14 DAY TRIAL // Statistics released by the online streaming service Twitch reveal that it's making a considerable impact on its viewers' television watching habits.
"When video game historians look back on gaming a decade from now, 2013 will be the year they cite as the tipping point of streaming," said Matthew DiPietro, VP of marketing of Twitch, as quoted by Polygon.
Twitch has revealed that around 68 percent of its users have opted to focus on game-based entertainment, thus decreasing time spent watching regular television programs.
Over 2013, the service has continually expanded, peaking with its current viewer base of over 45 million unique monthly users watching around 12 billion minutes of streamed content each month, from 6 million broadcasted videos.
Twitch reported that its 45 million monthly users spend on average more than 20 hours per week on the service, averaging a total of 106 minutes daily watch time.
This time is spent mainly watching live streams, with a quarter of the community being actively involved in broadcasting gameplay, 38 percent watching video highlights and up to 61 percent participating in chats with the Twitch community.
Further statistics released by the company point out that the average user age is 21, with a total of 79 percent of viewers being between the ages 18 and 49.
Console players are a growing part of the Twitch community, as the company revealed that close to 20 percent of total streams since the PlayStation 4's launch were made by users of the next-gen console.
Microsoft stated that the Xbox One's Twitch streaming service would still take another couple of months to implement, and that the streaming capabilities would be exclusive to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but that they would be seamlessly integrated with the platform.