Having created a massive wave with its release at the end of last week, the latest title in the Elden Ring universe, Nightreign, continued to turn over the weekend. It has become an undeniable livestreaming success, outdoing the numbers of legacy games and proving once and for all that, no matter the genre or game mode, developer FromSoftware can do no wrong when it comes to this critically acclaimed franchise.
Since its release on May 30, Elden Ring: Nightreign has emerged as the most-watched game on Twitch and the second most popular one. Even when extending the dates to the last week, i.e., between May 27 and June 2, it is in the third spot by both Hours Watched (HW) and Peak Viewers.
This is not the first time an Elden Ring game, or a launch that is part of the franchise, has become a success online. The original Elden Ring title itself was a monster success and has sold over 30 million copies, while its recent expansion pack, Shadow of the Erdtree, built on its legacy and put the game back atop the livestreaming charts early last year.
When comparing Shadow of the Erdtree and Nightreign, there's not much separating the two, with the former selling 5 million more after the first three days compared to the latter's 3.5 million after five days. Shadow of the Erdtree also put up much higher numbers (just over 32 million HW and 657,315 PV), but that just shows how successful the Elden Ring franchise has been in terms of attracting healthy audience numbers for any new release.
This is a great achievement, especially considering its watch time since release day has doubled the efforts of titles like Dota 2, Valorant, and Counter-Strike. Even when taking the cumulative HW numbers of any pair from among these three games, which are almost bulletproof when it comes to the demand they enjoy on the purple platform, Nightreign comes out on top.
What makes this climb up the ranking all the more remarkable is that each of the three legacy games mentioned has its established esports seasons that are ongoing. Interest in their livestreams tends to be higher when competitive play is being conducted, but the craze for Elden Ring: Nightreign seems to have outdone all of these factors.
Again, as Streams Charts had earlier analyzed, today's online landscape sees content creators play a significant role in the success of games, and Nightreign is no exception. Some of the most well-recognized influencers have been playing this title almost non-stop since May 30, contributing to its high livestreaming numbers.
A few of the most prominent streamers to play this co-op action survival title over the past few days are Elias "Elajjaz" Lönn, Zack "zackrawrr" Hoyt, and Chikara "fps_shaka" Kawakami. Crucially, Nightreign has been a success among VTbers like Kuzuha Channel, Pekora Ch., and Ohayama Ch. and knowing how loyal their audiences are, it has received a significant boost in its numbers through their broadcasts.
It's always a good sign when a game has a player and streamer base that is diverse, as it means it has reached more corners of the globe. As seen from the list of streamers playing it, Nightreign has been able to do just that, and this is also reflected in its language statistics.
While English was the dominant language, the likes of French, Japanese, German, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Spanish all have similar shares in the title's overall HW numbers since its release. A much faster-paced setting that allows friends (up to three members) to come together and take down bosses in a battle royale setting is a big reason for this widespread acceptance.
Nightreign also passed two million copies in sales on its launch day, with the latest numbers at the time of writing topping 3.5 million in shipments and digital sales. With a patch already released to make solo play easier, fix bugs, and make more balance changes, even those hardcore soulsborne fans who were unhappy that the latest release did not have the same difficulty curve when it comes to learning the combat mechanics are coming around.
This has also been reflected in the game's reviews on Steam, changing from "mixed" on its launch day to "mostly positive" at the time of writing. The work done by FromSoftware and the positive word of mouth within the community, especially from top streamers, has played its part in attracting more viewers to its livestreams.
Despite being a spin-off title to one of the biggest games ever, Elden Ring: Nightreign has already climbed up the Twitch charts and become one of the most popular video game releases of 2025. With the developer continuing to push out updates and players slowly warming up to the co-op setting (and a Duo Expeditions update announced for a later date), it could end up as one of the year's most successful titles on livestreaming come December.
