Credit: lolesports/Riot Games
Multiplayer servers made for role-playing on a modified version of Grand Theft Auto V have attracted the attention of some of Twitch’s biggest personalities signaling a new trend for the platform.
The following titles are ranked according to the total number of hours watched on Twitch 
, from Monday to the following Sunday, with data compiled using TEO Analytics.
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Stealing the Show
Grand Theft Auto titles aren’t known for making much of a mark on Twitch, but this past week a slew of high-profile influencers joined in on a multiplayer server for the game with a special twist. Instead of simply playing the game and being reckless, as is often the case in GTA, players on this server do role-play for their character during their entire in-game experience.
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Because of how distinctly unique this concept is, the likes of Jaryd “Summit1g” Lazar, Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris, and Saqib “Lirik” Zahid managed to each reel in more than 2M hours watched for the week on the title amounting to 14.9M hours watched total for the game.
Since the beginning of the year, the game has 40.2M hours watched, more than a quarter of which is from last week alone. The week also outperformed the titles’ entire month of February, which accumulated 10.3M hours watched.
With the influx of high-profile broadcasters with massive followings, the game has been able to start a trend that has attracted even more influencers and begin a GTA fad of role-playing streamers who are looking to take a break from games like Fortnite or Apex Legends.
Past the Apex?
During Apex Legends’ first few weeks on Twitch, the game recorded viewership the likes of which has rarely if ever been seen on Twitch, particularly from a new game. Electronic Arts’ battle royale title hit 30M or more hours watched two weeks in a row in February, but this past week, the game was a dud.
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With many streamers moving back to Fortnite or simply taking a break from battle royales all together, the game wasn’t able to reach 10M hours watched, its lowest weekly total since being released.
New Division
Online action shooter Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 released on March 15, but streamers with early access to the title helped it reach the top 10 this week. On top of streamers doing paid advertisements for the game, some managed to get their hands on copies early, allowing them to help build that little extra bit of hype for the game upon its release.
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Though the game likely won’t keep a spot in the top 10 regularly, the early access that some were provided is a marketing ploy that others may replicate to build up excitement for other titles and potentially increase early sales of games that may not have the same sort of staying power that predominant player-vs-player titles like Fortnite or League of Legends have.
