For the first time since its launch in early April, VALORANT has fallen out of first place on Twitch, and with it the streak of its top channel for the last four weeks.
With no major esports infrastructure yet in place, it is unlikely we will see a spike in VALORANT viewership until its official launch later this summer.
Twitch’s Top Channel – Fextralife
The stranglehold on first place held by Ludwig “Anomaly” Lagerstedt for the last four weeks was finally broken, but more so due to his relinquishing of the throne than anything done by another streamer to supplant him.
Lagerstedt had maintained his first place streak through marathon streaming sessions which allowed viewers to increase their odds of earning access to VALORANT’s closed beta. Once Twitch’s new policies made it so Lagerstedt could not air recorded video, his long broadcasts became unsustainable and it was only a matter of time before he could no longer keep up the long streams, and those viewers only looking for beta access would begin to look elsewhere.
That said, with VALORANT still producing strong numbers, first place was likely to still belong to a channel focusing on the title. In this case, it was gaming network Fextralife, which generated nearly 4M hours watched.
Twitch’s Top Content – Just Chatting
As more viewers received their access to the beta and general hype continued its natural downward trend, VALORANT was destined to eventually lose its place at the top of the heap with no esports content to sustain it.
This week, the game was supplanted by Just Chatting, a catch-all category used for the majority of non-gaming content on Twitch.
Most streamers have some amount of Just Chatting content on their channel. Part of the success of many streamers is their ability to connect on a personal level with their viewers, and Just Chatting provides a conversational atmosphere for when a streamer better known for gameplay wants to take a break and speak with their chat about a particular topic. There are also dedicated Just Chatting channels that feature little to no gameplay. These range from podcasts to talk shows, channels that discuss mental health or political topics, and do not have a gaming focus.
Altogether, this content combined for 37.17M hours watched last week.
