Mediatonic’s new online multiplayer obstacle course racing game Fall Guys is quickly turning heads on Twitch. The title has racked up more than 30 million hours watched in its first week.
Released on Aug. 4, the seemingly light-hearted, neon-colored game is the second most-watched game on Twitch since its official launch, only behind League of Legends.
While the game looks silly and cuddly on the surface, it’s juxtaposed by the cutthroat nature of multiplayer obstacle racing that allows players to knock one another out of the way, or into obstacles, on their path to victory.
Fall Guys originally made a push on Twitch two weekends ago when top streamers like xQc and Lirik played its 48-hour beta test. The resulting hilariousness was enough to help Fall Guys become a hit on Steam once it was finally released.
Since its launch, Fall Guys has also stayed strong on Steam’s list of top games, based on current player count. The title has regularly remained around the top five on Steam with more than 100,000 players. The figure is comparable to titles like Grand Theft Auto V, PUBG, and Destiny 2.
After one week, the top content creators playing Fall Guys on Twitch include a plethora of known variety streamers like xQc, Rubius, Lirik, CohhCarnage, Alanzoka, and MoonMoon.
XQc was by far the most-watched streamer playing the title, with 27 hours of airtime dedicated to the title resulting in 1.2 million hours watched and an average of 45,821, according to Twitch stats website SullyGnome.
Peak viewership for the game so far came on launch day last week when the title eclipsed 500,000. But even since then, Fall Guys has gone over 300,000 concurrent viewers five other days. Viewership for the game on Twitch has primarily peaked in the evening on weeknights during typical prime viewing hours.
It’s unclear if the type of viral attention that Fall Guys has generated is something that can be leveraged into long-term success. But based on the type of content creators who are thriving by playing the game, it might not be much more than a flash in the pan.
Variety streamers are known for hopping from one game to another quickly and seamlessly. XQc, Fall Guys’ top personality right now, has given more than 50 games 10-plus hours of airtime on Twitch in the past year. Of those games, he’s only played Overwatch, CS:GO, VALORANT, and Minecraft for more than 100 hours on air.
