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Twitch viewership drops noticeably following #ADayOffTwitch boycott

Twitch’s viewership visibly dropped on 1st September, the date of the streamer-organised walkout, #ADayOffTwitch.

Although the platform’s streamership was not as adversely affected, Twitch’s viewership has dropped rather noticeably on the day of the community-organised walkout, #ADayOffTwitch, according to statistics.

While there were sceptics doubting how effective boycotting the massive online streaming platform would be, the data so far has shown that movement has indeed made its mark. According to data from Gamesight, Twitch saw a significant drop in viewership on 1st September, the date of the movement.

Statistics from Gamesight, showing a drop in Twitch's viewership on 1st September
Image: Gamesights.io

#ADayOffTwitch was organised in response to the rise of ‘hate raids’ on the platform, and Twitch’s lack of action regarding them. These raids involve huge amounts of users and bots swarming a particular creator’s channel, spamming hateful comments in enormous numbers.

“To see how much this has made an impact is amazing to me,” ShineyPen, one of the walkout’s main organisers, comments.

In addition, Streamlabs, creator of some of the most popular and widely-used streaming tools, took this day to announce their new ‘Safe Mode’ feature. This feature not only allows streamers to clear all recent events from their chat, but also allows them to clear any queued hosts or raids. All with a simple toggle option on their dashboard. Take notes, Twitch.

And guess what? It’s completely free. No Prime needed.

“Streamlabs believes in fostering a supportive environment to ensure a positive experience for our streamers and their viewers. You and your community should feel safe to express yourselves without fear of being harassed.”

While streamers know that just one day of protest is not enough to significantly affect Twitch’s financial gain, its impact has certainly been felt. Viewers and creators alike are awaiting a response from the streaming service following the one-day walkout.