LoL is the most watched game on Twitch of 2019, Fortnite second

League of Legends has reclaimed its position as Twitch’s dominant streaming title, displacing Fortnite from the top spot it held throughout 2018.

The 2019 World Championship shattered previous engagement metrics, establishing new benchmarks for competitive gaming broadcasts. Riot’s flagship title achieved unprecedented success across all key performance indicators including total hours watched, average concurrent viewership, and peak audience numbers.

Esports Charts data reveals Worlds 2019 delivered a remarkable 60% surge in average viewership compared to 2018. The ninth competitive season represented the most successful in League’s history, with SullyGnome reporting over 1.1 million hours watched and a 13.2% annual growth rate.

Beyond official Riot broadcasts, the massive viewership accumulated through 24 million streamed hours across nearly 900,000 channels. This demonstrates exceptional community engagement compared to Fortnite, which required triple the streaming hours and 3.3 million creators to achieve nearly identical viewership totals.

Fortnite’s decline reflects broader industry trends beyond simple viewer migration. The departure of Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to Mixer in August represented a pivotal moment, but deeper structural factors contributed to the viewership erosion.

Riot Games has cultivated League’s ecosystem through sustained investment over a decade, whereas Fortnite’s explosive 2018 popularity coincided with the battle royale genre’s saturation point. This highlights the difference between building lasting community loyalty versus capitalizing on temporary genre trends.

Season X gameplay alterations alienated portions of Fortnite’s player base, though Epic’s black hole event and new chapter launch demonstrated the franchise’s ongoing capacity for generating major viewing events.

Understanding these platform dynamics is crucial for content creators planning their streaming strategies. Similar considerations apply when developing your approach in other competitive titles – our BF6 Class Guide explores how class selection impacts viewer engagement in different gaming environments.

While League and Fortnite dominate the esports viewership conversation, other major competitive titles face significant growth challenges in capturing streaming audience share.

Dota 2 occupies fifth position in SullyGnome’s rankings, achieving less than 50% of the top games’ viewership hours. Surprisingly, Twitch’s Just Chatting category and Grand Theft Auto V’s roleplaying servers both outperformed traditional esports in total viewership.

This landscape analysis reveals important lessons for game developers and tournament organizers. Building sustainable viewership requires more than just competitive integrity – it demands engaging content ecosystems that keep both players and viewers invested long-term.

For those looking to apply these insights to other gaming genres, our Complete Guide to Battlefield 6 explores how different game mechanics influence player retention and streaming potential across various title types.

No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » LoL is the most watched game on Twitch of 2019, Fortnite second How League of Legends dethroned Fortnite as Twitch's top game in 2019 through esports dominance