The most watched streamers and games of 2023 on Twitch have been published. The streaming platform has changed significantly in recent years: new faces and old games top the charts.
Where does the data come from? The website Stream Elements published a report on Twitch in November and throughout the year on December 20, 2023. There are statistics on watch time as well as the most watched streamers and games of the year.
One thing becomes clear: Twitch has long been more than just US content.
He was number 1 on Twitch for 3 years:
From Overwatch Pro to #1 on Twitch to $100 Million – Who is xQc?
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Twitch is very different today than it was 5 years ago
What has changed on Twitch? There has been a significant change on the streaming platform in recent years. If you look at the top 100 from 2018, the first 19 places are all English-language channels.
At the time, it seemed much more difficult for individuals to keep up with the official event channels from Riot and Blizzard. And the streamers who could do it were predominantly white male North Americans.
Just 5 years later the list looks completely different. In addition to English-speaking streamers, the top 10 now includes content creators who stream in Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese and even German. With Eliasn97, a German streamer has made it into the most-watched streamer of the year. This happened for the first time in 2023 in the 7 years for which these statistics can be viewed retroactively on Sullygnome.
After 3 years of xQc’s reign, Twitch has a new face in 2023: Kai Cenat has replaced the former Overwatch professional at the top after overtaking him in terms of paid subscriptions in September 2022.
With his subathon in February 2023, Kai Cenat broke two records on Twitch and amassed 43 million hours viewed. This even caught the attention of musician Drake.
xQc, on the other hand, who has been splitting time between both streaming platforms since his $70 million deal with Kick, only ends up in a comparatively distant 4th place.
The most viewed Twitch streamers of the last 365 days via Sullygnome
The most viewed games of the last 365 days via Sullygnome
New faces and old online games dominate Twitch
Who are the winners on Twitch? The big winner is probably Kai Cenat. The 22-year-old started streaming in 2021, landed in the top 100 in 2022 and is now the most-watched streamer of the year.
Eliasn97 also had a similarly steep rise: He started streaming in April 2020, and two years later he replaced MontanaBlack at the top of German Twitch. Now he has made it into the top 10 worldwide.
The success is no coincidence: The 26-year-old has already stated in the past that he wanted to “go all the way” for a few years so that he could then retire early and lead a relaxed life. To do this, he is now organizing elaborate events and hosting streaming marathons.
However, newcomers are significantly less represented in the streamed categories than in the games. “Just Chatting” lands by far in first place in the most-watched categories, followed by classics: League of Legends is the most-watched game, followed by GTA V.
Minecraft, Counter-Strike and Fortnite are still long-running favorites on Twitch even after years, and the good old World of Warcraft is currently a real crowd puller again.
When it comes to new games, Diablo 4 surprisingly takes the lead, ahead of Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur’s Gate 3. You can find the full statistics on Stream Elements.
How was the year for Twitch itself? 2023 wasn’t necessarily an easy year for Twitch: The new competitor site Kick launched and began aggressively poaching stars from Twitch. In addition, the streaming platform repeatedly came under criticism, streamers did not feel supported enough and viewers complained about Twitch’s content and policies.
Nevertheless, the year ends solidly for Twitch, with a peak in daily hours watched in November 2023. The figures for the current month of December are not included in the statistics. It remains to be seen whether the streaming platform can outdo itself again.