The Most Watched Games on Twitch

There’s no question that Twitch is the world’s leading live streaming platform by market share, and despite some ups and downs, it continues to be the go-to place for millions of users that want to watch their favorite video games and players in action.

That got us thinking, what are the most watched games on Twitch? Of course, we know that it’s a hotbed for esports, but is that it? In a nutshell, the answer is ‘no’, so let’s take a look at what’s popular right now.

Before jumping into our list, we want to give an honourable mention to Just Chatting. It’s the most viewed “game” on Twitch.tv, with 260,116,421 viewed hours, but it’s not really a game (rather just a load of random conversations from what we’ve seen) so it didn’t make the cut. 

#2 Grand Theft Auto V

With a massive 243,941,970 viewed hours, Grand Theft Auto 5 is easily the most viewed game (excluding Just Chatting as mentioned) on Twitch. It’s the gift that just keeps giving when you consider this game was launched in 2013. Set in the fictional state of San Andreas, the main characters Michael, Franklin and Trevor go on a spree of committing heists and many other unlawful activities while being hounded by powerful criminals, drug lords and corrupt government officials. 

#3 League of Legends

League of Legends has achieved iconic status in the world of esports and on Twitch.tv. Despite the game being released all the way back in 2009, it still wipes the floor against all other games that are also played as a professional esport.

LoL, as it’s commonly known, is a multiplayer – typically five players on each team – battle arena game, where each side must defend their ‘Nexus’ while plotting to attack the opposition’s base to destroy theirs (Nexus). There are more than 630 League of Legends channels on Twitch, ranging from pro players in high-level esport competitions through to random fans that simply play for fun with their mates.

#5 Fortnite

Coming in as the fifth most watched game on Twitch.tv over the past 30 days with 82,685,972 viewed hours is Fortnite. There are three distinct mode versions: survival, battle royale, and creative. While all three variants are hugely popular, Fortnite Battle Royale has become a global phenomenon. In this mode up to 100 players fight against each other with the last man/woman standing being the winner. It’s a great watch on Twitch, particularly if you know some good players as you can follow along and pick up loads of useful tips, too.

#12 Online Slots

A more recent edition to the Twitch most-watched leaderboard is online casino slots. This trend really only started 3 or 4 years ago, but now there are nearly 80 channels with 27,319,837 viewed hours collectively. These channels consist of casino players playing free online slot games while chatting away to their audience. One of the appealing aspects of this niche is that you don’t need any special skills. Many Twitch streamers use a popular casino review website like Gamblers Pro to find the best place to play, create an account, get hooked up to Twitch and start broadcasting. It adds a new dimension to gambling, and judging by the numbers, people seem to like it.