Streamers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were very busy in 2024, as seen from the fact that their cumulative watch time has far surpassed the numbers accumulated in the entirety of 2023. This was despite the number of streams and channels being much lower than in 2023, perhaps because some of the bigger names have been displaying better numbers.
Content creators from Kick were vital in this improvement, with almost all the top names from the list below seeing spikes in their year-on-year Hour Watched (HW) figures. IRL and Grand Theft Auto V (GTA) content were the most favored among these influencers, with Sports — specifically football — events also playing their part in the region's growth.
10 — Thamer "s5b"
S5b is Iraq's only representative on this table, having begun his journey in the content creation industry like many others that we will talk about later: on YouTube. He was also on Twitch until earlier last year when he moved to switch to Kick permanently, a decision that has not aged badly considering his place on this list.
The Erbil resident has mainly focused on Grand Theft Auto V in 2024, with his roleplaying livestreams proving popular among viewers. In fact, the game has taken up most of his airtime over the last 12 months, with only a couple of other titles even crossing the 10-hour mark when it comes to on-air time.
The 22-year-old is also the founder of the Respect GTA RP server, which has become one of the most popular options among gamers in the MENA region. As per his X bio, this server is a 'specialist in creating content and role-plays,' with many other influencers listed below also participating in it.
9 — Wassim "Wassimostv" Dhieb
Tunisia's Wassimostv initially came to prominence with his YouTube reaction videos to players and games — especially Garena Free Fire. He only began streaming on Kick earlier last year, but his fame, coupled with entertaining content, was enough to draw in thousands of video game fans.
The online star is also a big fan of gambling, with the Slots & Casino genre topping the list of his most-watched categories in 2024. He even owns a website of his own where he claims to be the longest-running high stake casino streamer online. Fans can buy merchandise on the site, partake in gambling activities, and be a part of his ever-growing community.
Many of his channel's most successful livestreams have involved gambling, meaning the 31-year-old's content might not be for everyone. However, there is no doubting the Sfax resident's increasing fame on Kick, especially since he is among the few Arabian-speaking influencers to be able to attract global viewers thanks to his ability to speak fluent English.
8 — Fawaz "Fwaz" Hamad
Fwaz is the lone Kuwaiti on this leaderboard, with his GTA V livestreams putting him among the game's most-watched creators last year on Kick. His dedication to the RP component has also helped him accrue more fans, resulting in a YoY jump of 303% in his watch time.
The 27-year-old has also used GTA V and its popularity in the Arabic region to attract more viewers and increase his fanbase. Most of his most successful livestreams in 2024 involved broadcasting this open-world action shooter and its RP component. Fwaz has also been occasionally playing some of Rockstar Games' other highly successful venture, Red Dead Redemption II, throughout the year.
7 — Yassin "Bougassaa" Bougassaa
The first of three Moroccans on these top ten rankings, Bougassaa is someone who only got into content creation in 2022. He began with YouTube, where he used to post videos on GTA V, vlogs involving friends and his daily life, and reaction clips.
The Marrakech native's 2024 broadcasts have involved a lot of giveaways, many of which ended among his most popular streams. He's also stuck to what gave him initial fame on YouTube, livestreaming plenty of GTA V and Just Chatting content.
Speaking of Grand Theft Auto, Bougassaa has adopted the Azar moniker for his roleplaying character. His funny commentaries and entertaining personality have helped draw in more viewers, putting him among the fastest-rising streamers on Kick in 2024.
6 — Soufiane "VodkaFunky" Gharbaoui
VodkaFunky is one the biggest content creators to come out of Morocco recently. Another internet personality who started with YouTube, the North African likes to stream titles like GTA V and Fortnite on his Kick channel, with the former being his most preferred title across 2024.
Grand Theft Auto is also what has helped him consolidate his presence on Kick, putting him among the platform's 40 most-watched names globally last year. Most of his content comes from the roleplaying segment, as he is part of the Bobony Family, a collective of streamers who play the Moroccan roleplay server of the same name.
Many of VodkaFunky's roleplaying livestreams include collaborations with the likes of Ilyas "Ilyas Elmaliki" Elmaliki. The Arabic creator has also won several regional awards, including trophies for Best Streamer from his homeland for 2019 and 2023.
5 — Hani "Absi" Qablan
The first of two Jordanian content creators in the top five, Absi is another rising Arabian internet star. What makes his presence here all the more remarkable is the fact that he only joined Kick in March, with his first livestream coming on the 12th of the same month.
A major reason for this meteoric rise is the fact that the 25-year-old has emerged as one of the leading PUBG Mobile streamers from the MENA region. In fact, he and countrymate Maher "Maherco" Sultaneh are the top two names for the mobile battle royale shooter last year by HW on the Stake-backed livestreaming service.
The Irbid resident has also played a lot of Respect RP, one of the fastest-growing GTA roleplaying servers and communities today. Unsurprisingly, a majority of his most popular broadcasts, which have come in 2024, involve playthroughs of GTA V and PUBG Mobile.
4 — Ilyas "Ilyas Elmaliki" Elmaliki
Ilyas Elmaliki has recently emerged as one of Morocco's most prominent content creators. Like many other top names, he used YouTube Gaming as his vehicle to relevancy, ending 2023 as its most popular video game content creator from Morocco. Aided by a 789% jump in his yearly watch time, he also finished within the overall top 20 globally.
Having joined Kick in the summer of 2023, the 28-year-old slowly but surely built a solid audience base, no doubt helped by his following on YouTube. Last year, his content on Grand Theft Auto V, Chat Roulette, and the last two EA Sports FC games have ensured that his fame has reached a whole new level.
This rise in popularity was confirmed by the fact that he was chosen as the President of the Morocco team that will participate in the upcoming Kings World Cup Nations in January. A recent livestream from October also became the first on Ilyas Elmaliki's Kick channel to break the one million concurrent viewers mark.
3 — Maher "Maherco" Sultaneh
Probably the biggest streamer based in Jordan today, Maherco (or Maherco Gaming) began his career as a YouTuber. Interestingly, the Turkish-born online personality was one of the earliest names to enter the content creation scene on the red platform. He initially juggled his job as a financial advisor before realizing half a year later that his full-time work was holding him back and shifting his attention to livestreaming.
The 40-year-old also took advantage of Facebook's popularity in Asia to start a channel there and reach a larger audience base, thus adding to his following. It helped that he began playing PUBG Mobile, becoming one of its most famous regional influencers during the COVID-19 pandemic era.
In 2024, Maherco continued to produce a lot of content on the mobile battle royale shooter, as well as making content on games like Rocket League, EA Sports FC 24, and Counter-Strike 2. He also streamed in the Just Chatting sphere, with his ongoing subathon generating some of his Kick channel's most popular broadcasts ever.
2 — Ahmed "SXB" Alqahtani
SXB, or SHoNgxBoNg, is another famous content creator from Saudi Arabia who has led the country's charge when it comes to Kick's recent success. He is also a retired Fortnite player, with his perhaps biggest accomplishment in the esport being his participation in the Gamers8 2023 event and finishing 44th.
Alongside Mofareh "Drb7h" al asiri, he has emerged as one of the most-watched GTA V influencers in 2024, reiterating Saudi Arabia's growing influence in the video game livestreaming community. His Just Chatting broadcasts have also attracted significant attention and backed up his reputation as one of the premier creators under the banner of Arabian team POWR eSports.
SXB also used his online success to enter other spheres, with a particular highlight being his involvement in the Kings World Cup 2024. His team — SXB FC— made it as far as the Last Chance Round of the inaugural competition, with his coverage of this football match ending as his channel's most popular livestream.
1 — Mofareh "Drb7h" al asiri
Drb7h is one of the most popular Arabic-speaking streamers and content creators in the world. He is particularly sought-after on Kick, where he is among the five most-watched streamers so far in 2024; he remains one of the fledgling platform's most important names when it comes to attracting massive audiences.
The Saudi Arabian's main game remains GTA V, with his roleplay livestreams regularly attracting thousands of viewers. He is also big on vlogs and IRL content, as seen in the fact that Just Chatting was the only other genre on his channel in 2024 to attract significant watch time.
The Haʼil resident, part of the content creation team of perhaps Saudi's largest esports organization, Team Falcons, witnessed a huge rise in his YoY watch time. His 381% spike in this metric compared to 2023 also meant that a lot of his broadcasts last year ended among his channel's most popular.
| Streamer | Watch Time (Hours) |
|---|---|
| 1. drb7h | 33 832 465
|
| 2. sxb | 30 563 879
|
| 3. maherco | 19 443 832
|
| 4. ilyaselmaliki | 12 305 972
|
| 5. absi | 9 507 897
|
| 6. vodkafunky | 8 388 436
|
| 7. bougassaa | 6 374 875
|
| 8. fwaz | 5 156 775
|
| 9. wassimostv | 4 940 425
|
| 10. s5b | 4 442 884
|
