Twitch Viewership Metrics for Recent Pokémon Releases
After compiling the numbers, BD/SP has been the most successful, measurable Pokémon release on streaming platforms since we've started collecting data.
Overview
With the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (BD/SP) on the 19th of November, we now have reliable Twitch viewership metrics for the four most recent main Pokémon releases. We'll be looking at data for the launch weeks of Pokemon Ultra Sun & Moon, Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, Sword & Shield, and Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. Before we get to that, let's talk a bit about how BD/SP's launch went, which was a mixed reception overall. While many fans are delighting in their nostalgic return to Sinnoh, many others are voicing concerns about bugs, glitches, lack of content, and worries about no DLC. Every main Pokémon release goes through criticism early on, and only time will tell if these fears are warranted. Regardless, the release has been a major success, with millions of fans pouring dozens of hours into the titles over the past 10 days.
But without further adieu, behold the viewership metrics:
Ultra Sun/Moon
- 1.2 million hours watched
- 6k average viewers
- 15,441 peak viewers (keep in mind these graphs show hourly data, so peak viewership numbers might not look visually correct)
- 5.2k total streams
- 17.4k hours streamed
- Peaked as 10th most watched game on Twitch
Let's go Pikachu/Eevee
- 10.8 million hours watched
- 64.2k average viewers
- 163,854 peak viewers
- 35.4k total streams
- 93.5k hours streamed
- Peaked as the #1 overall game watched on Twitch during launch day
Pokémon Sword/Shield
- 17.1 million hours watched
- 92.1k average viewers
- 191,287 peak viewers
- 86.1k total streams
- 313.2k hours streamed
- Peaked as #1 most watched game on Twitch for 5 out of 7 days
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
- 18.4 million hours watched
- 99.2k average viewers
- 252,781 peak viewers
- 117.6k total streams
- 388.5k hours streamed
- Peaked as #2 most watched game on Twitch for 3 straight days
Analysis
After compiling the numbers, BD/SP has been the most successful, measurable Pokémon release on streaming platforms since we've started collecting data, with 18.4 million hours watched. The release directly prior to BD/SP, Pokémon Sword & Shield, held the previous record with 17.1 million hours watched. BD/SP also beat Sword & Shield in every category EXCEPT the most-watched game on Twitch category. This tidbit says a lot about just how many more people watch Twitch in 2021 than in 2019. Sword & Shield was the most watched game on Twitch for 5 of it's first 7 days after launch with 92k average viewers. Meanwhile, BD/SP peaked as the 2nd most watched game for only 3 days with 99k average viewers, 7k more than Sword & Shield. Twitch's average content consumption has increased from 29 million viewer hours per day in November 2019 to 64 million viewer hours per day in October 2021 (average calculated from total viewer hours in November 2019 & October 2021).
Pokémon has also become increasingly more popular to stream on Twitch with each subsequent release across all stats. BD/SP's metrics definitely benefited from the overall increase in streaming platform popularity, but Pokémon's viewership trend was heading towards that outcome barring unforeseeable mitigating factors anyways. It will be interesting to see if the hype continues with Pokémon Legends of Arceus, which releases this coming January. Spoiler alert, the data points towards a resounding yes.
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