Hogwarts Legacy broke the viewership record for a single-player game on Twitch, despite significant debate over individuals’ decisions whether or not to stream the game.
Last night, the game peaked at 1,253,916 viewers across all streams (according to Twitchtracker(Opens in a new tab)). This exceeds the record of 1.14 million that Cyberpunk 2077 set in the days following its launch in December 2020. Around this peak, nearly 30,000 people were streaming the game on the platform. The game has had a significant boost to Twitch viewership, with dedicated Hogwarts Legacy Twitch drops likely increasing viewership.
While Twitch viewership is a bit of a nebulous metric, it’s often used to gauge a game’s success around launch, as well as the ongoing health of live service games. As of this writing, games like League of Legends, Valorant, and Overwatch 2 are close to Hogwarts Legacy in terms of viewership; the next single player game, far down the list, is Elden Ring.
The game’s start on Twitch is quite strong, but it’s also been the subject of heated debate among the platform’s audience. Some viewers protested individual streamers’ decisions to play the game for their audiences, leading to accusations of harassment and witch hunts, as well as further backlash from the wider community.
Serpentine Hasan Piker managed (opens in a new tab) this reaction amid his decision not to stream the game; “we know it’s not worth being constantly bullied and called transphobic […] when we have massive queer audiences and communities.
The release of Hogwarts Legacy has been the subject of criticism and debate due to JK Rowling’s public stance on gender identity, which continues to challenge inclusion at the heart of the Harry Potter community. Here is our explanation on the Hogwarts legacy controversy.