Political tensions between countries may be rising, but culturally, the story is very different, and few demonstrate that better than American streamer Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr., who just finished an eye-catching tour of China. He seemed to try it all, from scaling the Great Wall to test-driving local supercars and interacting with robots, all while delivering countless unforgettable and hilarious moments to hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Not long ago, IShowSpeed was streaming from a small apartment in Cincinnati. Now he’s rubbing shoulders with football legends, getting sworn in (briefly, but officially) as mayor of Peru’s capital, and playfully sparring with fans in Greece. His worldwide tours over the last two and a half years have massively boosted his following: he gained 9.5 million followers on his channel alone. Streams Charts takes a look at how successful his China tour was and what kind of viewership he’s been pulling in around the globe.
From his very first streams in China — kicking things off in Beijing and Shanghai — both Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and Western bloggers were quick to point out that Speed was, in many ways, dismantling years of Western narratives about the country. With mostly warm fans, towering skylines, advanced tech, and rich historical landmarks, China came across on his streams as anything but a dangerous place to visit. And what's more important, despite the distance, China’s youth culture feels surprisingly familiar to American audiences.
Throughout his trip, Speed streamed nearly 48 hours of content, accumulating over 6.77 million hours of live viewership. On average, his streams attracted more than 140,000 concurrent viewers, highlighting the incredible engagement during his broadcasts.
Speed’s streams from China were packed with unforgettable moments, from meeting the “Chinese Trump” or viral creator Tony from LC Sign, to training with Shaolin monks or scaling the iconic Love Ladder. However, the highlight of his trip, at least in terms of live viewership, came during his visit to Shenzhen.
While in Shenzhen, one of the world’s leading business centres and a global tech hub, Speed explored the latest in engineering, danced with a robot, enjoyed a spectacular drone show, and even took a ride in a flying car! The stream from Shenzhen attracted nearly 253,000 concurrent viewers, setting the highest viewership record of his entire Chinese journey.
Another standout moment of the trip was the stream from Chengdu, where Speed sampled local Chinese cuisine. Of course, there was also the legendary encounter between the streamer and singer Da Zang Wei, the artist behind the song "Wowkie Zhang". The track has since humorously become known as the IShowSpeed anthem due to the sound overlay that, to American ears, resembles a racist slur.
While Speed's trip to China was an incredible success and garnered immense popularity among viewers, it wasn't the highest-performing of his travels. His peak audience numbers came during his tour across East Asia (Japan, Korea) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines, and more). Overall, across all his trips in different years, he accumulated an astounding 12.1 million hours of watch time, with one of his Indonesian streams even setting a career record, attracting over a million viewers at once! In addition, throughout these streams, he gained 3.5 million new followers, a number that far exceeds the growth seen in all other regions.
While Speed's biggest recent peaks have been in Asia, Europe has been his main international streaming hub in terms of duration. He has streamed over 77 hours from Europe, with the majority of that time focused on Euro 2024.
Globally, Speed has spent over 260 hours livestreaming over the last two and a half years, and accumulated over 34 million hours of watch time, amassing over 9.5 million new followers. This is a level of engagement that even some of the biggest streamers can reach only after streaming for thousands of hours.
IShowSpeed has truly become a global icon, breaking boundaries and reshaping perceptions along the way. Through his tours across the world, from China to Southeast Asia and Europe, he’s not only shattered stereotypes but also shown just how much the world’s cultures have in common. As Speed continues to bridge cultural divides and build a massive following, his journey is one to watch, proving that the world is not as divided as it seems, and sometimes, a single streamer can bring us all a little closer together.
