A very easy way to see which video games are the most popular at any given time is to go to Twitch, Amazon's ($AMZN) streaming platform dedicated to gaming and eSports. While it won't account for sales or units shipped, and heavily benefits multiplayer online games, Twitch is the main resource we have to actively track what gamers are playing and what's become ubiquitous in the industry.
While there might be some interesting news here and there, most of the time, the same handful of games always tend to top the most-watched list. These games are among the most played and bought in the history of the medium, and while not everyone who plays Fortnite on their phone streams it on Twitch, it's still a great indicator of trends in the industry. But April and May 2020 has seen a usurper to the throne, and it didn't officially release to the public until today, June 2.
Valorant, a new first-person shooter from Riot Games, is a breath of fresh air to both gaming and streaming, as you don't see a new intellectual property top viewership charts every day; it just doesn't happen. We've written about the game before, and it's the breakout success of the decade so far.
Twitch Channels by Total Viewer Count, May 2020
|
Name of the Channel |
Most Total Views |
Platform |
|---|---|---|
|
Just Chatting |
175.94 million |
N/A |
|
Valorant |
150.91 million |
PC |
|
Fortnite |
129.33 million |
Various |
|
League of Legends |
125.32 million |
PC |
|
Grand Theft Auto V |
98.33 million |
PS4/Xbox One/PC |
|
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare |
95.39 million |
PS4/Xbox One/PC |
|
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
76.31 million |
PC |
|
DOTA 2 |
50.09 million |
PC |
|
Minecraft |
41.06 million | Various |
|
FIFA 20 |
40.04 million | PS4/Xbox One/PC |
|
World of Warcraft |
36.73 million | PC |
|
Apex Legends |
31.84 million | PS4/Xbox One/PC |
Just Chatting isn't a game, that's literally just people talking or recording podcasts, so naturally, it would be higher than any one video game. None of the games past Valorant are surprising to see on this list, as they've all been around long enough as franchises to establish very large fanbases.
What's even more impressive about Valorant beating out Fortnite for the #1 most-watched game of the last two months is that it wasn't technically released to the general public, and it's only available on high-end PCs. Fortnite is available on Windows PCs, Macs, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, iOS devices, and Android devices. That still didn't matter, more people wanted to see what Valorant was about, and watch others play it.
When the game first got announced, it was even more popular than it is now, and there's been a dropoff over the last two months. But even still, that lowered viewership and channel count didn't stop Valorant from being #1, and going forward we expect there to be another boost because today is Valorant's official release date! With more people able to get their hands on it, that will increase both the player base and eyeballs watching on Twitch.
And just because we didn't get to this before, here is one final table of just how insanely popular Valorant was when it first came out in a closed beta build, meaning only people with codes could play:
Twitch Channels by Total Viewer Count, April 2020
|
Name of the Channel |
Most Total Views |
Platform |
|---|---|---|
|
Valorant |
341.82 million |
PC |
|
Just Chatting |
137.31 million |
N/A |
|
League of Legends |
133.55 million |
PC |
|
Fortnite |
100.42 million |
Various |
|
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
85.71 million |
PC |
|
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare |
81.21 million |
PS4/Xbox One/PC |
|
Grand Theft Auto V |
74.26 million |
PS4/Xbox One/PC |
|
DOTA 2 |
52.94 million |
PC |
|
Minecraft |
41.17 million | Various |
|
World of Warcraft |
32.97 million | PC |
|
Hearthstone |
28.97 million | PC/Mac/iOS/Android |
|
FIFA 20 |
26.38 million | PS4/Xbox One/PC |
|
Final Fantasy VII Remake |
24.24 million | PlayStation 4 |
| Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 22.83 million | Nintendo Switch |
Valorant beat all people talking or recording podcasts in April. By more than double. By itself.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.