Two new games made entrances into the top 10 games across live streaming in January. In addition, all but one of the top 10 games saw overall increases in hours watched during the month.
Palworld, despite being released on the 19th, was able to make it into the top 5 games with just under 80 million hours watched in just 12 days. The so-called “Pokémon with Guns” game generated a ton of buzz in the gaming and live streaming community upon release, especially in the Japanese region. 7 of the 10 top live streamers in its first 10 days were Japanese-language channels.
Server Wipe Boosts Escape from Tarkov Viewership
Escape from Tarkov also re-entered the top 10 games with 87 million hours watched in the month of January, jumping 10 spots from 13th to 3rd. The game’s viewership increased significantly after its last wipe on December 27th. The game generated 175% more hours watched in January than in December, the biggest growth of any of the top 10.
Games like Escape from Tarkov and Rust, survival games that wipe servers every several months, always see a boost in viewership right after the wipe. This is because when a server is wiped, gamers all start again at the same level with the same basic equipment. Players “grind” at the beginning of the new servers to acquire as much equipment and tools as possible, to put them ahead of other players.
Therefore, streamers like summit1g and shroud (who had 6 million and 4.2 million hours watched of EFT in January, respectively), play for hundreds of hours, with attentive viewership.
Blast Premier Esports Boost Counter-Strike Live Streaming Viewership
Counter–Strike saw a 50% increase in hours watched from December, generating 69 million hours watched this month. The game’s viewership was boosted by the Blast Premier Spring Group esports event at the end of the month with almost 12 million hours watched.
Fortnite was the only game in the top 10 to decrease in hours watched (40% down from December), coming down from its increased hype the previous month from the OG maps and events. However, it still placed at #4 with 82 million hours watched.
Here is the full list of the top 100 games and their rank changes from December:
| Rank | Game | Hours Watched Jan | Hours Watched Dec | %Change |
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto V | 223,101,465 | 207,441,425 | 7.5% |
| 2 | League of Legends | 185,891,128 | 117,644,241 | 58.0% |
| 3 | Escape From Tarkov | 87,339,888 | 31,731,196 | 175.2% |
| 4 | Fortnite | 81,657,266 | 134,553,255 | -39.3% |
| 5 | Palworld | 78,800,666 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 6 | Counter-Strike | 69,043,956 | 45,872,754 | 50.5% |
| 7 | Minecraft | 68,524,871 | 58,035,474 | 18.1% |
| 8 | VALORANT | 67,544,796 | 58,800,586 | 14.9% |
| 9 | Call of Duty: Warzone | 55,264,968 | 49,650,903 | 11.3% |
| 10 | Dota 2 | 51,946,467 | 40,583,779 | 28.0% |
| 11 | EA Sports FC 24 | 43,990,129 | 29,666,797 | 48.3% |
| 12 | Garena Free Fire | 31,141,954 | 23,276,680 | 33.8% |
| 13 | Apex Legends | 30,358,994 | 24,702,081 | 22.9% |
| 14 | Subway Surfers | 24,782,752 | 12,578,635 | 97.0% |
| 15 | World of Warcraft | 24,699,623 | 51,696,042 | -52.2% |
| 16 | Teamfight Tactics | 24,269,077 | 29,822,378 | -18.6% |
| 17 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III | 23,157,654 | 26,543,682 | -12.8% |
| 18 | PUBG Mobile | 21,870,409 | 20,374,027 | 7.3% |
| 19 | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | 21,739,442 | 65,319,530 | -66.7% |
| 20 | Lethal Company | 20,576,985 | 33,476,016 | -38.5% |
| 21 | PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS | 20,374,881 | 27,545,827 | -26.0% |
| 22 | Dead by Daylight | 19,201,452 | 19,004,787 | 1.0% |
| 23 | Rust | 17,814,850 | 32,618,522 | -45.4% |
| 24 | World of Tanks | 16,333,394 | 21,687,061 | -24.7% |
| 25 | Enshrouded | 14,673,008 | 472 | 3108588.1% |
| 26 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege | 14,421,206 | 10,185,188 | 41.6% |
| 27 | Street Fighter 6 | 13,682,521 | 11,416,308 | 19.9% |
| 28 | BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA | 13,367,041 | 11,810,902 | 13.2% |
| 29 | Overwatch 2 | 13,072,826 | 20,468,463 | -36.1% |
| 30 | Monster Hunter: World | 12,756,862 | 5,670,832 | 125.0% |
| 31 | Hearthstone | 11,905,175 | 12,743,688 | -6.6% |
| 32 | Path of Exile | 11,618,581 | 23,398,954 | -50.3% |
| 33 | StarCraft | 11,504,859 | 12,528,565 | -8.2% |
| 34 | Genshin Impact | 11,195,661 | 12,151,680 | -7.9% |
| 35 | Casino! | 10,103,827 | 89,668 | 11168.0% |
| 36 | Tekken 8 | 9,913,956 | 374,569 | 2546.8% |
| 37 | Lost Ark | 8,603,928 | 10,929,112 | -21.3% |
| 38 | MapleStory | 7,965,593 | 6,104,174 | 30.5% |
| 39 | Baldur’s Gate 3 | 7,926,502 | 7,422,052 | 6.8% |
| 40 | Elden Ring | 7,603,271 | 5,416,305 | 40.4% |
| 41 | Roblox | 7,512,058 | 8,117,524 | -7.5% |
| 42 | maplestory worlds | 6,584,209 | 3,333,137 | 97.5% |
| 43 | Pokémon Scarlet/Violet | 6,169,391 | 7,644,558 | -19.3% |
| 45 | DayZ | 6,150,962 | 8,205,249 | -25.0% |
| 46 | Rocket League | 6,005,059 | 5,225,236 | 14.9% |
| 47 | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | 5,702,242 | 395,784 | 1340.7% |
| 48 | Black Desert Online | 5,545,980 | 6,885,887 | -19.5% |
| 49 | Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn | 5,510,498 | 3,342,952 | 64.8% |
| 50 | Chess | 5,473,082 | 6,504,139 | -15.9% |
| 51 | retro | 5,426,038 | 5,222,129 | 3.9% |
| 52 | Old School RuneScape | 5,386,192 | 5,205,868 | 3.5% |
| 53 | NBA 2K24 | 5,154,178 | 3,202,389 | 60.9% |
| 54 | Mario Kart 8 | 5,061,689 | 3,455,301 | 46.5% |
| 55 | Dragon Ball | 4,890,265 | 1,360,281 | 259.5% |
| 56 | The Finals | 4,756,658 | 14,471,063 | -67.1% |
| 57 | Smite | 4,714,985 | 2,536,474 | 85.9% |
| 58 | Albion Online | 4,680,849 | 3,955,649 | 18.3% |
| 59 | Destiny 2 | 4,655,012 | 5,309,996 | -12.3% |
| 60 | Madden NFL 24 | 4,579,409 | 3,109,383 | 47.3% |
| 61 | Sea of Thieves | 4,247,366 | 4,109,987 | 3.3% |
| 62 | Diablo IV | 4,153,200 | 2,054,862 | 102.1% |
| 63 | Red Dead Redemption II | 4,151,800 | 3,787,914 | 9.6% |
| 64 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | 4,092,929 | 3,385,967 | 20.9% |
| 65 | Among Us | 3,974,066 | 3,030,633 | 31.1% |
| 66 | Arena of Valor | 3,968,605 | 15,457,999 | -74.3% |
| 67 | Brawl Stars | 3,962,339 | 2,707,714 | 46.3% |
| 68 | VRChat | 3,875,732 | 4,039,779 | -4.1% |
| 69 | lck | 3,860,647 | 55,004 | 6918.8% |
| 70 | Honkai: Star Rail | 3,816,125 | 3,813,632 | 0.1% |
| 71 | Cult of the Lamb | 3,669,261 | 629,510 | 482.9% |
| 72 | Marvel Snap | 3,580,178 | 3,636,768 | -1.6% |
| 73 | Terraria | 3,489,030 | 519,560 | 571.5% |
| 74 | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 3,438,105 | 1,023 | 335980.6% |
| 75 | Poppy Playtime | 3,365,483 | 83,578 | 3926.8% |
| 76 | Euro Truck Simulator 2 | 3,309,266 | 3,535,501 | -6.4% |
| 77 | Poker | 3,158,040 | 2,700,657 | 16.9% |
| 78 | Call of Duty | 3,146,924 | 2,597,327 | 21.2% |
| 79 | anime world | 3,131,695 | 3,852,798 | -18.7% |
| 80 | comprehensive game | 3,117,086 | 1,519,515 | 105.1% |
| 81 | Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | 3,060,208 | 2,263,034 | 35.2% |
| 82 | Tibia | 3,044,930 | 3,542,339 | -14.0% |
| 83 | Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia | 3,002,540 | 2,255,173 | 33.1% |
| 84 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 2,997,700 | 960,584 | 212.1% |
| 85 | Hunt: Showdown | 2,980,454 | 3,158,366 | -5.6% |
| 86 | Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince | 2,800,837 | 3,475,827 | -19.4% |
| 87 | Magic: The Gathering | 2,658,231 | 2,777,860 | -4.3% |
| 88 | suicide squad: kill the justice league | 2,653,365 | 1,005 | 263916.4% |
| 89 | Mahjong Soul | 2,648,046 | 1,272,511 | 108.1% |
| 90 | Call of Duty: Mobile | 2,617,128 | 2,924,075 | -10.5% |
| 91 | Clash Royale | 2,604,959 | 2,544,558 | 2.4% |
| 92 | Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle | 2,537,112 | 2,312,038 | 9.7% |
| 93 | Sudden Attack | 2,462,417 | 2,470,753 | -0.3% |
| 94 | BeamNG.drive | 2,458,058 | 2,900,728 | -15.3% |
| 95 | The Sims 4 | 2,404,788 | 2,440,278 | -1.5% |
| 96 | iRacing | 2,403,638 | 1,333,216 | 80.3% |
| 97 | Fall Guys | 2,383,395 | 2,093,832 | 13.8% |
| 98 | Ravendawn | 2,382,621 | 109,901 | 2068.0% |
| 99 | New Cycle | 2,337,063 | 5,957 | 39132.2% |
| 100 | World of Warships | 2,335,784 | 2,919,067 | -20.0% |
