Popular American YouTuber Darren ''IShowSpeed'' Watkins Jr had an action-packed September traveling through Southeast Asia. In just two weeks, he visited seven countries, gained millions of new subscribers, set a new viewer record, and became the most popular English-speaking streamer in the world. Plus, his audience reach during this Asian tour far exceeded his summer trip to Europe for the EURO 2024 matches.
During his two-week adventure, IShowSpeed hit up Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, even returning to some places multiple times. He rode elephants, shared a cage with tigers, took part in nighttime street races, squeezed in a few Muay Thai lessons, met Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, and explored countless tourist attractions.
The IShowSpeed YouTube channel racked up the most watch time during his streams from Indonesia, totaling over 4.6 million Hours Watched across several broadcasts. It was in Indonesia that he set a personal record for Peak Viewers, reaching over 1.043 million concurrent viewers during a single stream. This marks the first time an English-speaking streamer has attracted more than a million concurrent viewers for a live broadcast.
IShowSpeed’s Asian tour also led to a massive boost in his subscriber count — over two weeks, he gained 3.4 million new followers, bringing his YouTube channel to more than 32.2 million subscribers.
IShowSpeed's trip through Southeast Asia turned out to be more popular with viewers than his European tour during EURO 2024. Although the American streamer visited fewer countries and spent less time on air, the total Hours Watched were significantly higher, along with a new personal record for concurrent viewership. His fans are already excited for his next adventure, with many asking him to take a similar tour in South America or Africa.
Three broadcasts from IShowSpeed’s Asian tour have claimed the top spots for the most popular streams on his channel, nearly doubling the viewership of his previous record-breaking stream from the 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony.
As it stands, IShowSpeed is among the top three most popular streamers of 2024 and has already secured a spot in the top ten most popular YouTube streamers of all time.
