Kick saw a moderate decline in audience activity in May 2026, with its Average Viewers falling by 7% month over month, according to Streams Charts data. The drop came despite a 5% increase in the number of active streaming channels, meaning the platform attracted more broadcasters but failed to convert this growth into stronger viewer-side performance.
Other key metrics also moved downward in May, especially those tied directly to audience demand. This suggests that Kick’s creator-side activity remained relatively healthy, but viewership became more fragmented across a larger number of live channels, reducing the platform’s overall average audience compared to April.
The increase in the total number of streaming channels did not translate into higher live activity at any given moment. In fact, the number of channels simultaneously broadcasting on Kick declined in May: the average number of live channels fell by 1%, while the peak number of live channels dropped by 3%.
The decline was much more visible on the viewer side. Kick’s Average Viewers fell by 7% month over month, landing just above 659,000 live viewers in May 2026. Total content consumption also decreased, with Hours Watched down 5% to approximately 481.6 million. In other words, May brought more channels to the platform in aggregate, but both live channel density and viewer demand moved in the opposite direction.
The genre breakdown shows a similar downward trend. Almost every genre in Kick’s top 10 by Hours Watched declined in May, with Strategy games recording the sharpest drop at 22%. The IRL category, meanwhile, remained almost flat month over month, which allowed it to overtake Action games, whose total Hours Watched fell by 10%.
Driving/Racing was the only major genre in the top group to post positive momentum. Its Hours Watched increased by 5%, helped in part by the launch of Forza Horizon 6, one of the strongest new releases for the genre in the livestreaming space this year.
Across individual streaming categories, the picture was also mostly negative. Only three categories from Kick’s top 10 managed to improve their Hours Watched in May. Alongside Grand Theft Auto V, which grew by 4%, and League of Legends, which added 7%, the platform’s IRL category also posted growth, increasing its Hours Watched by 8%.
Among gaming categories, PUBG Mobile recorded the sharpest decline, losing as much as 57% of its viewership compared to the previous month. EA Sports FC 26 and Dota 2 also saw major drops, with both categories falling by more than 20% in Hours Watched.
The streamer ranking also changed significantly in May, which is often the case on Kick. Maher “maherco” Sultaneh climbed from third place to first, even though his own Hours Watched fell by a noticeable 19% month-over-month.
Second place also went to a creator with negative dynamics. Shun “korekore_ch” Aoki lost 14% of his Hours Watched compared to April, but still remained above the 7 million Hours Watched mark for the month.
Among the streamers who improved their viewership, the main winner was Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Niknam. His Hours Watched jumped by 73% compared to April, enough to push him up to third place in the monthly ranking.
Several other top-10 creators also posted strong gains. David “davooxeneize” Quint, the only non-partnered streamer in the top 10, increased his Hours Watched by 72%, while Mofareh “drb7h” al asiri and Luis Fernando “WestCOL” Villa Álvarez each grew by 54%.
Among female streamers, Kick’s top rankings were dominated mostly by creators from North and South America. The leader by Average Viewers was Colombian creator Aída Victoria Merlano, who averaged around 13,000 live viewers in May. Streams Charts has previously highlighted her connection to the broader Colombian Kick scene through WestCol-related content, but for this ranking she stood out on her own as the top female creator by average audience.
Only one other creator in the ranking crossed the 10,000 Average Viewers mark: Fujisawa Nana, who finished close behind Merlano. The rest of the top female streamers were clustered in the 3,000–8,000 Average Viewers range, showing a clear gap between the two leaders and the rest of the category.
