#Top5OnTwitch June 1st - 7th

Which games are rising on the Twitch charts? Which titles are sliding? We bring you the hard numbers and reaction, every week, in the GAMESIGHT power 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. To compare to last week's rankings, click here.

Graphs for Top Rising and Falling titles show previous two weeks for context.

Top 5 Rising

1. Path of Exile

Increase Viewership: 3,464,034 Hours (4th Overall), 541.57%

Increase Streamers: 6685 Channels (5th Overall), 186.52%

Two big events at the end of this week to catapult Path of Exile, the long-running free-to-play action RPG, to the top of our leaderboards. First, the game's latest "league," a quarterly introduction of new quests, challenges, and rewards was released. But, the biggest changes were reserved for gameplay itself, which was massively overhauled to rebalance skills, and completely reword the title's system for melee combat, something long awaited by the game's community.

The result was that Path of Exile more than quintupled its overall viewership, experiencing the fourth largest increase in total hours watched for the entire platform. With its growth relative to the previous week well outpacing those three titles above it, this is more than enough for the game to take our top spot this week. Given the releases came at the end of our ranking period, we'll likely see even more growth moving in to next week. Will it be appearing at the top of our list again? We'll have to wait and see.

2. Deathgarden

Increase Viewership: 317,962 Hours (24th Overall), 170.74%

Increase Streamers: 5226 Channels (9th Overall), 297.44%

After making an appearance near the top of our rankings for new releases last week, Deathgarden continued to pick up steam, riding the momentum of its first week to a nearly two-fold increase in viewership and an even greater expansion of its community of streamers. Given the size of that growth compared to its previous position, it's enough for the title to take our second spot in this week's overall rankings.

The largest day of viewership was June 3rd, visible as the largest spike in the center of the graph above. This was the day that mega-star streamer LIRIK picked up the game for an hour to show it off to his nearly 20,000 viewers. It's important to note that, while this single stream was the largest source of viewership during the week, the rest of the game's numbers are reasonably well distributed among the over 6400 additional creators who featured the title. Only 78 creators accrued more than 1000 hours of total viewership, which means that while the title still isn't pulling in the biggest creators and their enormous audiences, no one streamer can leave and have an outsized impact on the game's overall performance. The community for this title is diverse and engaged, which would bode well for any multiplayer title. It's unclear if we'll see the game rise even more in the future, but, for now, it's clear that players are enjoying themselves, and that a healthy number of streamers will remain invested.

3. Destiny 2

Increase Viewership: 2,407,550 Hours (8th Overall), 257.74%

Increase Streamers: 9551 Channels (2nd Overall), 67.21%

Two weeks ago, we took a look back at Destiny 2's 'Season of the Drifter,' the three months of content releases and updates that was reaching its conclusion. Now, the next three months of new game modes, quests, and challenges, entitled 'The Season of Opulence," has begun, and once again it has drawn massive numbers of players and streamers back to Bungie's looter shooter. And the performance in these first days has completely blown the previous season's numbers out of the water.

"Season of the Drifter' began in early March of this year, and on its first day increased the peak viewership for Destiny 2 to just over 30,000 audience members. Meanwhile, the first peak above shows 'Opulence' drew in nearly 140,000 total viewers, with an additional peak the following day of over 120,000. Importantly, this is not all because of the beginning of the latest season. It was a very big week for Destiny 2 in general, as the build-up to E3 featured announcements that the game would be a featured title on the upcoming Google Stadia platform, that characters and saves would be playable across platforms, and that the base-game, minus season-pass content, would be going free-to-play. These changes supercharged the release of 'Season of Opulence,' keeping the game in the headlines and building solid buzz, and clearly it drew in enormous crowds on Twitch. This launch of the latest season has brought the game to its highest overall viewership since September of last year, and if all of the changes coming to the title can keep this level of engagement going, we'll be seeing Destiny 2 at the top of the charts for a significant amount of time.

4. Jump King

Increase Viewership: 546,553 Hours (17th Overall), 1012.61%

Increase Streamers: 349 Channels (84h Overall), 110.79%

Here we have a new example of the impact larger streamers can have on a smaller title, just by picking it up for a few hours. Jump King was our top new releases when it hit Steam back in early May, but already dropped into our top falling titles only two weeks later. That typically indicates the end for a smaller title; they benefit from the early buzz streamers can give them, and definitely increase sales as a result, but their time in the spotlight is short. This week, though, a hand full of larger streamers, led by xQcOW and Yassuo, picked up the game on the final day or our rankings period, and, as you can see above, it resulted in a huge spike in viewership, increasing their total by more than 1000%. The total number of streamers also quintupled while they were all playing, demonstrating that attention on Twitch didn't just lead to increased viewership, but more people simply playing. These big streamers will likely move on, and Jump King will return to its previous levels, but still, this past week is a great example of how a title can be revived by larger streamers. This is a success worth celebrating.

5. Borderlands 2

Increase Viewership: 254,207 Hours (29th Overall), 118.99%

Increase Streamers: 4637 Channels (11th Overall), 136.94%

As a part of the E3 celebration of all things Borderlands, including more details about the upcoming, highly anticipated sequel, the teams at Gearbox and 2K revealed a surprise: a brand new, free expansion for Borderlands 2 that acts as a bridge between it and the next title. At the same time, game distributor Steam slapped huge discounts on both it, and 'The Handsome Collection," in which the former is included. The result is a large increase in attention on Twitch for the legacy title, a game which was already climbing as the community whetted their appetite for the sequel.

In addition to the number above, 'The Handsome Collection" accrued an additional 20,000 hours of viewership and a whopping 6896 additional streamers, which was the fourth largest increase for any title on the platform. It's impossible to know if they were all playing Borderlands 2 in lieu of the other titles included in that collection, but given the events of the week it seems likely. All that together gives it the final spot in our top rising rankings, and indicates that, even with some controversy surrounding it, Borderlands 3 is set up to dominate Twitch upon its release. We're looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

Top 5 New Releases

1. Cooking Simulator

Total Viewership: 1,131,780 Hours, 29th Overall

Total Streamers: 2420 Channels, 90th Overall

Simulations of somewhat mundane activities have long been the rage on Twitch. All the way back to Bus Simulator, there's something about digitizing and gamifying everyday jobs and tasks that proves captivating for audiences. Cooking Simulator is just the latest in the history of such titles, and it did well enough upon its release this past week to take our top spot for new arrivals on the platform.

The game is exactly what it sounds like; players are tasked with utilizing the equipment and supplies in a professional kitchen to complete and serve recipes, and while there's the potential for chaos with, for example, the ability to start a fire, the focus is really on the mechanics of the cooking itself. Top streamers like Alanzoka, LIRIK, and xQcOW contributed their sizable audiences and were a large part of the game's initial success. This does, however, make the game vulnerable to sliding when and if they leave. It will be interesting over the next few weeks to see how its community grows, and whether it can remain a Twitch fixture with fewer major contributors. For now, though, Cooking Simulator has enjoyed a great first week, and deserves its spot as the top rising new release in streaming.

2. Hell Let Loose

Total Viewership: 155,454 Hours, 110th Overall

Total Streamers: 1079 Channels, 182nd Overall

Note: We are officially including "Early Access" titles in our rankings from this point forward. Titles will be included as new releases only for their primary release date into early access.

Hell Let Loose is a World War II focused competitive FPS, featuring open battles with up to 100 players and the added wrinkle of large-scale resource management. It was released into early access on June 6th, and the viewership it accrued through its more than 1000 participating streamers was enough to take our second spot in our list of top rising new releases. Unlike the title above, no major streamers dedicated substantial hours to Hell Let Loose. Only one creator accrued more than 10,000 hours of viewership, and only nineteen reached 1000 total hours. This means that, while the game's reach is still somewhat limited, it's not vulnerable to a single or small group of streamers leaving and tanking the game's overall numbers. As an early access title, there will be plenty of opportunities to pull in larger audiences with large updates and content releases, so the future could be brighter. For now, though, the game has carved out a decent community of engaged players that seem likely to stick around, at least for a little while. It's a strong start for a small title trying to make room for itself in a crowded space.

3. Trover Saves The Universe

Total Viewership: 219,425 Hours, 85th Overall

Total Streamers: 1675 Channels, 122nd Overall

From Justin Roiland, one of the minds and most of the voices behind the hit TV series Rick and Morty, Trover Saves the Universe leverages the aforementioned shows irreverent, over-the-top humor to deliver a hilarious, engaging single-player adventure, one that's an absolute joy to watch if you can't get your hands on it yourself. While several larger streamers like UberHaxorNova and Ezekiel III did pick up the game, the majority of players were smaller, with only 6 creators accruing more than 10,000 hours of total viewership. Normally, this would mean a solid foundation of creators to build from, but given that this is a story-driven solo title, it seems more likely that all will move on once the game has been completed.

That being said, this is a perfect game to make noise on Twitch. Viewers will not only be constantly entertained by the game's ever-present comedy, like watching a TV show, but they also get to enjoy their favorite creators' reactions to the ridiculousness, like watching a show with a friend. It's lifespan will almost certainly be limited, but, for now, this is a really solid launch for a title that should continue to see new creators pop in as time goes on.

4. Reventure

Total Viewership: 176,992 Hours, 101st Overall

Total Streamers: 376 Channels, 408th Overall

And now, getting past the bigger new releases, we come to Reventure. A pixel-graphic exploration adventure, the title from Pixelatto's main claim to fame is its boast of featuring 100 different endings to discover. It's not quite a roguelike, but it features a similar gameplay loop, with each death resetting the game world for you to try again, but without the element of randomization. This large world to explore for hidden secrets and endings makes for great streaming material, as you can keep coming back to the game over and over again while finding new endings and experiences. It did not maintain the momentum of its first day well, so it might not be sticking around much longer, but this is still an impressive debut from a small title and team.

5. N/A - No Qualifying Title

Top 5 Falling

1. Splitgate: Arena Warfare

Decrease Viewership: 822,842 Hours (3rd Overall), 89.31%

Decrease Streamers: 6974 Channels (3rd Overall), 54.09%

It's been a surprisingly sharp decline for Splitgate on Twith, with the more than half of departing streamers including most of those participants with sizable audiences, leading to a nearly 90% reduction in overall viewership. The title benefited from a lot of positive press prior to and just after its release, with its combination of Portal mechanics and Quake Arena style deathmatches yielding complementary headlines. But, clearly, something is pushing larger streamers away.

Figuring out just what that something is would require more inside information. It could be that the predominance of larger streamers playing the title were doing so as part of a direct sponsorship agreement, and that those deals have reached their conclusion. If their audiences weren't demanding more of it, it would make a lot of sense for those creators to move on for something else. This would explain the extremity and suddenness of this decline. Regardless, it's clear that viewing community for this title has dramatically declined, to the point that recovery to previous levels is unlikely. This is a surprise, to be sure, and something we'll have to investigate more as times goes on to see just what we can learn.

2. Layers of Fear 2

Decrease Viewership: 922,764 Hours (2nd Overall), 75.43%

Decrease Streamers: 779 Channels (11th Overall), 20.13%

Though its decline in total streamers isn't nearly as pronounced as the title above, Layers of Fear 2 suffered from a similar scenario in that most of its largest contributing streamers moved on to other games. Creators like alanzoka (75K hours), MOONMOON_OW (65K Hours), CohhCarnage (56K Hours), and others, all left the title behind, this week, taking their audiences with them. The result was the second largest overall loss in raw viewership hours on the platform. While this isn't ideal, the more than 5400 creators who remain represent a strong foundation of streamers for an online asymmetrical survival-horror that relies on a steady stream of players to stay fresh and playable. Its days at the top of the Twitch charts are likely at an end, but with a steady flow of content releases moving forward, the game should stay relevant in the world of streaming for some time.

3. Xera: Survival

Decrease Viewership: 725,279 Hours (4th Overall), 82.68%

Decrease Streamers: 1009 Channels (9th Overall), 45.95%

We have a bit of a theme going this week. Again, this game's decline can mostly be attributed to most of its largest contributors leaving the title. Creators like summit1g (311K Hours) and Greekgodx (118K Hours) played the game for more than a dozen hours in the previous week, but did not stream it again during this week's rankings period. The corresponding drop in total streams wasn't only these large creators, however, indicating that it's not just the latter, but the community at large that might be ready to stream something else. As an early access title, there remains opportunity in the future to get players back. Summit played the title for more than 20 hours, so it wasn't just a fleeting experiment. Should additional content improve and expand the game, creators like him might return. For now, though, its precipitous decline makes it one of our top falling titles for the week.

4. Pathologic 2

Decrease Viewership: 198,497 Hours (218th Overall), 90.36%

Decrease Streamers: 280 Channels (26th Overall), 52.17%

Single-player story-driven titles have short lifespans on Twitch, as we've previously discussed, even when they're major AAA releases like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. For smaller titles from less established developers, this pattern is even more pronounced, and while Pathologic 2 is the sequel to a classic horror title, it was always more of a cult hit than a major success. The result was a decent first week of streams, but only a few featuring large creators, all of whom have moved on now that we're in its second week. With a small base of creators to begin with, this indicates there's likely little appetite left for this game among streamers or viewers. Having lost almost all of its total viewership, we don't expect to see this title rise again in the future.

5. Total War: Three Kingdoms

Decrease Viewership: 960,963 Hours (1st Overall), 35.56%

Decrease Streamers: 1070 Channels (6th Overall), 30.21%

It's still doing very well, with a solid foundation of remaining streamers and a still-large audience, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the largest drop in overall viewership on the platform, which belongs to Total War: Three Kingdoms. While other titles on this list might be in danger of losing their hold on the platform, this game still remains the 19th most watched on Twitch. We've seen this pattern before, of course, most recently with Days Gone, which appeared on our top falling list multiple times. When a game accrues large viewership numbers, it can both be a top performer and a top falling title at the same time. Such is the case here. Is this trend downward going to continue moving forward? Most likely. But, it's fall will take some time, and that's an indicator of just how successful the game has been overall. It takes our final spot this week, but there's nothing to be ashamed of for the teams at Creative Assembly, Feral Interactive, and Sega.

To compare to last week's rankings, click here. Also be sure to check out our breakdown of why upcoming XCom successor Phoenix Point is being built to be perfect for streaming, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for all the latest blogs, announcements, and game marketing news from the team at GAMESIGHT!