With the proliferation of esports and broadcasting related to video gaming and competitive play, there is no shortage of information when it comes to tournaments and events. However, finding reliable databases that collect information on publishers and the viewership performances of their games across live-streaming services like Twitch, YouTube, and Kick is not easy.
That is where Streams Charts' extensive information bank, which readers can also access via a PRO subscription, has helped us to collate a few watch time lists regarding the half-yearly performances of some of the most prominent video game publishers. Our analysis has not thrown up any major surprises, but it does give an idea of which companies enjoy a larger share of the viewership market pie and which developers are working hard to broaden their audience reach globally.
Most watched game publishers in H1 2024
The number one name when it comes to cumulative watch time in the first six months of the year is Riot Games, with 1.7B Hours Watched. The American company continues to make merry thanks to games like League of Legends and Valorant, with the former retaining its place as the most popular esports game globally.
LoL was also Riot's most-viewed title in H1 2024, hitting a little over 1B HW, which is a huge 59.7% contribution to the overall figure. Other renowned games that enjoy a steady presence in the competitive and content creation communities include Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra, apart from the mobile versions of Valorant and LoL (Wild Rift, League of Legends Esports Manager).
Rockstar Games is second with 1.2B HW, with the American giant continuing to shape the cultural zeitgeist thanks to its legendary Grand Theft Auto series and its most successful installment, GTA V, which continues to go strong over a decade after its release. It was also the form's number-one game, hitting a massive 987.9M, a contribution of just over 80% to the overall watch time.
GTA V's various role-playing servers have also played a huge role in the game retaining its charm and player base so many years later, with names like NoPixel and HighLife RP attracting some highly prominent creators. Other titles (and series) that deserve mention when it comes to helping Rockstar Games maintain a healthy audience reach are Max Payne and Red Dead Redemption, which enjoy a cult following among a certain segment of viewers and streamers.
Third is Valve, the name behind legendary titles like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2, with 835.64M HW. While recent troubles, especially with regard to the latter, have dampened what has been a pretty stellar run, the introduction of the newest game in the long-running and beloved shooter series has given its followers a massive fillip.
CS2 also ended as the most-watched game for the publisher in H1 2024, contributing a solid 45.4% to the cumulative HW figure. We must also mention some other titles from Valve that attract viewership from select pockets, like Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress 2.
Activision is the next video game publisher to make this leaderboard with 473.7M HW. Its top title was Call of Duty: Warzone, which contributed 56.1% to the company's cumulative watch time across the six months in question. The game was also part of the recent Esports World Cup 2024, attracting a healthy audience number, although it could have been better if not for the absence of prominent community casters.
Rounding off the top five is Blizzard Entertainment, the name behind World of Warcraft, perhaps the most successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game of its time and certainly one that redefined its genre. It was also the title contributing the most to the company's overall watch time, with 28.5%, helped by other renowned offerings like Starcraft II, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and Hearthstone.
It would be remiss of us not to mention a few other game publishers to either make this top ten or leave a mark on the business recently. Video game companies like Capcom, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and Garena have all brought to life games that continue to inspire and entertain millions worldwide. Moonton's MLBB is worthy of special praise as perhaps the only game to be able to challenge LoL when it comes to peak concurrent viewership at the highest level of competitive gaming.
Most watched mobile game publishers in H1 2024
While the non-mobile top five stays the same as above, the rankings for mobile games don't throw too many surprises. Tencent Games leads the pack with a total count of about 247M HW, spearheaded by PUBG Mobile, which contributed almost 77% to this figure. The company also holds stakes in a lot of other major publishing firms, but a few other titles that come under its umbrella are Honor of Kings and its international release, Arena of Valor, Call of Duty: Mobile, and PUBG Mobile Lite.
Garena comes in second having accrued 240.5M HW in H1 2024, mostly thanks to Free Fire, which brought in a whopping 88.81% of this number. Apart from Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, this battle royale shooter has claims to be the most followed mobile esports title globally and held the record for most popular competitive tournament till as recently as 2023.
Third is Level Infinite on 199M HW, a number almost entirely borne of the hard work done by PUBG Mobile, which accounted for 95.50% of this watch time figure. Another famous BR title that enjoys passionate fans across the globe, it has a robust esports system that attracts millions annually and has legitimate claims to being the best of the rest when it comes to mobile esports, behind MLBB.
Next comes the organization which has grown from strength to strength over the past few years, Moonton hit 198.8M HW thanks solely to MLBB. This MOBA, banks on fans in its especially popular regions of Southeast Asia, China, and LATAM/Brazil to get most of its audience, and they usually do not disappoint. Recent regional leagues and world championship editions have shown that under the right circumstances, it can challenge any other game for the title of most popular esports discipline.
Supercell follows with 68.5M HW, thanks largely to Brawl Stars, which contributed a substantial 60.60% of viewers to this figure. The game, intriguingly, enjoys a much larger audience base on YouTube, where the official channel has ended as the most viewed stream by peak concurrent viewership in both the first and second quarter of this year. However, we must not forget games like Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, which also have niche fanbases globally and have fairly robust esports systems
Game publishers with the highest watch time growth from the second half of 2023
This list, which provides a good sense of which companies are enjoying a solid 2024, has Rockstar Games at the top with a watch time rise of 195.2M HW or 18.8%. Next comes Bandai Namco Entertainment, which saw a massive jump of 143.7% thanks to Elden Ring and the release of its latest DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, which blew up on Twitch thanks to Kai Cenat and his marathons.
Valve and Activision finish third and fourth with increases of 20.8% and 29.5% in their total half-yearly watch time stats. Both orgs have seen ups and downs in their major titles, but they remain two of the most in-demand developers when it comes to the catalog of video games they offer to fans across the globe.
Most Watched Game Publishers in H1 2024
| Game Publisher
|
Hours Watched
|
Top game, contribution %
|
|---|---|---|
| Riot Games
|
1 702 770 203
|
League of Legends, 59,7%
|
| Rockstar Games
|
1 230 857 312
|
Grand Theft Auto V, 80.3%
|
| Valve
|
835 641 193
|
Counter-Strike, 45.4%
|
| Activision
|
473 741 770
|
Call of Duty: Warzone, 56.1%
|
| Blizzard Entertainment
|
471 368 689
|
World of Warcraft, 28.5%
|
| Electronic Arts
|
442 307 259
|
Apex Legends, 46.8%
|
| Epic Games
|
414 583 069
|
Fortnite, 96.4%
|
| Bandai Namco Entertainment
|
309 237 514
|
Elden Ring, 60.8%
|
| Mojang Studios
|
290 118 526
|
Minecraft, 99.9%
|
| Garena
|
262 821 867
|
Garena Free Fire, 81.3%
|
Finishing up these standings is PocketPair, which saw a monumental increment of 45368.6% in its watch time from the second half of 2023. That was mainly due to the performance of Palworld, the Pokemon adjacent game with a much grittier and darker tone that took over Twitch when it first launched in January. In fact, it remains the most successful video game release of 2024 having jumped to the top of the purple platform's most-watched games list during its first three days.