Twitch recaps top trends from the 900 million hours of watch time it accrued in 2025

YouTube and Spotify aren’t the only platform recapping the past 12 months. Twitch has also dropped its rundown of the streamers, categories, and trending topics that defined its 2025.

Twitch organized its year-end recap as a collection of 25 Clips that exemplify its culture and highlight some of the biggest streamer moments of the year. The resulting collage depicts a transitional moment for the Amazon-owned hub, which is moving beyond its gaming roots to incorporate a varied array of categories.

The platform’s inclusive approach allowed it to generate nearly 900 million hours of watch time 

while counting 45 billion chat messages and attracting nine million new streamers (including Justin Bieber). IRL streams were one of the year’s biggest winners, as that category’s Twitch watch time nearly tripled year-over-year.

Despite all of that change, Twitch’s ranking of top creators hasn’t shifted too much since 2024. Kai Cenat and Ibai delivered the year’s top streaming moments, just as they did in 2024. And “Just Chatting” remains the biggest category on Twitch.

Other memorable streams demonstrated the ingenuity of the Twitch community. From Squeezie’s GP Explorer race to a record-setting charity drive to the first stream in space, 2025 delivered many live broadcasts that expanded Twitch’s scope. Even the decision to arrange the year-end recap as a Clip collection exemplifies shifting trends in the world of streaming media.

“This year we came together like never before to stream, hang, and co-create like no place else,” reads the preamble to Twitch’s recap. “From viral tracks to broken records, celeb stream crashers to outer space exploits, the best moments happened live.”

A lot has changed on Twitch since 2024, so we can expect 2026’s recap to bring plenty of surprises as well. In the meantime, if you’d like to see a more personalized summary of your 2025 Twitch activity, all you need to do is log into your account.