Most popular fighting games in 2021 on Twitch

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In 2021, the change in quarantine regulations had a direct impact on fighting games and competitions. With the easing of restrictions, it became once again possible to organize LAN tournaments. Fans like the LAN format of fighting game tournaments a lot, and the return of such format affected the viewership statistics directly. In a new Streams Charts article, we will tell you about the most popular fighting games and fighting games' streamers over the past year on Twitch.

Top fighting games on Twitch in 2021

The most popular fighting game in 2021 was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Broadcasts of this game amassed 41 million Hours Watched: this number increased by 16% compared with 2020. In 2021, the fighting game scene became less affected by pandemic restrictions, which resulted in more tournaments than in 2020, thus having a direct impact on the statistics.

An earlier version of Super Smash Bros. Melee ranks sixth. It hasn't changed its position in the rankings since 2020. At the same time, Hours Watched of the game rose by 20% in the year 2021.  

In second place is Brawlhalla, a free-to-play fighting game that is available on PC as well as consoles and mobile devices. Game's Hours Watched increased by 54% over 2021 to 28,8 million. The statistics of the game skyrocketed thanks to regular esports contests with prize money ranging between $10K and $20K. Viewers are also attracted by gifts for watching competitions on Twitch. By doing so, viewers can get skins for game characters.

In the top are also the classic franchises, familiar even to those who are not much interested in fighting games — Street Fighter V, Tekken 7 and Mortal Kombat 11. Among them, MK drew the least number of viewers. The game lost 29% of Hours Watched compared with 2020. Fighting fans are more interested in professional players competitions, but there were almost no major Mortal Kombat events in 2021.

The new installment of the Guilty Gear series, Strive, is also in the ranking. It reached fourth place on Twitch in a year, accumulating 20,4 million Hours Watched. Guilty Gear Strive matches were shown as part of CEO 2021 and Red Bull Kumite, attracting even more attention to the game.

Another new fighting game title was Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. This is a game that brings together all the characters from the channel's cartoons. Despite the fact that it was not released until October 2021, it accumulated 3,9 million Hours Watched and reached 9th place in the ranking. This game is the leader in terms of Peak Viewers in our top, reaching 186K spectators. On October 6, the day after the game's release, many popular streamers, such as xQcOW, Ludwig and Mizkif, played it.

M.U.G.E.N rounds out the fighting ranking. This is noFFt an ordinary game, but a 2D engine, released in 1999. Thanks to this program, everyone has the opportunity to create their own full game and add to it any characters. M.U.G.E.N has become the perfect tool for crossovers, and there's even a library of fighters for every taste on the Internet, from Sub-Zero to Ronald McDonald.

Most popular fighting game streamers in 2021

Top fighting Twitch streamers in 2021:

Hungrybox, one of the best Super Smash Bros. players and, most recently, co-owner of Team Liquid, became the leader of the fighting game streamer ranking. In 2021, he was on air for 1,7K hours and amassed 3,8 million Hours Watched. At the same time, Smash Bros. Ultimate yielded 73% of his Hours Watched from the total.

Second place goes to Mang0, another professional Super Smash Bros player. Streams of the Melee installment made up 85% of Joseph's 2021 total Hours Watched (2,5 million HW). It should be noted that Mang0 and Hungrybox are considered one of the "Five Gods" of Super Smash Bros. Melee regarding their consistently high results in competitions.

In addition to professional players, Super Smash Bros. was streamed by popular streamers — moistcr1tikal and Ludwig. Even though Ludwig stopped streaming on Twitch in November 2021 and moved on to YouTube, he made it to the top anyway. Plus, his love of fighting games is so strong that he hosts his own Smash Bros. Melee tournament — the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series. The fourth season of LACS will be held on January 29-30, 2022.

In fifth place is SaltyBet. The streamer broadcast only M.U.G.E.N. in 2021. The service clashes fighters from different franchises in a live stream, and viewers on the streaming platform can bet money on the win. In 2021, the channel got 1,8 million Hours Watched and put the game in the top 10 in the genre. Other top streamers were professional Street Fighter V players — momochoco and DaigoTheBeasTV. They accumulated 1,3 and 1M Hours Watched respectively.

It is noteworthy that among almost all of the ranking participants fighting games account for more than 70% of the Hours Watched for the entire year. It means that these streamers spend most of their time playing a certain fighting game. Maximilian_DOOD stands out with 49% of Hours Watched in DragonBall FighterZ. Although the game accounted for half of the Hours Watched for the year, Maximilian devoted his time to other titles — he played Street Fighter III or Killer Instinct as well.

Twitch results in 2021:

• Most popular categories on Twitch in 2021
• Top Female Twitch Streamers of 2021
• Most watched streamers of 2021
• The most watched esports channels in 2021

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