To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing tech highlights from 2015 that still resonate 10 years later. This update was for the week of November 7, 2015.
In October 2015 the new Twitch Creative category launched with a Bob Ross marathon.
This was a notable addition. Twitch originally
launched in 2011
as a live streaming platform for gamers, but on-gamers started using the
platform too.
At the time, they reassured users they were still focused on gaming (emphasis added):
We understand that this is new and may be a bit confusing given Twitch’s long-standing “gaming-only” stance. We view music as an expansion, but gaming will always be our core focus. You’ll see the same front page and directories, and you can still interact in all the same ways with your favorite broadcasters and your fellow viewers. We hope you discover some really great music creators and have the chance to check out some of your favorite musicians, while also having access to a free-to-use library of music for your broadcasts.
They didn't add this reassurance when the Creative category launched. This felt like a real attempt to broaden the scope of the platform.
Over the years many more non-gaming categories were added.
Ten years ago this week Twitch added a Creative category to showcase
non-gaming streamers.
Twitch Creative Launches
In October 2015 the new Twitch Creative category launched with a Bob Ross marathon.
On October 28, 2015
Twitch Creative launched. There was a new landing page for the Creative category, with a Featured
Video carousel highlighting streams from artists, crafters and builders.
Twitch also launched hashtags, so broadcasters could tag their stream with a
specific activity, like #painting or #robotics, since "Creative" included
everything that wasn't actually gaming.
In January 2015, Twitch
added an official category for Music streams
from musicians (and a
music library
for everyone to use).
At the time, they reassured users they were still focused on gaming (emphasis added):
We understand that this is new and may be a bit confusing given Twitch’s long-standing “gaming-only” stance. We view music as an expansion, but gaming will always be our core focus. You’ll see the same front page and directories, and you can still interact in all the same ways with your favorite broadcasters and your fellow viewers. We hope you discover some really great music creators and have the chance to check out some of your favorite musicians, while also having access to a free-to-use library of music for your broadcasts.
They didn't add this reassurance when the Creative category launched. This felt like a real attempt to broaden the scope of the platform.
More Categories
The
Twitch Creative landing page as I write this post.
- In December 2016 Twitch added the IRL or In Real Life category, which included vlogging, chatting with your community, and streaming from the Twitch mobile app.
- In 2018 Twitch removed the Creative and IRL categories, and replaced them with 10 more specific categories: Art, Makers & Crafting, Food & Drink, Music & Performing Arts, Beauty & Body Art, Science & Technology, Just Chatting, Travel & Outdoors, Sports & Fitness, Tabletop RPGs, Special Events, Talk Shows & Podcasts, and ASMR. Those categories were added to the Browse page for easy access.
- In 2024 Twitch launched a DJ program with a dedicated DJ category,
Now there are even more Categories that you can choose to browse for both
“Creative” and “IRL” streams.
Streams Charts: Q3 2025 streaming stats by hours watched.
Twitch leads for gaming, but YouTube leads for total viewing time, followed by TikTok.
There are lots of folks who just want to hang out.
In 2024 the top non-gaming
Categories were Just Chatting, Special Events and Sports, and the top tags
were Chill, ADHD, Anime and Pokemon.
And there are extremely popular streamers who essentially have only talk shows about politics or their life.
But gaming still dominates on Twitch, and Twitch is still the largest gaming streaming platform, even as YouTube and TikTok have a larger total live streaming audience.
Twitch Blog, 26 September 2018,
Introducing Tags and New Categories: New Ways to Discover Streamers on
Twitch
The View from 2025: Gaming Is Still Twitch's Core Focus
Streams Charts: Q3 2025 streaming stats by hours watched.
Twitch leads for gaming, but YouTube leads for total viewing time, followed by TikTok.
And there are extremely popular streamers who essentially have only talk shows about politics or their life.
But gaming still dominates on Twitch, and Twitch is still the largest gaming streaming platform, even as YouTube and TikTok have a larger total live streaming audience.
References
Twitch Blog, 28 October 2015,
Introducing Twitch Creative
Twitch Blog, 15 December 2016,
Announcing: IRL, Mobile Broadcasting, and Updated Community
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