In a previous article, we discussed how the gaming and esports industry is growing in the Middle East, now let’s take a look at how the region is doing when it comes to Twitch streaming.
Streaming has become one of the biggest industries of the past couple of years and is very connected to the gaming industry. In the Middle East, streaming has seen a big growth in the past year. A lot of people have started to stream since the beginning of the year, and with such a big gaming community it's expected that we will see even more doing the same in the future.
RakanooLive is the biggest Arabic streamer, having 1.6 million followers on Twitch. He is a very well-known streamer in the Call of Duty community, as he used to play Call of Duty Warzone a lot. Currently, he mainly plays Apex Legend, where he entertains thousands of viewers on a weekly basis.
Saudi Arabian shongxbong is the second most followed streamer with 1.29 million followers. Shongxbong streams mainly Just Chatting, where he watches some funny videos sent by his viewers, talks with friends or other streamers, or just interacts with the chat by answering questions. He also plays Grand Theft Auto V roleplay, and FIFA 23 on regular basis.
In third place on the list, we have yet another Saudi Arabian streamer. IxxYjYxxi is the most famous Fortnite streamer in the Middle East and creates a lot of content with friends and fellow streamers. He has 1.22 million followers. Of the ten most followed Arabic streamers on the platform, nineteen are from Saudi Arabia, which demonstrates how big the gaming and streaming community in the country is. The only streamer in this list that is not from Saudi Arabia is Mythic from Sweden.
When it comes to the most watched streamers in the region, Saudi Arabian streamer drb7h takes first place, with viewers watching his broadcasts for 1 million hours in the past month. Drb7h streams mainly Grand Theft Auto V roleplay, where he creates entertaining storylines, that leave viewers glued to their screen. RakanooLive also enters this list, but this time the FPS streamer comes in second place. Viewers watched his streams for 709K hours, where they are greeted by a lot of entertainment, and a high level of play.
The FIFA content creator for Team Falcons abu_abeer16 is the third most watched Arabic streamer. With 494K Hours Watched, the Saudi Arabian spends hours playing FIFA, where he analyses the viewer's squads, the new cards that came out, and also plays against some of the best players in the region.
Popular Grand Theft Auto V roleplay streamer ABOKYAN is the fourth most watched Arabic content creator, with 422K Hours Watched. He mainly plays Grand Theft Auto V roleplay, but also plays games such as FIFA, Fortnite, and recently even Overwatch 2.
PEERLESS1, who is from the United Arab Emirates, and is known for his Grand Theft Auto V roleplay and Rust streams, is the fifth most watched streamer with 334K Hours Watched, and the only one in this top five list that isn’t from Saudi Arabia.
Regarding the most popular streamers in the Arabic language, the top five is composed of Saudi Arabian content creators. Abu_abeer16, who is the fourth most watched Arabic streamer on the platform, takes the first place in this list, with 27K Peak Viewers. Drb7h also enters this list, being the second most popular Arabic streamer on Twitch, with 23K Peak Viewers. Shongxbong, which has the second most followed Arabic channel on the streaming platform, has 20K PV and is the third most popular channel. Popular Just Chatting streamer AiShowoo, who didn't feature in any of the past lists, has 11K Peak Viewers and is the fifth most popular channel.
The Just Chatting category was the most popular in the third quarter of the year for Arabic content creators. Most Arabic streamers broadcast in the Just Chatting category even if just for a part of the transmission. It’s a way to interact with their viewers before starting to play. As it was mentioned above, most popular Arabic streamers have Grand Theft Auto V roleplay as their main game, so it's no surprise that the game was watched for 4.70 million hours, being the second most popular category.
Viewers watched Valorant for 3 million hours, making it the third most popular category, and the second most popular game on the list. Valorant has a big fan base in the region, with many tournaments taking place on a weekly basis. FIFA 22 was the third most watched category, with viewers tuning in to various broadcasts, and watching the game for 1.8 million hours. Saudi Arabia has some of the best FIFA players in the world, so it’s normal that the game is very successful in the region.
Fortnite was the fifth most watched category, with viewers watching for 1.5 million hours. PUBG Mobile is the only mobile game that made its way into this list and was watched for 1 million hours.
Rockstar Games is the most popular game publisher in the Middle East, with viewers watching their games for 4.7 million hours in the third quarter of 2022. Grand Theft Auto V is the most popular game of the publisher in the region, with 4.7 million hours watched. Many streamers play Grand Theft Auto V roleplay, which became the most popular game mode in the region.
Riot Games comes in second with 4 million Hours Watched, which is not that far off Rockstar Games. The publisher games are some of the most popular in the entire world, and the Middle East is no exception. Of all the publisher games, Valorant is the most popular one with viewers watching the game for 3 million hours in the third quarter of 2022. League of Legends is also very popular in the region with 1 million Hours Watched.
In third place, we have Electronic Arts. With FIFA being one of the most played games in the region, for quite a long time now, it's no surprise that Electronic Arts are one of the most popular publishers in the Middle East. Viewers watched FIFA 22 streams for 1.8 million hours in the third quarter of 2022, and with the release of FIFA 23, the popularity of the game only increased.
Epic Games titles were watched for 2.3 million hours, with Fortnite being the most popular game of the publisher, with 1.5 million Hours Watched, and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout with 774K Hours Watched, being the second most popular title of the company. Activision was the fifth most popular game publisher in the region, mainly because of the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was watched for 981K hours.
It’s clear that the Middle East streaming industry is on an upward spiral, more viewers are watching the broadcast, many new people are starting to enter the streaming industry in the region, and Arabic content creators are getting even more popular. With such a big gaming community, and Saudi Arabian plans to invest billions into the video games industry, expect the streaming industry in the Middle East to continue to grow.
