The global eSports industry is forecast to generate over $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2021. Furthermore, revenue is expected to accelerate in the coming years to $1.5 billion in 2023, representing a 50% rise in just two years. Although eSports originally existed as a niche subset of sports culture, competitive gaming has since evolved into a sector in its own right.

Much of that success can be attributed to the growing numbers of viewers that tune in day in, day out to watch the world’s most talented video gamers do battle on desktop and games console titles for eye-watering prize purses. The Twitch platform has been the bedrock of the rise of eSports, providing the foundation for eSports personalities to develop and showcasing live coverage of the biggest eSports tournaments.

Coverage isn’t just restricted to eSports events in North America and the Far East either. Twitch streamed the PUBG MOBILE India Series 2020, which enchanted the burgeoning base of Indian eSports viewers and players. According to asiabet.org, reputable sportsbooks that accept Indian bettors like 22Bet ran in-play betting markets throughout the PUBG MOBILE India Series which served to ramp up the excitement and engagement in watching the action live on Twitch.

Twitch is also doubling down on its eSports coverage. Last summer, the platform revealed its inaugural eSports Directory, making it easier than ever for eSports fans to pick live streams of matches to watch, as well as real-time data on active eSports leagues and tournaments too. The directory also provided a library of active eSports professionals that fans could use to monitor their progress. Users landing on the new eSports Directory can view current live matches and events, followed by a string of the replay and highlight videos that allow fans to recap the key moments of eSports events they missed live. The directory also lists the eSports stars that are active and streaming live in real-time on the Twitch platform to ramp up user engagement.

In Q1 2020, Twitch surpassed all-time highs for the number of hours watched on its platform, registering over three billion hours of content for the first time. That’s due in no small part to its eSports Directory, which was rapidly populated with the biggest eSports tournaments and matches played worldwide. We’ve already touched on PUBG’s Mobile series, but it also contained the League of Legends (LoL) World Championship, the Rocket League Championship Series and the ESL Katowice.

Last year, the success of Twitch in bringing eSports to life on-screen put paid to the future of Microsoft’s Mixer platform which was a competitor portal for live streaming video games. Instead, Mixer has opted to pair up with Facebook to expand its own eSports streaming services in Facebook Gaming.

Facebook Vs Twitch: Who wins the eSports battle?

Facebook is certainly one of the few companies with the financial wherewithal to take on Twitch heads-on to become the leading portal for eSports coverage. Twitch is owned by global ecommerce giant Amazon, but Facebook is one of the only tech companies capable of running Amazon close in the revenue stakes. The biggest hurdle for Facebook Gaming to overcome is how to entice Twitch viewers over to their platform.

The rise of Twitch in recent years has been underpinned by its community feel, with streamers becoming eSports personalities, discussing and commentating on the biggest events and tournaments. According to data from StreamElements, Twitch’s market share in the gaming and eSports market only fell from 75% to 73% between 2018 and 2019, with Facebook Gaming growing its market share from a modest 1% to 3%.

However, Facebook Gaming’s streaming hours for Q3 2020 flew past the one-billion mark, underlining its steady rise in engagement. League of Legends proved to be the most-watched eSports game on the Facebook Gaming platform, registering approximately half of all viewing hours at 543 million, followed by Fortnite at 426 million hours.

The reason why Twitch should stand the test of time in the eSports scene? It’s a platform exclusively designed for live streaming, period. Skynews.com recently began broadcasting on Twitch to reach out to a younger demographic. Although Facebook has a multi-billion audience on tap, users are more likely to just stumble upon an eSports stream on Facebook Gaming than actively search for it. Twitch has cultivated a brand as the champion of eSports which should not only boost the eSports industry but keep Amazon’s streaming community at the top spot for the foreseeable future.