God of Twitch: God of War Ragnarök’s viewership reigns above CS:GO and League

Typically, single-player games don’t have massive streaming communities built to watch them being played on streaming services. When massive and acclaimed games roll around, some of Twitch and YouTube’s biggest streamers will play it, giving it a big initial boost in viewership that will quickly fall off once those people beat the game in a day or two.

God of War Ragnarök is proving to be a different beast entirely. The new adventure featuring Kratos and Atreus journeying through the Norse pantheon has blown the roof off of streaming services, leading Twitch in hours watched over the last week according to Streams Charts.

The only thing beating out God of War on Twitch is the platform’s massive Just Chatting section, which almost always holds the top spot on the platform for Hours Watched. But God of War beat out an impressive list of titles that also maintain perennial popularity, including League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto V, VALORANT, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. 

Perhaps most impressive is that God of War even managed to top CS:GO, which broadcasted the entire playoff stage of the IEM Rio Major in the last week. Notably, CS:GO had the highest peak viewers on the site with a whopping 1.2 million in the last week. Still, people watched God of War for more hours even despite the massive viewership boom that the Major afforded the shooter.

God of War likely won’t maintain these numbers, as the game isn’t built to be endlessly replayable for most people. There will likely remain a hardcore, dedicated audience for the game as streamers attempt different challenges and ways to play through the game, similar to a title like Elden Ring, and speed runners might even try their hand at the title. But the majority of people watching the game over the last week will return to their streamers and live service titles of choice.

Still, the achievement solidifies God of War’s claim to Game of the Year, and it seems like almost every place that gives out such an award will have the mythological adventure on its shortlist.