In January 2021, there were an average of 129 channels streaming Magic. Data from on the number of average channels streaming Magic corroborates this theory: It also hints strongly though that streamers themselves, facing declining viewers, may be choosing to stream less Magic, further accelerating this decline. One, that viewers are certainly choosing to watch less Magic streaming. What does this mean? It means two things. The three digital TCGs together have less than half the viewership of VALORANT and are barely a drop in the bucket compared to League of Legends, the most-watched game on Twitch.

three of the top streamed games on the Twitch platform:

Here are the three digital TCGs we've examined VS. The numbers of all three of these games though pale in comparison next to some of the top streamed games on Twitch. Clearly, competition is stiff between these games, and the newcomer is making its presence felt. What's wild to note is the number two game on the list, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel has nearly three times the views of Magic and twice the streamers of Magic or Hearthstone combined, though the game has only been out since January 18th. Hearthstone clearly blows Magic out of the water with nearly seven times the number of hours watched in the past month. Using Data of the past 30 days (as of February 3rd) from, let's compare Magic stream viewership to two of its other digital Trading Card Game(TCG) competitors. Magic: The Gathering is far from the biggest fish when it comes to Twitch views. The First Challenge: Competition with Other Games So what's going on? Today I'll look at three challenges facing Magic streaming, and how Wizards could step in to boost viewership. While we must note that this data includes both Magic Arena and Magic: Online data combined, these numbers do not look much better than the 2018 numbers prior to Arena's Open Beta release.

Looking at viewing data from the peak in October 2018 to the present, we see a general downward trend across the board in Twitch viewership of Magic: The Gathering. I hope this spurs investment in the Arena client and economy so that it doesn't become a long-term trend. January 2022 was the worst month for Magic streaming since the launch of Arena, with the second and third worst months being December 2021 and November 2021 respectively. On February 2nd, shared this tweet with data from, a Twitch stats and analytics tracking site: The hits, unfortunately, just keep coming. The Three Worst Months For Magic Streamingĭespite the hype for Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, there's been a lot of doom and gloom in recent Magic: The Gathering news.

The decline of magic