Twitch is struggling. After the departure of major US streamers xQc and Amouranth, things are also shaky here: The biggest streamers in Europe are two Spaniards who have grown explosively over the years: They are now looking towards YouTube.
Who are the 3 biggest streamers in Europe? Over the course of the year, in the last 365 days, they are two Spaniards and a German:
- The 28-year-old Ibai Llanos Garatea comes from esports and has his own team in LoL. He is known for his events: 3 million watched his celebrity boxing event. He had over 107 million hours viewed last year, making him clearly number 1 in Europe. He can’t get into single-player games, he needs competition. He streams LoL and Minecraft on Twitch.
- Raúl Álvarez Genes, known as Auronplay, is 34 years old. With 78.6 million hours, he is number 2 on Twitch in Europe. He has the largest YouTube channel in Spain with over 4 billion views and is named after a character from Final Fantasy X. Auronplay is known for his comedy videos. He streams GTA 5 and Minecraft on Twitch.
- Number 3 in Europe is the German Eliasn97. He is in 3rd place with 67 million hours, but after KaiCenat and Tarik, he is one of the few top streamers who have still grown compared to 2021/2022; the Berliner grew by 41% compared to the previous year. He streams FIFA 23, Fall Guys, Valorant, and Minecraft on Twitch.
The biggest streamers in Europe no longer want to be streamers, but YouTubers
Where are the streamers going now? Auronplay has now explained that although he has signed a new exclusive contract with Twitch, it will be his last.
The Catalan will stay with Twitch for another year, but will definitely switch to YouTube on July 1, 2024, and give up streaming. He will then make classic videos again, as he did in his early years (via 3dJuegos).
Ibai has also announced that he will “gradually” withdraw from streaming and do more on YouTube again. He says it’s possible to create high-quality videos there that you can’t achieve live.
European stars are only seen on Twitch for half as long as their US competition
Are they full-time streamers now? It is actually noticeable that Ibai and Auronplay “stream relatively little” compared to the competition from the USA.
The biggest US streamers were all on air for over 2000 hours in the last 365 days:
- xqc 2863 hours
- KaiCenaat 2,294 hours
- tarik 2,599 hours
- HasanAbi 2,407 hours
- summit1g even 4,121 hours
The two Spaniards, on the other hand, were only on air for half as long, but in front of significantly more viewers
- Ibai was on air for 1,292 hours
- Auronplay even “only” 1,007 hours
There is thus a significantly different trend to be seen.
What’s behind it: In 2019, there was already a wave of people leaving Twitch and returning to YouTube. The reasoning was: On Twitch, you have to be constantly online to avoid losing followers. That feels exhausting and like work. People spoke of a hamster wheel.
The Spanish streamers seem to have had enough of “live” after years of explosive growth and prefer the structured work of a YouTuber who is not always live, but uploads videos when they are finished.
It could also be related to the fact that Twitch has been under constant criticism in recent months, making it harder for major streamers to earn the money they previously received on the platform.
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