#Top5OnTwitch for 10/26 - 11/1
Which games are rising on the Twitch charts? Which streamers are dominating the most popular titles? Check out our official rankings!
Note: The following rankings are based on a combination of both gross and percentage change to viewership and total streams. As such, dominant and stable titles near the top of the charts will not always, or often, appear.
Graphs for Top Rising titles show previous two weeks for context.
Top Five Rising
1. Escape from Tarkov
Increase Viewership: 2,744,197 Hours (358.13%)
Increase Channels: 17,108 Creators (94.32%)
Escape from Tarkov is a tactical FPS from Battlestate games that has been available, in some fashion or another, since 2017. Still technically in a “closed beta,” the title is actually instantly available to all purchasers, which makes it more akin to an early access title. And, as is standard for such titles, the game has seen its fair share of updates and improvements during its lifespan. This past week, though, saw the largest drop of new content in the game’s history, and resulted in a substantial increase in the title’s Twitch presence, enough to earn it our top spot for rising titles on the platform.
The list of changes in this patch is long, and it’s clear that the game’s community has been anxiously awaiting its release. In addition to ironing out long-standing bugs, the update adds new “safe areas” that dramatically impact the flow from game to game, making the title just slightly more forgiving, but not in such a way as to change Tarkov’s identity. There are also new areas, missions, characters, and tons more. Tarkov might not have the kind of mainstream name-recognition of its competitors, but it continues to rise up the charts with regularity, having developed a strong, committed community of players and viewers. Its presence at the top of this week’s list should serve as a reminder that it’s here to make waves, and it’s here for the long haul.
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Increase Viewership: 7,696,227 Hours (89.34%)
Increase Channels: 194,803 Creators (146.94%)
The excitement continues for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in its second week on Twitch, with a more than two-fold increase in contributing streamers, and the second highest total viewership of any game on the platform. The reboot of the classic franchise has managed to pull in top-tier Twitch streamers like summit1G, TimTheTatman, DrDisrespect, and lauded CoD professional Scump, but those four creators accounted for just over 10% of the game’s total viewership; the game’s Twitch presence isn’t top-heavy, with the top creators being solely responsible for its success. It has a wide and diverse foundation of streamers of various types and sizes.
Our attention will now move from the success of its launch to the game’s future. As seen above, the title has already fallen away, as all games do, from the highs of its first few days on the platform, and will now begin to move towards some new equilibrium. All of this will be dependent upon how the audience takes to the game’s ongoing plans for tweaks, updates, and additional content to keep players engaged. There’s also the question of how the game’s esports community will develop in an increasingly crowded competitive marketplace. The game is absolutely off to a rocking start, and we’re excited to see where it goes next.
3. Left 4 Dead 2
Increase Viewership: 416,020 Hours (2015.41%)
Increase Channels: 1571 Creators (52.00%)
In the olden days before the internet, Halloween was a time where every television channel would compete for attention by airing scary shows, specials, and movies to capture the spirit of the holiday. The venue may have changed to Twitch, but the strategy remains the same, as the world of streaming indulged even more in the worlds of horror games. The title to enjoy the biggest boost from the special occasion was the classic cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2.
It’s interesting to note that the game’s increase in viewership, and participation from streamers, doesn’t seem to have immediately died down following the holiday. Indeed, numbers have remained high into the first week of November. It will be interesting to see how long this new momentum can hold for a title that has its 10th anniversary just around the corner. This could be the beginning of a resurgence, perhaps even a build up to a long-anticipated sequel. The next few weeks will tell the tale.
4. Graveyard Keeper
Increase Viewership: 167,266 Hours (1180.66%)
Increase Channels: 892 Creators (271.95%)
Keeping in line with the Halloween theme, Graveyard Keeper is a cemetery management simulator which was first released last year. Taking advantage of the holiday, the team at Lazy Bear Games released the game’s first story-based DLC adventure on October 28th, which pulled in a massive number of new players and healthy viewership on Twitch.
This release strategy was a very smart move on the part of the developer and publisher Tiny Build. The title is obviously perfectly themed for the holiday, and choosing to release new content just in time for Halloween served as the perfect vehicle for driving the game to the top of the pile of “spooky titles,” just as streamers were looking for something unique to enjoy the season. The result has been a fantastic rise up the charts for the smaller title, enough to make it one of the fastest growing titles in streaming for the week.
5. Lost Ark Online
Increase Viewership: 435,772 Hours (153.40%)
Increase Channels: 10,809 Creators (279.80%)
Lost Ark Online still doesn’t have a release planned in either the EU or NA regions, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t expanding, as the game’s first open-beta in the Russian region was enough to land it in the final spot of this week’s top five fastest rising titles on Twitch. The rise of Lost Ark has been fascinating to watch, as the team has very meticulously moved from region to region, expanding at a relatively slow pace. There’s still no sign, as of yet, that a Western release is planned, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an appetite for the game.
Due to its lack of availability, interested Western viewers have been consuming the title through creators based in Russia, Korea, or other areas where the game can be played. The result has been the development of an interesting community, one wherein the fanbase is clearly divided between players and viewers. With each successive region, the game rises up the worldwide Twitch charts, and if an English-language version ever is announced, it will be fascinating to see just how more it can grow. For now, its latest move made it one of the fastest growing titles in streaming, and takes the final spot in this week’s list.
Top Five New Releases
1. Luigi’s Mansion 3
Total Viewership: 1,439,302 Hours (23rd Overall)
Total Channels: 5162 Creators (30th Overall)
Nintendo continues to prove that the Switch console can be a major player in the world of streaming with the release of its latest exclusive, Luigi’s Mansion 3. Perfectly timed for Halloween, the only-slightly spooky series starring the taller, less-appreciated Mario brother is a great way to enjoy the holiday, either on your own or alongside a streamer of YouTuber and their audience. During a week without other major-party releases, this was more than enough to make it the fastest rising new title on Twitch.
The viability of the Switch in the world of streaming has come as something of a surprise, but becomes more and more obvious with each successive release. Streaming from consoles in general has, of course, become much easier over the last few years, but everything that makes the Switch unique seems like something that would make it even more obtrusive in terms of streaming content in the way a creator would prefer. This hasn’t proven to be an issue for their major releases, however, and with the latest entry in the Pokemon series just around the corner, the success of Luigi’s Mansion gives us reason to believe that, with the console already a healthy platform, it could emerge as their biggest hit in streaming to date. We’re very excited to see how it plays out.
2. Song of Horror
Total Viewership: 178,896 Hours (95th Overall)
Total Channels: 306 Creators (385th Overall)
Moving forward with our Halloween theme, survival horror adventure Song Of Horror actually released on the holiday itself, giving it precious little time to accrue numbers before the end of the week. Even so, in that limited time it managed to pull in enough viewership to make it the second fastest rising new title on the platform.
A sort of haunted-house mystery, Song of Horror features a diverse cast of player characters from which to choose and an enemy AI that adapts to your style of play, creating an experience that’s different each time it’s played. That kind of dynamism serves horror games well on Twitch, allowing viewers to enjoy the game again and again, either through a single streamer’s multiple play sessions or by watching different creators tackle the game in different ways.
It remains to be seen whether these features will serve the game well moving forward. Its release on Halloween certainly made it enough of an event to attract streamers at the most opportune time, but it also might limit its growth if that energy can’t be recaptured again. Time will tell, but for now, this strategy has paid off well, making it a top rising new release.
3. Afterparty
Total Viewership: 36,191 Hours (269th Overall)
Total Channels: 498 Creators (265th Overall)
A sort of spiritual successor to developer Night School Studio’s previous hit, Oxenfree, Afterparty is a narrative adventure set in the afterlife, leveraging dialogue mechanics, exploration, and puzzles to tell a story about two dead friends trying to escape from hell via an alcohol-fueled loophole. It was released on consoles and the Epic Games store on October 29th, and its nearly five-hundred participating streamers made it one of the fastest rising titles on Twitch for the week.
Oxenfree was the sort of title best enjoyed alone, a game focused on a nuanced story, philosophical themes, and a branching narrative offering a great deal of replayability. Viewers still could enjoy experiencing the story through their favorite streamers, but the large amount of written dialogue and focus on back-tracking made it much more fun for the person playing. It might be for that reason that, while it boasted a larger number of participating streamers, it accrued significantly less viewership than the title above. Still, those creators demonstrate that, even if its not perfect for streaming ,the appetite for this game is strong, and players were thrilled to get their hands on it. It might not rise back up the rankings any time soon, but this was still a very successful launch for a single-player, narrative game, and bodes well for sales figures moving forward.
4. Internet Cafe Simulator
Total Viewership: 50,031 Hours (225th Overall)
Total Channels: 124 Creators (709th Overall)
Internet Cafe Simulator is the latest in a long line of titles that gamify businesses, professions, and activities one wouldn’t necessarily consider. In addition to the expected mechanics of cleaning, maintaining, and operating the eponymous business, it also features absurd and unexpected features, from a tour through a strip club to the player character beating patrons with baseball bats. It’s the latter elements, the strange and often buggy interactions a player can have with the world, that often draws creators in, who see it as a brief distraction that can be used for some cheap laughs and easy, low-risk streams. This isn’t how you become one of the biggest sensations on Twitch, but, as you can see, it can lead to brief periods of success, almost always upon release. We won’t be seeing this title on our lists again, but it pulled in enough creators to find a spot in this week’s rankings.
5. Persona 5: The Royale (Japan)
Total Viewership: 38,251 Hours (257th Overall)
Total Channels: 104 Creators (788th Overall)
Persona 5: The Royal is an enhanced port of Persona 5, which released in the West in 2017, and is exclusive to the Playstation 4. This week, it became available in Japan, and that limited player-base was still enough to land it the final spot in this week’s list of rising new releases.
Featuring a large amount of new content, including new characters and missions, this goes beyond your standard rerelease, which is why we consider it a new release rather than a returning title. The series enjoys a dedicated following outside of Japan, so this early success bodes well for when the title does hit Western shores. Seeing this as a preliminary test, we expect the title will enjoy an even larger jump up the charts when it releases in other regions.
Top Five Most Viewed Overall
1. League of Legends
Total Viewership: 30,369,056 Hours (+21.38%)
Total Channels: 92,675 Creators (-1.29%)
Top Channels By Total Viewership
1. Riot Games (Official) - 4,652,217 Hours
2. LVPes - 1,782,162 Hours
3. OgamingLoL - 1,437,318 Hours
4. LCK Korea - 1,228,204 Hours
5. SummonersInnLive - 7338,925 Hours
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Total Viewership: 16,310,065 Hours (+89.34%)
Total Channels: 95,242 Creators (+59.39%)
Top Channels By Total Viewership
1. summit1g - 1,139,893 Hours
2. scump - 1,077,063 Hours
3. TimTheTatman - 734,532 Hours
4. DrDisrespect - 461,659 Hours
5. FORMAL - 389,806 Hours
3. Fortnite
Total Viewership: 13,888,801 Hours (-11.99%)
Total Channels: 200,973 Creators (13.47%)
Top Channels By Total Viewership
1. Tfue - 993,928 Hours
2. NICKMERCS - 598,579 Hours
3. NickEh30 - 407,725 Hours
4. SypherPK - 390,403 Hours
5. Bugha - 368,465 Hours
4. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Total Viewership: 7,837,824 Hours (-27.43%)
Total Channels: 53,712 Creators (-6.62%)
Top Channels By Total Viewership
1. Gaules - 1,081,474 Hours
2. Starladder CS EN - 866,187 Hours
3. StarLadder5 - 582,773 Hours
4. FACEIT TV - 518,917 Hours
5. Starladder10 - 172,441 Hours
5. Grand Theft Auto V / Online
Total Viewership: 7,355,710 Hours (-7.68%)
Total Channels: 22,867 Creators (-2.46%)
Top Channels By Total Viewership
1. Lord Kebun - 506,128 Hours
2. Vader - 327,761 Hours
3. FFearFFul - 230,000 Hours
4. summit1g - 219,553 Hours
5. MarcaoRX - 189,550 Hours
Check out our rankings of the most watched esports on Twitch for the month of September. Also, be sure follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for all the latest blogs, announcements, and game marketing news from the team at GAMESIGHT!