Riot Games’ VALORANT Tops Twitch as the Most Successful Shooting Game of the Year
Riot Games’ popular first-person shooter, VALORANT, dominated the streaming platform Twitch in 2022, surpassing all other shooting games in terms of total hours watched. According to data collected by Stream Charts, VALORANT recorded a staggering 1.126 billion total hours watched from January to December 18, nearly double the second-place game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive developed by Valve, which had approximately 685 million total hours watched.
CS:GO Leads in Peak Viewership, While Fortnite Trails Close Behind
While VALORANT claimed the top spot for total hours watched, the title of the shooting game with the highest peak viewership goes to CS:GO, with an impressive 1.6 million viewers. Epic Games’ popular shooter, Fortnite, secured the second-highest peak viewership, narrowly edging out VALORANT.
Talented Streamers Drive Viewership for CS:GO and VALORANT
Both CS:GO and VALORANT boast some of the most popular streamers on Twitch. Brazilian streamer Gaules takes the lead with over 126 million total hours watched, closely followed by Tarık Celik, a former CS:GO professional player and current VALORANT content creator, with 69 million total hours watched.
VALORANT’s Rise in Popularity and Content Creation
Since its release two years ago, VALORANT has gained momentum and popularity, especially within the realm of content creation. Many streamers, like Tarik, not only streamed their ranked matches but also participated in co-streaming various tournaments throughout the year, further increasing the overall viewership.
In term of peak viewership, however, VALORANT has yet to surpass the long-standing popularity of CS:GO, one of the most famous esports titles of all time.
Looking ahead, VALORANT will return for the VCT 2023 season, alongside new content introduced by Riot Games.
Riot Games, VALORANT, Twitch, shooting game, streaming platform, total hours watched, CS:GO, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, peak viewership, Fortnite, streamers, Gaules, Tarik Celik, content creation, esports, VCT 2023.