According to data collected by TEO Access, WoW Classic has shattered Twitch viewing records. From August 26th to September 1st, pproximately 47.1 million total hours have been spent watching the MMORPG on Twitch!
Though the game which was hotly anticipated, this fantastic level of success could not have been foreseen. This is echoed by the recent announcement that more than 1.1 million viewers watched Word of Warcraft streams at launch.
Source: The Esports Observer
Comparing these figures against the competition, Dota 2's The International accrued 34 million viewing hours on Twitch. Only 4 games have managed to surpass the prestigious mark of 30 million weekly hours watched:
- Apex Legends in February 2018, before its terrible decline
- Fortnite in July 2018, to no great surprise
- Dota 2 in August 2018 & 2019, during The International
- WoW Classic in August 2019
It is also interesting to note that the huge interest in WoW Classic was to the detriment of the majority of other games' viewing figures:
Source: The Esports Observer
This graph indicates the following decreases in hours watched from August 19th to September 1st 2019:
- Just Chatting dropped by approximately 1.6 million hours watched
- League of Legends fell by around 2.3 million viewing hours
- Fortnite viewers watched their game for 1.6 million hours less.
- GTA V saw its viewing figures drop by 2 million.
Only Counter Strike: Global Offensive could stand up to Classic, thanks to the ongoing Berlin Major. Though it may have possibly drawn in more viewers were it not for the popularity of World of Warcraft Classic, the FPS still sits neatly at second place in terms of hours watched.
It's apparent that nostalgia ruled the day on Twitch, if only temporarily!
On Monday, August 26 at At 3pm PDT, WoW Classic achieved the seemingly impossible — it attracted more than 1.1 million people keen to see the launch of Blizzard's throwback to Vanilla World of Warcraft!
Written by Laerezh, Translated by Millenium.
