While viewership for VALORANT has now dipped below 100M hours watched, the game is still drawing record numbers.
These strong figures translate to continued success for its top streamers, although the game’s closest direct competitor, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, remains strong with leading esports channels.
Twitch’s Top Content – VALORANT
Demand for access to VALORANT’s closed beta via Twitch’s drop system appears to have declined somewhat, with the game falling below 100M hours watched for the first week. That said, beta access key drops are still having a significant impact with the game continuing to exceed 65M hours watched. Such sharp declines are expected when a game has been out for several weeks, but VALORANT continues to defy expectations with record viewership for three consecutive weeks.
It remains extremely difficult to use this viewership as any sort of measure for the game’s potential once it is officially released. Between the promise of access to such an exclusive club, and the fact that most people can only engage with the game through watching, these numbers likely to not represent the real viewership potential of a fully released, widely accessible title with no viewer incentives.
Twitch’s Top Channels – Anomaly
While viewership for VALORANT has declined, its top streamer grew his following in the last week from 13.85M hours watched to nearly 17M. As mentioned above, the numbers for Ludwig “Anomaly” Lagerstedt are significantly inflated by drops and longer broadcasts. The moment the drop incentive is removed, his primary motivator for streaming so much will end, and viewership will likely plummet. However, new popular games generally breed new top-level influencers, so it is entirely possible that “Anomaly” will remain a frequent name in the top 10 should VALORANT find success upon launch, though even a successful streamer for a popular game should not expect to sustain these sorts of numbers long term.
