Michael "shroud" Grzesiek is one of the world's most prominent Twitch streamers and a true legend when it comes to shooter games. Recently, he hosted a charity streaming marathon called Fragathon, captivating fans while raising money for a great cause. On the marathon’s final day, shroud achieved his ambitious $1 million fundraising goal, with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
In addition to this impressive philanthropic achievement, Fragathon secured a spot among the top ten most-watched livestreaming marathons of early 2025. Streams Charts has released detailed event statistics, highlighting shroud’s most exciting moments through the marathon and analyzing how it stacked up against similar initiatives by other content creators.
Shroud’s Fragathon was nothing short of remarkable. What started as Grzesiek's heartfelt mission to raise funds for the fight against childhood cancer quickly grew into a monumental success. The cause was especially meaningful to shroud, as his father tragically passed away from lung cancer in 2023.
By the end of the marathon, shroud didn’t just hit his target, he exceeded it, raising an additional $55,000 for charity. The event drew support from a variety of notable content creators, including former Cloud9 teammates from his professional Counter-Strike days, Tarik "tarik" Celik and Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham. Joining them were stars like Case "CaseOh" Dylan Baker and Ludwig "Ludwig" Anders Ahgren, and even influencers outside the streaming world, such as Alexander "bbno$" Leon Gumuchian, making Fragathon a truly collaborative and impactful effort.
The Fragathon marathon ran for more than a month, from January 5 to February 8, gathering over 5.1 million Hours Watched (HW). While this isn’t a groundbreaking result (especially considering shroud’s peak viewership only slightly surpassed 31,000 concurrent viewers), it’s still a commendable outcome.
Shroud has always relied on the strength of his loyal, long-term audience rather than making short-term waves to attract fleeting attention. This stability is reflected in his average viewership, which stood at an impressive 11,800: a remarkable number for a dedicated gaming streamer, particularly one as seasoned as shroud.
Shroud's marathon kicked off with a bang, drawing over 31,000 viewers on the opening day, the highest turnout of the entire event. Other memorable moments came on the 6th and 12th days, when shroud dove deep into his latest gaming obsession, Marvel Rivals, teaming up with popular streamers like Jaryd "summit1g" Russell Lazar and Saqib "LIRIK" Zahid.
Non-gaming content also kept fans entertained. One of the standout segments was the Hot Ones Challenge, where shroud and his friends braved chicken wings drenched in a variety of spicy sauces. The grand finale didn’t disappoint either, featuring a lively auction where top prizes included collectible cards from games like Pokémon.
Shroud isn’t the only streamer to host a marathon in early 2025. Streaming marathons remain a popular trend, with dozens of creators currently hosting their own. Among all marathons from late 2024 to early 2025, shroud holds an impressive sixth place for total watch time.
What happens when two of North America's top streamers from Twitch and YouTube team up? That's right, you get one of the most-watched marathons possible. At the end of December, Kai Cenat and Darren "IShowSpeed" Jason Watkins Jr. joined forces for another stream, this time diving into Fortnite. After two intense days of gameplay, they finally secured a ranked victory, which brought them 10 million hours of watch time combined, with joint peak viewership soaring past 330,000 concurrent viewers.
Among individual efforts, the best-performing marathon was conducted by immensely popular Asian influencer Reza "yb" Oktovian. Known as a DJ and singer-songwriter, he commands a huge following in Indonesia, where thousands (and occasionally hundreds of thousands) tune in to his streams. His marathon is still ongoing and is on track to surpass 10 million hours of watch time.
Among other completed marathons, Brazilian streamer Luan “Jon Vlogs” Kovarik stands out for his streams in January with other Brazilian stars like Bruno "Nobru" Goes dos Santos, earning over 6.8 million watch hours. AI-powered Neuro Sama is currently leading the scene among VTubers. Meanwhile, among North American streamers, shroud was narrowly outperformed by Thomas "sodapoppin" Chance Morris, who also hosted a charity marathon in January.
Shroud's Fragathon was undeniably a major success, blending entertainment with a meaningful cause. Not only did it captivate a loyal audience throughout its month-long run, but it also raised funds that will hopefully contribute to saving lives. Events like this showcase the positive impact livestreaming can have when creators leverage their platforms for good. Here's hoping 2025 brings even more initiatives that leave both viewers satisfied and make a real difference in the world.
