Over the past five years, casino streaming has turned the iGaming world upside down. This blog post dives straight into the top brands and platforms that defined the era—revealing who dominated, who dropped, and what drove the biggest changes from 2020 to 2025.

Over the last five years, the live streaming industry has transformed from a niche community into a mainstream force within iGaming. As the only company tracking the full scope of casino live streaming, Strmlytics has had a front-row seat to the industry’s most dramatic shifts – especially regarding the rise and fall of platforms and the changing landscape of top brands.

Platform Shifts: From Twitch Domination to the Rise of Kick

In 2020, Twitch was the undisputed home of casino streaming. Nearly all major streamers and brands built their audiences there, while YouTube played a distant secondary role. The landscape began to shift dramatically in late 2022, when Twitch implemented a ban on gambling streams from a handful of casinos, effective 18 October 2022. This change, led to a sharp drop in casino streaming on Twitch – by some estimates, a 75% decrease in gambling-content views immediately after the ban.

The policy change created an opening for new platforms. Kick.com, launched in December 2022 by EasyGo – the company behind Stake – positioned itself as a creator-first alternative with a 95/5 revenue split on subscriptions. Within a year, Kick had attracted many of the industry’s biggest casino streamers and overtook Twitch in reach for iGaming content by the end of 2024. By 2025, Kick commands more than half of the total reach in the space, with Twitch and YouTube now sharing the remainder almost equally. YouTube, for its part, has also tightened restrictions, introducing an updated policy on unregulated gambling content and stricter age-gating in March 2025.

Brand Rankings: Most-Watched Providers in 2020 vs. 2025

If you look at the most-watched casino brands (by reach) in 2020, these were the top ten:

1. Play'n GO
2. Pragmatic Play
3. Big Time Gaming
4. Push Gaming
5. Thunderkick
6. NetEnt
7. Nolimit City
8. Relax Gaming
9. Gamomat
10. Blueprint

Fast-forward to 2025, and the leaderboard has shifted. Here are the top ten most-watched brands now:

1. Pragmatic Play
2. Hacksaw Gaming
3. Nolimit City
4. Massive Studios
5. Backseat Gaming
6. Play'n GO
7. Push Gaming
8. Relax Gaming
9. Evolution
10. BGaming

What’s driving these changes? The brands that have adapted to the new realities of live streaming – by supporting streamer communities, innovating with mechanics and content that streamers enjoy, and embracing the business opportunities of live streaming – have seen their visibility explode. Meanwhile, those slow to adapt have lost ground.

Comparing the top ten most-watched casino brands from 2020 to 2025 reveals some striking changes in the live streaming landscape:

• Pragmatic Play’s Staying Power: Pragmatic Play stands out as the only brand to not just maintain but actually strengthen its position, moving from #2 in 2020 to the clear leader in 2025. Their consistent investment in streamer-friendly content and partnerships has paid off.
• The Rise of Newcomers: Hacksaw Gaming, Massive Studios, and Backseat Gaming weren’t even in the top ten five years ago. Now, they’re among the most-watched. This shows how quickly new brands can disrupt the market if they understand and cater to the streaming audience.
• Nolimit City’s Breakthrough: Nolimit City has gone from a mid-table brand (#7 in 2020) to a top-three powerhouse in 2025. Their bold game mechanics and strong streamer relationships have made them a favorite for live audiences.
• Play’n GO’s Decline: Play’n GO was the clear number one in 2020, but now finds itself much further down the list. This steep drop highlights how streaming simply isn’t a core part of their strategy – while other brands have embraced the streaming community, Play’n GO has taken a different path and lost visibility as a result.
• Fading Legacy Brands: Big Time Gaming, Thunderkick, NetEnt, Blueprint, and Gamomat have all dropped out of the top ten. This is a clear sign that even established names can lose relevance if they don’t adapt to the new streaming-driven reality.
• Consistent Performers: Push Gaming and Relax Gaming have managed to hold onto top ten spots, but most have slipped down the rankings. Their continued presence suggests a solid foundation, but the competition is catching up.
• BGaming’s Growth: BGaming’s appearance in the 2025 list highlights the growing appetite for new and innovative content, especially from a brand that actively engage with the streaming community.

Bottom line: The last five years have been defined by rapid change and fierce competition. Brands that invest in streamer relationships, innovate with their content, and move quickly are the ones climbing the ranks—while those that rest on past success are quickly left behind.

Streaming Becomes a Core Marketing Strategy

One of the most significant shifts since 2020 is how streaming has moved from a niche experiment to a core part of almost every game provider’s marketing strategy. Five years ago, only a handful of brands were willing to work with streamers, and the practice was still seen as somewhat taboo. Today, collaborating with streamers is not merely accepted – it’s expected. Providers now see live streaming as essential for brand visibility, game launches, and community building. Working with streamers has become a given, and it has reshaped how the entire industry approaches marketing. Key trends shaping the market:

• Platform Fragmentation: Twitch’s policy changes and Kick’s rise have shattered the old monopoly, giving streamers and brands more options – but also creating a more complex landscape to navigate.
• Regulatory Tightening: Both Twitch and YouTube have introduced stricter rules around gambling content. YouTube’s March 2025 update, for example, bans links to or even verbal mentions of unapproved gambling sites and age-restricts most casino content.
• Brand Adaptation: The most successful brands are those that have leaned into the streamer ecosystem – understanding the market dynamics of live streaming, building communities, and designing games that create compelling moments for streamers and their viewers.
• Community Migration: Top streamers have brought their audiences with them as they move platforms, but overall reach is now spread across more services than ever before.
• Viewer Engagement: Despite all the upheaval, casino streaming remains one of the most engaging forms of live content, with viewers tuning in for the entertainment, the sense of community, and the unpredictability of wins and losses.

Conclusion

Casino streaming’s journey from niche to mainstream has been anything but straightforward. Policy shifts, new platforms, and changing brand dynamics have all played a part. Through it all, one thing remains clear: the brands and streamers that adapt the fastest to the evolving landscape are the ones that thrive. At Strmlytics, we’ll keep tracking every twist and turn – because in this industry, the only constant is change.