Twitch today announced that its integration into PlayStation 4 has seen more than 100,000 new video game streamers join its service. In the month of November, Twitch grew from 600,000 total broadcasters to over 700,000.
TechCrunch confirmed with the company that the delta from 600,000 to 700,000 contained 100,000 broadcasters unique to the PlayStation 4. Given that the console launched on November 15, the tally is impressive.
According to Twitch, PlayStation 4 users now broadcast around 10 percent of all content on its platform. Given that PlayStation 4 broadcasters now account for around 16 percent of Twitch’s aggregate streamer user base, that’s not surprising.
Twitch will also find integration into the Xbox One console in early 2014. Microsoft announced that partnership earlier this year but failed to prepare the software in time for its launch. Sony has sold more than 2.1 million units of the new console, implying that Twitch is seeing an under 5 percent sign-up rate thus far. Presumably, that figure will rise in time.
Something that I did notice last week was that PlayStation 4 channels on Twitch often sport modest viewerships. While big PC titles on the platform, such as Starcraft II and League of Legends, can see their viewership spike into the six-figure range, and individual channels can easily shoot to five figures, no PlayStation 4-based channel has more than 1,000 viewers at the moment. In fact, only three have more than 100.
Naturally, with streaming being new on consoles, we might have expected this. There is a framework around PC gaming, with mature tournament and leagues and teams and the like. Will the same structure be built around PlayStation 4 gaming?
For now, Twitch has demonstrated that there is an appetite among gamers to stream from their new consoles. Whether there is long-term viewer demand will determine if they keep at it.
Top Image Credit: Twitch