Not long ago, YouTube was the name to beat in internet video. Yet with the advent of Twitch, which focuses on video game live streaming and broadcasts of esports competitions, content creators have gone team purple in greater numbers. With more than 35 million unique visitors a month, Twitch has become the biggest live streaming platform in the world.

Yet Twitch may soon face stiff competition from Facebook Gaming, which is growing rapidly. According to data published by StreamElements and Arsenal, Facebook Gaming has seen a 75% growth in the number of hours viewed in the last quarter. This adds up to 1.2 billion hours viewed. Although it’s still a far cry from Twitch’s 5 billion hours viewed, it’s still significant, considering that Facebook’s quarter over quarter growth rate of 75% was higher than Twitch’s 52%.

RELATED: Xbox Series X Aims To Be A Streaming Monolith (With A Little Help From Facebook)

Experts believe that this massive growth in the first and second quarters was largely influenced by the global coronavirus lockdown, which has led many to spend more time focusing on home entertainment. Facebook Gaming has also been helped by their commitment to the international market, the release of their standalone gaming app, and big celebrity tournaments. In fact, Facebook Gaming’s top 10 are all international streamers.

The growth of streaming has also been boosted by non-gaming streams, such as Just Chatting, which rose to the top of the Twitch charts in May and June. The platform allowed users to discuss pressing issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and the #MeToo movement in the gaming industry, in-depth.

Although Facebook Gaming has been making significant strides lately, the platform actually dates back to 2007 when the social media giant allowed third-party developers to design programs and games for the platform. In 2009, the site had its first big hit with Zynga's FarmVille, which had 60 million users by the end of the year. Farmville was followed in 2012 by Candy Crush Saga, which became the most downloaded iOS app of 2013.

Despite Facebook's early attempts at gaming, it struggled in its follow-through. Not viewed as a serious platform by much of the gaming community, Facebook wasn’t seen as a threat to Twitch and YouTube until the release of Facebook Gaming in 2018 and the removal of Instant Games, the site's gaming hub, this summer. Now, the social media pioneer hopes to attract all gamers to one location and in the process take down Twitch. What might happen next is anyone’s guess.

Soource: Stream Elements

READ NEXT: Facebook And Mixer Start Gnawing On Twitch's Lunch