In 2021 esports titles were relegated a bit to the background of Twitch categories. Streamers focused more on communicating with the audience: popular games like CS:GO and Dota 2 simply dropped their positions, while some categories even fell out of the top most popular categories of the year. In a new Streams Charts article we will tell you about the most watched categories on Twitch.
Top 10 most popular Twitch categories in 2021
Here is the list of most watched Twitch categories in 2021 (by Hours Watched):
- Just Chatting — 2.983B
- GTA V — 1.855B
- League of Legends — 1.719B
- Fortnite — 956.82M
- Valorant — 939.65M
- Minecraft — 852.03M
- CoD: Warzone — 843.34M
- CS:GO — 758.79M
- Apex Legends — 681.69M
- Dota 2 — 572.06M
#1 Just Chatting
As in 2020, "Just Сhatting" took first place, although in 2021 the Hours Watched of the category increased by one and a half times! IRL broadcasts become increasingly popular due to original formats and trends. For example, streamers have held subscription marathons, swam in pools, and even just slept on broadcasts.
Just Chatting ranked second in terms of Peak Viewers — 2.8 million people watched the category concurrently on January 11. On that day, popular Spanish content creator TheGrefg presented his Fortnite skin and set his own viewership record — 2.4 million Peak Viewers (he became the most popular streamer by Peak Viewers in 2021).
#2 GTA V
GTA V went up two positions compared with 2020. Many streamers started playing on RP servers and creating their own ones, and Rockstar Games itself regularly released updates for the online mode, and that also attracted viewers. Category's Hours Watched increased by 127%, reaching 1.85 billion.
#3 League of Legends
League of Legends dropped by one spot — the game had 11% more Hours Watched than in 2020, but it still lacked 136 million Hours Watched for second place in the top. The category improved its performance thanks to Worlds 2021, the discipline's most important esports tournament. The event made League of Legends the top 1 category in terms of Peak Viewers — 3 million people watched the event concurrently!
#4 Fortnite
Fourth place went to Fortnite. In 2021 the game' s Hours Watched dropped by 11%. The decline is due to the fact that last year's gaming events generated more hype and drew more views, plus other categories drew more attention than Epic Games' Battle Royale.
#5 Valorant
Valorant remained in fifth place as it did in 2020. Game's Hours Watched increased by 16%. The category is promoted not only by streamers, but also by esports competitions: VALORANT Champions Tour attracted an impressive number of viewers both during the season and the majors. The VCT 2021 final set a record for the discipline — 1.08 million Peak Viewers. It should be noted that the title is one of the few that promotes the development of the women's esports scene and holds regular competitions as part of the VCT.
#6 Minecraft
Minecraft ranked sixth. The category increased by 69% in Hours Watched and moved up two ranks. Just like in GTA V, many streamers play on RP servers. Twitch also supports the game and holds competitions in the game with different challenges as part of Twitch Rivals.
#7 Call of Duty: Warzone
Call of Duty: Warzone is a new category in our top. Previously the battle royal from Activision was streamed in the same category as CoD: Modern Warfare, but it was split into a separate category. This demonstrates how much more popular Warzone is than the main game. A lot of popular streamers play Warzone, and various community competitions are regularly held in it. In April the game set a record for the Peak Viewers — 1.6 million spectators. Then the developers released a new map and a lot of streamers watched the new game on broadcasts.
#8 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive dropped by one rank and moved down to 8th place in the ranking. Hours Watched increased by 7%, which was largely due to the high number of esports competitions. PGL Major Stockholm 2021 set a new record for the discipline with 2.7 million Peak Viewers at the broadcast. Despite the new achievements of the title, Valorant is streamed more for the second year in a row.
#9 Apex Legends
Ninth place in the ranking went to Apex Legends, which did not make it to the top 10 last year. The game accumulated 681.7 million Hours Watched, 114% more than in 2020. The game is extremely popular not only in America, but also in Japan. kato_junichi0817, stylishnoob4 and fps_shaka regularly rank among the game's top 5 streamers.
#10 Dota 2
In tenth place was Dota 2, which lost one rank compared with 2020. The game remained in the top thanks to The International 10: the event set a new record of 2.7 million Peak Viewers, and the category's Hours Watched increased by 15%. The growth of the category was largely helped by the CIS region. Team Spirit reached the TI10 finals, and that attracted more Russian viewers than expected. It is quite possible that the outcome would have been more disappointing in terms of statistics if TS had not reached the finals.
According to the ranking, we can see that the competitive disciplines such as Dota 2, CS:GO, and so on have been slightly overshadowed. Viewers were more interested in watching IRL and entertainment content in the form of adventures on RP servers or just battles between content creators. At least that proves the fact that Just Chatting statistics has doubled compared with 2020.
Twitch results in 2021:
Top Female Twitch Streamers of 2021
The most watched esports channels in 2021
Most watched Twitch streamers of 2021
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