The third quarter of 2024 saw a relatively quiet lineup of major game releases, with Black Myth: Wukong leading in livestreaming popularity. Interestingly, three sports simulators made the list of the most successful new titles. Despite the quieter release schedule, there was enough variety across genres to keep viewers engaged.
Black Myth: Wukong became the most popular game release on streaming platforms in Q3 2024. This action RPG from Game Science generated over 39.3 million Hours Watched in seven days since release — 2.5 times more than its closest competitor. The release created a real buzz in the industry, attracting many popular streamers across platforms, including MixiGaming, zackrawrr, shroud, alanzoka, Pekora, xQc, Rubius, kamet0, DrDisRespect, and others.
Black Myth: Wukong became the most popular title of the first half of 2024. When compared to top titles from previous years, it was very close to the numbers of Hogwarts Legacy, but it significantly trailed behind Elden Ring and Diablo IV in watch time. For more detailed comparisons of Black Myth: Wukong with other game releases, check here.
Read also: Black Myth: Wukong became the most successful game release on Twitch in 2024
EA Sports FC 25 took second place in the rankings, racking up over 14.7 million HW across various platforms in its first week. On release day, it lagged behind the previous version of the game by about 10%, and that gap remained consistent by the end of the first week.
The First Descendant, a free multiplayer online shooter, landed in third place with 10.4 million HW in its first week. The game had a stronger launch than XDefiant and HELLDIVERS 2, though it was nearly on par with those titles by the end of the week. Top streamers like shroud, Gladd, AdmiralBahroo, and Aztecross dedicated significant time to The First Descendant. It’s also worth noting that the release was supported by an active advertising campaign on Twitch, including Twitch Drops, which helped attract a large audience.
The launch of Zenless Zone Zero, an urban fantasy RPG from HoYoverse (the creators of Genshin Impact), drew considerable interest from Asian gamers. The game built a solid following in the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan, and was particularly popular among VTubers. Western streamers like fobm4ster, Tectone, and PirateSoftware also got in on the action. Twitch Drops significantly boosted the game’s visibility as well.
In fifth place is the basketball simulator NBA 2K25, which generated over 6.7 million HW on streaming platforms in its first week, just behind Zenless Zone Zero. The primary audience for NBA 2K25 was North American players, including well-known Twitch and Kick personalities like xQc, Adin Ross, Agent00, and others. Twitch Drops also played a role, offering viewers experience boosters, along with other in-game rewards for watching.
Hunt: Showdown 1896, a dark, mystical shooter from Crytek, claimed the sixth spot. The game generated 6.6 million HW in its first week, largely thanks to streams from Austrian streamer Psychoghost and Czech streamer RachtaZ. Together, their channels accounted for over 20% of the total watch time during the game’s launch week. Twitch Drops also contributed to promoting Hunt: Showdown 1896.
Read also: Hunt: Showdown 1896 entered Twitch’s top categories thanks to top streamers and Drops
The city-building simulator Satisfactory pulled in over 4.2 million HW in live streams during its first week. While this genre isn’t the most popular among content creators or viewers, the game had a solid launch, securing a spot in the top 10 releases for the quarter. The biggest contributor to this success was CohhCarnage, one of the leading gaming streamers from the U.S.
Taking eighth place is Frostpunk 2, the sequel to the popular survival game from 11 bit studios. In its first week, it accumulated over 3.98 million HW. The game found a strong following among the Russian-speaking audience on Twitch, with Russian-language streams accounting for an impressive 24% of the total watch time.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II also made the top 10, generating 3.58 million HW in the first week. Notably, the developers promoted the game using two types of Twitch Drops: viewers could earn weapon skins by watching streams, and some exclusive cosmetic items were awarded for subscribing to partner channels. These channels featured popular content creators like CohhCarnage, AdmiralBahroo, MissMikkaa, Elajjaz, Grubby, PirateSoftware, and more.
Rounding out the top 10 is EA Sports College Football 25, a high school football simulator from EA Orlando. The game generated 3.5 million HW in its first week — an impressive feat for a niche sports title with a limited demographic. Unsurprisingly, most of the interest came from North American streamers and viewers, where high school football is hugely popular. The game benefited from a special Gameday Showcase campaign featuring live streams with well-known athletes like LeBron James, Chad Johnson, Quinn Ewers, Donovan Edwards, and Michael Vick.
Right after the Gameday Showcase on July 15-16, College Football 25 became the leading category on Twitch in terms of unique channels, with over 12,000 streamers broadcasting the game simultaneously— surpassing even Fortnite. Top streamers like Sketch, Kai Cenat, Agent00, and EsfandTV were heavily involved.
Outside the top 10 were titles like The Casting of Frank Stone and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, both of which garnered over 3 million HW in their release week, but that wasn’t enough to make it into the top tier of the rankings.
