‼️ The Q1 2026 Live-Streaming Trends Report Is Here ‼️
And big news: We're officially including TikTok Live data every quarter from now on 🎶
Super crucial, since if you include it, then TikTok Live accounted for almost half of all live-streaming viewership in Q1 2026! (with total hours watched hitting 17B)
But we go deeper too:
📺 Platform picture: TikTok Live's near-50% viewership share stands out, but TikTok Live actually dipped from Q4 2025 while other platforms rose to meet it.
🎮 Gaming shifts: New releases Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert were the stand-out success of Q1, while World of Warcraft surged to the #8 game on live streaming thanks to its Midnight expansion.
🥜 Creator spotlight: ARC Raiders "PTuber" TheBurntPeanut rode the game's popularity to success, combining engaging content with a 24/7 channel strategy to become (by far!) the most watched creator this quarter.
We have in-depth insights on all these shifts, plus events, esports, and non-gaming content...
And best of all, it's totally free! Click here to download right away and become the most knowledge streaming brain in your office 🧠⬇️
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Game publishers can use this measure of hype to see how their games might be received upon release! And showcase organizers should also keep an eye on this: More engagement means happier publishers 😀 Crucial for @Nintendo, @XBOX, and @Sony.
But there's more to look at here: Which game showcases pull the biggest audiences, and how can YouTube VOD views after the event surface hidden hype? Find out ahead of the showcase season here ➡️ https://t.co/eqdY2oacKk
🎮☀️ Summer Game Fest 2026: How to Predict Which Games Will Be Hits 🔮
@summergamefest has come a long way since @geoffkeighley launched it in 2020 to fill the void left by E3, and hype for 2026's edition is at fever pitch.
📦👶 @DeathStranding_ 2 led the chat rankings with 1,700 messages during its reveal, nearly 60% more than second place, and went on to sell 2M+ copies...
🧟 @RE_Games Requiem generated 843 messages from its closing reveal alone and became the fastest-selling game in franchise history at 7M copies...
🔫🕵️ And @007GameIOI, which we covered just yesterday, followed the same pattern. It drew 750 chat messages at SGF 2025 and sold 1.5M copies in its first 24 hours after launching last week.
@IOInteractive@007GameIOI@theburntpeanut@rraenee@Rubiu5@neextrela@shroud Six years under a codename helped build intrigue which exploded into hype! If you want to know how to plan your live-streaming strategy around future hyped game launches, we've got the full dossier here ➡️ https://t.co/SMqLIgorI8
@TheBurntPeanut 🥜 led all operatives with 1.1M hours watched; more than 3x second-place @rraenee's 352K. @Rubiu5 (227K), @neextrela (207K), and @shroud (204K) rounded out the top five, with TheBurntPeanut and RRaenee alone accounting for around 11.6% of total hours watched.
But two of those operatives, RRaenee and NEEXcsgo, were running their operations on @Kick, with no Drops incentive in sight. Looks like they didn't need Twitch Drops helping them out to "Earn the Number" @007
On live streaming (excluding Steam and TikTok Live), the debut week numbers confirm @007GameIOI has infiltrated the rankings: 12.5M hours watched, 359K peak viewership, and 43.3K unique channels covering the game. That pushed it to the 4th most popular new release of 2026 so far.
🪂📦 Like Q assisting Bond, a @Twitch Drops campaign gave 007 First Light the tools it needed to succeed. Three free in-game outfits (the Purple Suit, Silent Line, and the wonderfully named Resplendent Death) were dispatched to viewers who watched just one to two hours of participating streams.
🔫 007 First Light on Live Streaming: License to Thrill 🕵️
Codenamed Project 007 when first announced back in 2020, @IOInteractive's reimagined Bond origin story finally launched on May 27 and sold 1.5 million copies in its first 24 hours. The live-streaming community's response? Both shaken AND stirred 🍸
But in our opinion the real winner here was AT&T: With co-streamers accounting for over 95% of total viewership every single week, this means a whole lot of new people developing an affection for AT&T as the provider of this awesome crossover event.
There are plenty of other brands carving their own paths into the esports scene: Find out more about esports in 2026 right now
➡️ https://t.co/BJDjr2ffCT
📡 AT&T Annihilator Cup Taps Into Four Different Fanbases 🥜
Six years in, the @ATT Annihilator Cup is connecting more people than ever before. 20 mega-popular streamers split into four teams and battled across four totally different games to pull in a combined 3.6M hours watched (all in just 16 hours of airtime 🤯)
A diverse global lineup of top-tier creators propelled the title to the top of the grid. Listed by hours watched, @eliasn97 holds the pole position with 532K Hours Watched, followed by @ohnePixel in second with 481K. In third place is @xQc with 460K, while @Rubiu5 takes fourth with 367K. @sakuramiko35 completes the top 5 ranking with 328K Hours Watched.
Forza Horizon 6 exemplifies the massive appeal of open-world racing in live streaming, proving that high-octane driving and arcade exploration continue to command a highly engaged community worldwide.
🏁 Forza Horizon 6 dominates the track with a spectacular launch 🚘️
Just 15 days into its high-speed release, @XBOX's latest racing sensation, Forza Horizon 6, has completely captivated motorsport fans, creators, and audiences alike.
The game has reached massive milestones during its first two weeks, accumulating 19 million Hours Watched. This phenomenal performance safely secures its crown as the most-watched racing game of 2026 to date. Furthermore, it achieved an impressive peak of 192K concurrent viewers and maintained a strong average viewership of 52.7K across more than 122K unique channels.
Our full guide gives lots, LOTS more: Twitch's business model, streamer tiers, unique features, top content, monetization , most popular streamers... when we say comprehensive, we mean com-pre-hen-sive!
Check out our full guide covering everything you need to know about Twitch now ➡️ https://t.co/DspucvSeGt
💜We've Got Your Full Beginner's Guide to Twitch 💜
@Twitch remains the undisputed flagbearer for live streaming culture, setting the pace for the industry and capturing the attention of speculators and sponsors alike!
So we created a guide for Twitch, telling you everything you need to know about the Amazon-backed platform. That includes key insights like...