S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl became the most popular game on Twitch on release day

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was officially released on November 20, marking the long-awaited return of the iconic series from GSC Game World, a game fans had been anticipating for over 15 years. Even before its launch, the game led in pre-orders and sales across some of the digital platforms, and within hours of going live, it became the most-watched game on major streaming services.

On launch day, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl peaked at over 416,400 Twitch viewers — making it the most popular game of the day. The only category with higher viewership was the non-gaming one, Just Chatting.

Most Popular Games on Twitch — Nov 20

Just a few hours after the launch (which took place on the evening of November 20, Central European Time), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 streams on Twitch racked up around 2.65 million hours of watch time. That’s more than League of Legends, Valorant, Minecraft, or Counter-Strike generated over the course of a full day. The only game that edged out S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in terms of total watch time was GTA V, thanks to heavy streaming activity from Japanese and Brazilian players on RP servers.

Most Watched Games on Twitch — Nov 20

Among the streamers showcasing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 on Twitch, HoneyMad took the lead with over 58,000 concurrent viewers at peak, setting a new personal record. At one point, HoneyMad's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 stream was the most-watched broadcast on the entire platform.

The top 10 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 streamers on launch day also included popular U.S. streamers and game critics like zachrawrr and CohhCarnage. Leb1ga, the most-watched Ukrainian-speaking streamer on Twitch, secured the fifth spot with 35,800 Peak Viewers. For Leb1ga, this stream marked the fifth-largest audience of his career.

For many streamers, broadcasting S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 led to some of their best viewership numbers. For example, CohhCarnage pulled in over 31,000 viewers, his highest number so far in 2024. Streams of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 also ranked among the most-watched of the year for bratishkinoff, ZLOYn, and JesusAVGN.

Most Popular Streamers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 on Twitch — Nov 20

On the release day of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, the most watch time came from streams in English and Russian, each accounting for 32.3% of the total viewership in the game’s category on Twitch. Ukrainian-language streams made up about 9.2%. 

The distribution of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 broadcasts on Twitch by Hours Watched

When it comes to the distribution of streamers, the U.S., Ukraine, and Poland had the most S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 broadcasters.

The distribution of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 broadcasts on Twitch on release day by countries

In terms of livestreaming audience reach, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 outperformed many of the most anticipated games of 2024. On release day, the game from GSC Game World came just shy of Palworld and Black Myth: Wukong in peak viewership on Twitch, but it easily surpassed Dragon’s Dogma II and HELLDIVERS II, with double the peak numbers. The Ukrainian title also had more channels streaming at its peak on launch day than Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Tekken 8.

Top releases of 2024 by Twitch Peak Viewers

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The release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 comes with some interesting tidbits. For instance, the game topped the Steam sales chart even before its official launch. Additionally, on the evening of November 20, much of Ukraine experienced temporary internet issues as the network struggled to keep up with the surge in downloads.

Streams Charts will be closely tracking S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s success on Twitch and other streaming platforms. In a week, we’ll publish a follow-up report with viewership stats from the game’s first seven days.