Twitch Hits A Five-Year Low As Bots Get The Boot

Twitch’s summer crackdown on viewbots has shaken the livestreaming world. After rolling out stricter detection for fake engagement and inauthentic viewers, the platform is reporting its lowest monthly watch hours in half a decade. Real fans are still tuning in, but the numbers tell a story of a system recalibrating.

According to data from StreamCharts, August 2025 saw 1.41 billion hours watched—a 9% dip from July—and peak viewership plunged nearly three-quarters. Average concurrent viewers also fell, dropping to roughly 1.9 million. While the platform insists these third-party stats can be misleading, the trend is undeniable: the era of inflated numbers is ending.

Bots, Blowback, and the Competition

StreamCharts estimates that viewbots accounted for around 30 million watch hours last month, concentrated on roughly 4,400 channels. Even Twitch’s main rival, Kick, isn’t immune—about one in six streamers reportedly rely on bot-driven audiences to pad their metrics.

The crackdown is forcing a reckoning. For creators who built their numbers on real engagement, it’s a long-overdue cleansing. For the streamers who leaned on automation, the sudden drop exposes the fragility of artificial fame. Twitch’s effort underscores a broader lesson for the industry: authenticity isn’t just ethical—it’s the future.