By Francisco Carriço
Shooter titles are very popular on Twitch, with the games of the genre being one of the most watched yearly. Many of the faces of the platform play them, and the competitive scenes of some of these titles are among the biggest in the industry. Many games of the shooter genre are released every year, but some classic games always sit at the top. So we at Streams Charts collected all the necessary data to bring you the ten most popular Twitch shooter games and streamers of 2022.
Since its release in 2020, Valorant took the shooter genre by storm. A well-polished game that quickly gained a big fan base, it’s now one of the biggest titles in the genre. Its esports scene also grew quickly, and this year it cemented itself as one of the most popular around the world. With Valorant winning the best esports game of the year award at the 2022 Game Awards, and captivating millions from all around the world, it’s no surprise the game sits at the top of this list. With an astonishing 1.1 billion Hours Watched, Valorant is this year’s most popular shooter.
Coming in second place, we have Valorant biggest rival, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The game is already a classic of the shooter genre. It was released in 2012, and for many years it was the most popular shooter game, with no title coming close to it. It has one of the oldest, and biggest esports scenes in the industry. Despite being released 10 years ago, it still captivates the hearts of millions of players from all around the globe. In 2022, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was watched for 684 million hours.
Apex Legends was released in 2019, and it quickly became the battle royale of choice for many players. The game has increased in popularity with each passing year, and is now capable of rivaling Fortnite, arguably the biggest battle royale ever. Just like the other two games above it in the list, its esports scene is very popular, and it’s expected the game continues to grow. With 640 million Hours Watched, they secured third place on the list.
Fortnite needs no presentation. The battle royale game was released in 2017, and it didn’t take long for the game to become known worldwide. When it comes to cosmetics, in-game events, and partnerships with artists or movies, no one does it better than them. But what put Fortnite on the map was its unique gameplay. In 2022, Fortnite continues to come up with creative content for their players, which helped them reach 599 million Hours Watched.
In fifth place, we have yet another battle royale game. This time it’s Call of Duty: Warzone, the franchise battle royale title, which gained tremendous popularity since being released in 2020. The game was so popular, Activision decided to launch its sequel, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. It was launched in November of this year and has received good critics. In 2022, viewers watched Call of Duty: Warzone for 416 million hours, making it the fifth most popular title in the shooter genre, and the third battle royale game in the top 5.
Escape From Tarkov is probably the most unique game on this list. It’s a multiplayer deathmatch game, that has been in a beta state since 2016. Despite the game still not being in a “fully released state”, it’s already very popular, with players from all over the world enjoying its gameplay. It was watched for 269 million hours in 2022.
Online survival game Rust has also been around for quite some time, with the game being launched in 2013. In the past years, the game saw a resurgence. Many top streamers started to play the game with each other, and create events, which boosted the game’s popularity. This gave Rust a second life, and the developers of the title did a good job of capitalizing on the opportunity. This year, the game was the sixth most-watched shooter, with 267 million Hours Watched.
While Rust has been around for almost ten years, Overwatch 2 was only released in October of this year, but it still managed to make this list. The sequel to Blizzard Entertainment popular FPS title Overwatch has been well received by the fans, with the title bringing many players back. It gave the series a fresh look, which was something it desperately needed. Overwatch 2 was watched for 215 million hours.
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is the fourth battle royale to enter this list, and we can already consider it a classic game of the shooter genre. It was released in 2016, and despite being far from its glory days, it’s still a very popular game. They have a huge player base, and the PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS esports scene is fairly popular. Viewers watched the game for 120 million hours in 2022. Last but not least, we have Ubisoft FPS, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, which was watched for 102 million hours.
As mentioned above, there are plenty of popular streamers that constantly stream shooter games. So we collected the stats to see who are the most popular shooter content creators on Twitch. Worth noting that, only content creators who had 50% of their airtime spend broadcasting shooter games were considered for this list. Organizational channels also weren’t taken into account.
There isn’t any streamer in the shooting category that comes close to Brazilian streaming star Gaules. He is one of the most loved streamers in the country, and streams primarily Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Gaules has the broadcast rights to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive biggest tournaments, and his channel is often the official watch party for the Portuguese language. It gives Brazilian fans a unique viewing experience, and that’s why most of them prefer to watch the matches on Gaules stream. In 2022, Gaules viewers watched him stream shooter games for an impressive 126 million hours.
https://clips.twitch.tv/BitterBadWalletVoHiYo-whvbDsydLtiDhlcW
Tarik is the Gaules of Valorant. The “king of watch parties”, is most viewers stream of choice to watch Valorant biggest events. On his streams, viewers can learn a lot about the game, as Tarik has a deep understanding of Valorant, and of its professional scene. Similar to Gaules, his broadcasts are very distinct from the official tournament stream, which is why many viewers chose to watch him. He can provide viewers with a lot of valuable insight and great analysis. Tarik is also a Radiant player, the highest elo in the game, and you can watch him play with and against North America’s top professional players regularly. Viewers watched Tarik for 69.4 million hours.
Closing out the top three we have fps_shaka, arguably the most popular Japanese content creator on the platform. Fps_shaka streams a plethora of shooter games such as Valorant, Rust, Escape from Tarkov, Apex Legends, and others. He is very skilled at all these games, being able to play them at a very high level, which attracts the interest of plenty of viewers. In 2022, his shooter broadcasts were watched for 50.8 million hours.
FaZe Clan co-owner NICKMERCS sits in fourth place with 43.8 million Hours Watched. The North American streamer plays mostly battle royale games, with Apex Legends being his game of choice in 2022. Viewers love his sense of humor, but it’s NICKMERCS gameplay that separates him from the majority of content creators of the genre.
Summit1g is already a veteran of the streaming world. The North American content creator was always known for being good at shooter games, mainly in FPS titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Escape from Tarkov. In 2022, the community he created in the past years watched him for 37 million hours.
https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=BitterBadWalletVoHiYo-whvbDsydLtiDhlcW&parent=streamscharts.comSummit1g outplays three opponents on Rust but gets killed by a fourth player
In sixth place, we have one of the best Apex Legends players on the planet. We are talking about TSM_ImperialHal of course. The North American streamer was watched for 36.9 million hours. He played in multiple tournaments and entertained thousands of fans daily. He provided fans with some amazing moments, and viewers also tune in to his broadcast so they can learn about the game.
IiTzTimmy is also very well known in the Apex Legends community, as he is a very skilled player. Valorant is another game where the content creator is famous, mainly because of his insane challenges, like the Iron to Radiant marathon. On iiTzTimmy broadcasts, you will find a high level of gameplay, independent of the game he is playing. Viewers watched him play shooters for 27.5 million hours.
With 26.4 million Hours Watched, and in eighth place on the list, we have famous variety streamer shroud. Shroud made a career of playing multiple shooters and being great at it. This hasn’t changed, as it seems any shooter title the streamer plays, he quickly masters. This year, Shroud viewers watched him dominate in shooter games for 26.2 million hours.
Stylishnoob4, the second Japanese streamer to make this list, also plays a plethora of shooters. He is very similar to shroud, in the sense he can play at a high level in almost any game of the genre. However, it’s on Apex Legends and Valorant where stylishnoob4 shines the most. Every day, thousands of viewers tune into his channel, as they know if they want to have a good time that is the place to go to. In 2022, he was watched for 26 million hours, while he played his favorite shooters. Last but not least, we have LVNDMARK, who spends most of his time playing Escape from Tarkov. The North American streamer is very well known in the game community, and in 2022 viewers watched him for 23.9 million hours.
Shooters dominate Twitch, and the category is expected to continue to grow in the future. Some of the most famous streamers on the platform are constantly broadcasting games of the genre, and most titles also have huge competitive scenes. With titles such as Valorant, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch 2, and others, being among the most-played games in the world, the future is bright for shooter games and their fans.
