Riot Games’ FPS title Valorant surpassed 100 million hours watched on Twitch in its first week of beta according to Newzoo data. Popular Twitch streamers flocked to Riot’s newest game and saw their number of viewers spike, thanks in part to the beta key drops that Valorant issued across select (and now all) Twitch streams of their game. However, people have quickly fallen in love with the first-person shooter, which has only added to the success.
In the week following Valorant’s release, the game has topped the charts at (unaffiliated website) TwitchMetrics’ Twitch watch list with a staggering 182 million hours watched. Valorant has dominated popular titles like League of Legends and CSGO. In April, League of Legends comes in at number two with 122 million hours watched, a distant second. Just Chatting comes in at number three with over 118 million hours watched.
Valorant’s hours watched passes ESL
Valorant additionally overcame ESL’s reign as number one for hours watched that it had enjoyed for weeks. The popular CSGO outlet had hundreds of thousands of viewers tune in for various tournaments over the last few weeks. Valorant also defeated the viewership of the past League of Legends World Championship, which garnered 125 million hours watched across a month.
Some may argue that these numbers are somewhat skewed because of the addition of beta key drops added to streams. However, the 100 Thieves Invitational: Valorant broke 425,000 views across all platforms alone. Even with drops enabled, this is an impressive feat for a tournament unaffiliated with Riot Games.
Streamers continue to benefit
Valorant beta keys are still being given out around the clock across all Twitch streams playing the game. With the explosive success Valorant has had over the past few days, it’s clear that viewers will stay tuned, especially with the added rated mode coming to the beta in the coming weeks.
These beta keys have given smaller streamers the chance to gain viewers and establish their fan base. It’s uncertain whether these streams will continue to grow once the drops are done. However, this has opened up viewers to experience new entertainment across the platform.
Who do you watch on Twitch? Let us know in the comments! For more Valorant coverage, stay tuned to Daily Esports.
Published: Apr 15, 2020 03:40 pm