Streamers like THINND, seen here playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, have seen their audiences increase dramatically in this period of social isolation. (Livestream screenshot)

With more people staying indoors due to quarantines, lockdowns, and voluntary isolation, livestreamed programming has grown in popularity. Globally, the weekend of March 14 saw a big increase in streaming audiences over the previous weekend, with Twitch’s viewership going up 10% and YouTube Gaming’s by 15%.

Coronavirus Live Updates: The latest COVID-19 developments in Seattle and the world of tech

This data comes from Tel Aviv-based StreamElements, which develops tools and services for streamers worldwide, in conjunction with analytics firm Arsenal.gg.

“With more stay-at-home mandates being issued around the world and the entertainment industry finding new ways to migrate their offerings to livestreaming platforms, we expect to see these numbers rise,” wrote Doron Nir, StreamElements’s CEO.

John Higdon, director of community meetup at the Seattle Online Broadcasters’ Association. (Photo courtesy of John Higdon)

The Seattle region hosts a wide variety of streamers across all platforms, many of which have seen their own audience numbers climb in the weeks since the outbreak. John Higdon, director of community meetup at the Seattle Online Broadcasters’ Association (SOBA), said streamers recognize that they can help provide a fun place for community and conversation, a distraction of sorts from current events.

“Currently, Twitch channels are serving as a place for people to go and chat with friends or just get away from being stir crazy,” Higdon said. “We are entertainers, here for the viewers and people of our various platforms. We are here to make sure everyone has a place to be during such a time.”

THINND, a Call of Duty-focused streamer from Seattle who plays on Facebook Gaming, said he’s seen viewership grow by more than 4X since the social distancing mandates rolled out.

He plans to start doing monthly benefit streams later this week, using Facebook’s live charity tool, to benefit people who’ve been affected by COVID-19.

“I’m most happy to see that my chat has really come together as a whole community,” he said. “Many have been watching to take a mental break, and it was awesome to see people being super positive when usually chat can get toxic.”

Will “Viking_Blonde” Overgard streams Final Fantasy XV live on Twitch. (Twitch screenshot)

Will Overgard, a UK-born, Seattle-based content creator who streams a variety of video games on Twitch as Viking_Blonde, said streams have always been a good way to help fight loneliness or isolation.

“Now more people are in need of that,” Overgard said. “I feel that my job as a content creator right now is to help facilitate digital friend groups, look after my community and make sure people know they aren’t alone. I’ve always tried to do right by my little viewership since I started this (heck, they keep me alive after all) so this is my time to look after them.”

BizSnes, a Twitch partner based in Renton, Wash., bills himself as “the only talking video game console on Twitch,” with a channel devoted to video games and the history thereof. He said the increase in traffic has “been all over the place: viewers, subscribers, and even the bitrate.”

“It’s good to have places to blow off steam and I think hanging out in streams is a great way to stay connected when you have to be so far apart,” he said. “My goal is to provide a space to talk about it all, to a point, but also escape it.”

One Seattle-area streamer has had to take time away from her channel due to illness. “On a personal level, this has been difficult for a not-unexpected reason: being sick,” said BanzaiBaby, who produces a variety of content for Twitch. At time of writing, she was waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test.

“Waiting around for the results is definitely scary,” she said. “Beyond that though, I’d love nothing more than to be able to spend this time hanging out with my community, and sharing in our isolation together.”

Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by COVID-19, has seen a dramatic increase in its streaming audience. StreamElements tracks thousands of Italian streamers that work across Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Mixer. In the period of time between the first week of February and last week, livestream viewership in Italy grew over 66 percent, and the amount of channels that were being watched has almost doubled. Bloomberg reported that Italy’s largest telecommunications company, Telecom Italia, had 70% increase in Internet traffic.

In the U.S., Valve’s gaming distribution service Steam is setting new records. Verizon reported that video game usage during peak hours in the U.S. has gone up 75% since last week, with an overall 12% increase in game streaming.

Media consumption has gone up across the board in the last couple of weeks. According to Comscore, digital news sites received roughly 23% higher traffic in the week of March 9 through 15 than in the week immediately beforehand, and 30% higher traffic when compared to the start of the year.

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