As the release of Grand Theft Auto VI approaches, GTA V viewership is moving in opposite directions on Twitch and Kick. In July 2026, the category recorded one of its weakest monthly results on Twitch, while reaching its highest monthly level of the year on Kick. Streams Charts data suggests that creator migration explains only part of the divergence: longer airtime, the redistribution of creator activity, and Kick’s broader expansion are also reshaping the category.
GTA V viewership on Twitch falls to one of its lowest monthly levels
Thirteen years after its release, Grand Theft Auto V remains one of Twitch’s largest game categories. It generated 362.2 million Hours Watched in the first half of 2026, ranking third behind League of Legends and Counter-Strike. Yet this position masks a sustained decline in monthly viewership, which has accelerated in 2026.
In July 2026, GTA V generated approximately 49.5 million Hours Watched on Twitch, one of the category’s lowest monthly totals on the platform. That was down from 67.9 million in July 2025, while Average Viewers declined from 94.8K to 68.6K. The average number of active GTA V channels also fell by 19% between January and June 2026. The longer-term comparison is equally stark: in 2024, the category remained above 120K Average Viewers even in its weakest month, while through July 2026 it barely exceeded 100K at its monthly peak.
Why GTA V viewership is growing on Kick
The same decline is not visible on Kick. GTA V Average Viewers on the platform increased from 71.4K in January to 112.3K in July 2026, while the number of active channels rose from 316 to 428. Kick overtook Twitch in Average Viewers in April and widened its lead over the following three months.
GTA V viewership comparison on Twitch and Kick
In July, GTA V generated 82.5 million Hours Watched on Kick, 67% more than Twitch’s 49.5 million. Average Viewers reached 112.3K on Kick compared with 68.6K on Twitch, a difference of approximately 64%.
What is driving GTA V’s viewership shift toward Kick?
Kick first surpassed Twitch in Hours Watched for GTA V content in summer 2025. However, historical comparisons require an important methodological clarification. Until April 2026, Kick split the game’s content across three categories: the main GTA V category and separate categories for the Respect RP and No Pixel RP servers. The two RP categories generated around 10 million Hours Watched per month before Kick merged all three categories in April 2026.
Longer airtime appears to be one factor behind Kick’s lead. The platform’s most-watched GTA V creator, Amr “3mr” Diab, recorded roughly twice the Airtime and Hours Watched of Twitch leader Toma “JLTomy” Abdellaoui during the first half of 2026.
Most watched GTA V channels - H1 2026
Creators active on both platforms shifted a substantial share of their GTA V viewership toward Kick in 2026. Across 12 linked channel pairs, Twitch’s share of their combined GTA V Hours Watched fell from 59% in January to just 10% in July. At the same time, their total viewership increased by approximately 16%, from 4.87 million to 5.65 million Hours Watched. This indicates that their audiences did not simply disappear from Twitch: GTA V viewing became increasingly concentrated on Kick.
Some creators also moved their GTA V activity directly from Twitch to Kick. The clearest case is lordkebun, who streamed on Twitch as lord_kebun until February 6. After switching to Kick that month, he began generating between 1.2 million and 1.8 million Hours Watched from GTA V streams each month.
A similar shift can be seen with Brazilian streamer PaulinhoLOKObr. At the beginning of 2026, he streamed GTA V exclusively on Twitch, generating around 5 million Hours Watched for the category monthly. Since May, however, he has moved almost entirely to Kick, where his GTA V content has already generated approximately 2.8 million Hours Watched.
However, direct creator migration explains only part of Kick’s growth. The platform’s three leading GTA V creators — Mofareh “drb7h” Al Asiri, Ahmed “sxb”, and Steven “rdjavi” Santos — all have linked Twitch accounts, but none of them stream the game there. The same applies to 20 of Kick’s 30 most-watched GTA V channels. In other words, much of Kick’s GTA V ecosystem developed on the platform itself rather than being transferred directly from Twitch.
Kick strengthens its position in livestreaming and gradually closes the gap with Twitch
Kick’s broader expansion appears to be another major factor behind GTA V’s gains. Although the category generated more Hours Watched over the course of 2026, its share of the platform’s total viewership declined from 14.56% in January-February to 13.80% in June-July. This suggests that GTA V is benefiting from platform-wide growth rather than expanding in isolation, with several other categories growing at a similar or faster rate.
Kick’s lead in GTA V does not mean that every GTA VI campaign should automatically prioritize the platform. It does show that historical assumptions about Twitch’s dominance are no longer sufficient. Platform selection will depend on the creators carrying the category, their Airtime, regional audience composition, and the extent to which their communities are concentrated on Twitch or Kick.
For brands preparing GTA VI activations, understanding these differences before allocating budgets will be essential. Streams Charts can help identify the platforms and creators most likely to reach the intended audience and evaluate campaign performance after launch.
