Crimson Desert continues to post impressive live streaming stats a week after its launch. The new open-world action-adventure title from Pearl Abyss has already generated over 27.1 million Hours Watched, making it the second most popular game release of 2026, trailing only Resident Evil: Requiem. This massive digital footprint is backed by equally strong commercial performance, as the game sold over 3 million copies within its first week on the market.
Crimson Desert statistics in the live streaming
Twitch naturally became the primary platform for Crimson Desert, accounting for 17.4 million Hours Watched out of the total 27.1 million HW. During its launch week, the Crimson Desert category reached a peak of 497.3K concurrent viewers, ranking as the second-highest result of the week. Furthermore, the number of peak concurrent channels streaming the game reached 9.6K, which was the highest result among all games on the platform during that period.
Between March 19-25, Crimson Desert successfully maintained its position as the third most popular game on Twitch. In terms of Hours Watched, the new title trailed only Counter-Strike and League of Legends, which traditionally dominated the charts due to a high volume of esports broadcasts.
Streams Charts regularly covers the launches of all major gaming titles and their live-streaming performance. You can find detailed reports on previously released games in a dedicated section on our website.
Looking at all game releases in 2026, Crimson Desert ranked second in total Hours Watched during its first week, trailing only Resident Evil: Requiem.
2026 Top New Games by Live Streaming Statistics
| #
|
Game (all platforms)
|
Hours Watched (release week)
|
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Resident Evil Requiem |
43 692 090 |
|
2 |
Crimson Desert |
27 191 663 |
|
3 |
Hytale |
13 013 960 |
|
4 |
Pokémon Pokopia |
12 961 634 |
|
5 |
Marathon |
7 897 587 |
Top Crimson Desert streamers
Zack “Zackrawrr” Hoyt remained the most popular Crimson Desert streamer during the game's opening week. Over the course of seven days, he broadcasted for 27 hours, generating 1.15 million Hours Watched. Ben “CohhCarnage” Cassell followed in second place; despite playing twice as long, his total watch time was nearly half that of the leader. Zackrawrr also maintained his position as the most popular streamer by peak viewership, drawing 69 740 concurrent viewers to his channel on the game's release day.
Most popular Crimson Desert streamers
Read more: Crimson Desert debuts as 2026’s second most-popular new game in livestreaming
Crimson Desert FAQ
How much does Crimson Desert cost?
Crimson Desert follows a traditional "Buy-to-Play" model. The available editions include:
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Standard Edition ($69.99): The base game experience, now the industry standard for AAA titles.
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Deluxe Edition ($89.99): Includes the "Exclaire" vanity set for both the protagonist and their horse, alongside various digital bonuses.
Are there Twitch Drops for Crimson Desert?
To celebrate the Crimson Desert global release, Pearl Abyss has launched an official Twitch Drops campaign. The event is split into two phases:
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Week 1 (March 19 – 25): Viewers can earn the "Blue Scout" gear set (cape, armor, helmet, and shield) plus various consumables. A total of 5 hours of watch time is required for the full set.
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Week 2 (March 26 – April 1): Rewards shift toward horse cosmetics, including unique saddles and stirrups.
To participate, players must link their Pearl Abyss account to their Twitch profile and tune into any stream in the Crimson Desert category with the "Drops Enabled" tag.
