, Sideqik, Eden
Games, WinView, UMG Gaming, and Frankly Media.
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28 www.StreamHatchet.com REPORT BY // STREAM HATCHET