‘Greatest of all time’: IShowSpeed’s Asia tour cements him in a streaming league of his own

IShowSpeed has inked his name into the internet history books as he tours around Asia, with many now dubbing him the “greatest of all time” after the 19-year-old blitzed several long-standing records to become the world’s number one English-speaking streamer.

Speed’s latest grand stop across South East Asia came in Indonesia, where the ever-watchable YouTube personality racked up more than 14 million views across an IRL stream in the city to bust several personal records—a milestone that saw him burst into tears with happiness. The magnitude of the broadcast even knocked down the huge haul he’d scored in Thailand days earlier and, more importantly, confirmed his status as the world’s biggest star.

The Indonesian livestream, which ran for a little over three hours and was most focused around his milestone, scored 1,043,028 viewers at its peak, according to broadcast tracker StreamsCharts. Those eyepopping numbers boosted him past old record holder Lannan “LazarBeam” Eacott, an Australian star mostly known for Fortnite videos.

Incredibly, Speed’s success is the first time the top spot’s been traded in four years. LazarBeam recorded his 904,000-viewer high midway through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

These record-breaking successes came at the same time as Speed breaking through the 30-million follower milestone on the Google-owned video site; he’ll now need to double his following to enter the 50 most-subscribed channels ever.

The standings regarding English-speaking streams now read as follows:

• IShowSpeed — 1.04 million, Sept. 2024 on YouTube
• LazarBeam — 904K, June 2020 on YouTube
• Technoblade — 854K, Jan. 2021 on YouTube
• Kai Cenat — 722K, June 2024 on Twitch (His famed Kevin Hart sleepover)
• Dream 700K — Nov. 2020 on YouTube
• TommyInnit — 650K, Jan. 2021
• Ninja — 633K, April 2018 on Twitch (When he hosted Drake)
• Adin Ross — 587K, Aug. 2024 on Kick (When he interviewed Donald Trump)
• Dr DisRespect — 511K, Aug. 2020 on YouTube (After his Twitch ban)
• Shroud — 487K, Aug. 2020 on Twitch (Post-Mixer)

Speed’s records have, unsurprisingly, led to another huge groundswell across social media from his fandom, many of whom believe he’s now undisputedly the “greatest of all time”. Some questioned how he could be denied for the 2024 Streamer of the Year gong, while many simply poured adoration and compliments into the 19-year-old’s replies.

The YouTuber responded in kind at the end of his last Indonesian broadcast, thanking his 31 million followers. “This has been my best stream in my whole entire career,” the streamer gushed. “I’m so happy. I’m super happy… beyond happy. I appreciate you all so much.”

Most recently, Speed arrived in Singapore for the final leg of his Asian run, where he’s run into several problems including being prohibited from broadcasting at the F1 race. Instead, his producer has confirmed they’ll “do more nightlife stuff,” which has led to a delay for the next livestream as Speed’s team makes on-the-fly plans.

No matter how it now finishes though, Speed’s South East Asia tour has already been a breakneck and entertaining rollercoaster—and it’ll now always rank in the history books.