Livestream viewership records: Highest peak viewers on Twitch & YouTube all-time

Twitch and youtube logosTwitch / YouTube

The world record for the most viewed Twitch stream or YouTube live is a coveted achievement, and has been held by the biggest names on the platform over the years. Here’s the highest peak viewership on livestreams, both on Twitch and YouTube.

January 11, 2021 was a historic day for Twitch, as Spanish streaming sensation David ‘TheGrefg’ Cánovas Martínez shattered the record for most concurrent viewers, as he revealed his very own Fortnite skin. He reached another top 3 Twitch record on January 29, 2023, peaking at over 1.7 million for his streamer awards.

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However, on June 25, 2022, another Spanish streamer Ibai shattered that record, drawing in over 3 million viewers to watch his second boxing event. Meanwhile, over on YouTube, Casimiro has set a new record there, with over 6 million.

With Ibai’s event returning in 2023, he has once again beaten his own record, with La Velada del Año 3 reaching over 3.4 million concurrent viewers on July 1, the new record.

North American streamers still make up the bulk of this list, but non-English speaking streams are growing rapidly on Twitch and YouTube. Expect to see more streamers from other regions fight for a place among the most-viewed streams ever.

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Contents


ibai boxing event screencapIbai
Ibai drew in over to 3 million viewers during his La Velada Del Año II event, and has beaten this record in 2023.

Most viewed Twitch streams ever

  1. Ibai: 3,442,725
  2. Ibai: 3,356,464
  3. TheGrefg: 2,470,347
  4. TheGrefg: 1,745,462
  5. Ibai: 1,502,295
  6. ELXOKAS: 1,208,144
  7. ELEAGUETV: 1,088,063
  8. PlayStation: 1,014,646
  9. Squeezie: 1,018,187
  10. Riot Games: 854,781
  11. DOTA2TI_RU: 845,224
  12. Gaules: 707,648
  13. Zerator: 707,071
  14. Fortnite: 700,529
  15. Tommyinnit: 650,237
  16. PGL: 649,414
  17. LCK_KOREA: 623,617
  18. Ninja: 616,693
  19. Auronplay: 602,308
  20. ESL_CSGO: 562,080

Spanish streamer Ibai comfortably holds the record for peak viewers on a livestream, with 3.4 million viewers. This was achieved during his ‘La Velada del Año 3‘ event, topping his previous record.

In second place is fellow Spaniard, TheGrefg. He was revealing his new Fortnite skin at the time, attracting viewers around the world. As the stream starting hitting record numbers, more people joined just to be part of the frenzy.

This list, via Twitch Tracker, includes streams from companies, rather than just individual creators.

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See below for the list for solo streamers only.

Ninja on Fortnite streamYouTube: Ninja / Epic Games
Ninja was the previous record holder, thanks to his popularity at the peak of Fortnite.

Most viewed streams for a solo Twitch streamer (companies excluded):

  1. Ibai: 3,442,725
  2. Ibai: 3,356,464
  3. TheGrefg: 2,470,347
  4. TheGrefg: 1,745,462
  5. Ibai: 1,502,295
  6. ELXOKAS: 1,208,144
  7. Squeezie: 1,018,187
  8. Gaules: 707,648
  9. Zerator: 707,071
  10. Tommyinnit: 650,237
  11. Ninja: 616,693
  12. Auronplay: 602,308
  13. Axozer: 557,151
  14. N3KOGLAI: 543,743
  15. Casimito: 534,644
  16. Shroud: 516,289
  17. XTEARS88: 512,246
  18. BAKZERA: 506,797
  19. OLLIEGAMERZ: 459,316
  20. Asmongold: 448,161
  21. INOXTAG: 436,418

Twitch might still be considered the home of video game livestreaming for now, but YouTube has been making up major ground in this area.

youtube-gaming-end-screen_1920.0.0YouTube
YouTube Gaming is the home of livestreams on the platform, and directly competes with Twitch

YouTube peak viewers record

Here are the highest viewership peaks on YouTube livestreams, via PlayBoard:

  1. CazéTV: 6.1 million (World Cup 2022 QF livestream)
  2. CazéTV: 5.2 million (World Cup 2022 RO16 livestream)
  3. SpaceX: 4 million
  4. Apple: 3.6 million
  5. Law & Crime Network: 3.5 million
  6. Fluminese Football Club: 3.5 million
  7. NEXT Sports: 2.7 million
  8. BTS: 2.6 million
  9. Sidemen: 2.5 million
  10. VTV Thể Thao: 2.5 million
  11. Dynamo Gaming: 2.4 million
  12. Deddy Corbuzier: 2.4 million
  13. Bein Sports: 2.3 million
  14. Sandy & Junior: 2.3 million
  15. Jorge & Mateus: 2.2 million
  16. NASA: 2.2 million
  17. FLA TV: 2 million
  18. Gusttavo Lima: 2 million
  19. Bruno E Marron: 1.9 million
  20. Free Fire Esports India: 1.8 million

Note: Deleted livestreams and video previews are not counted in this list.

SpaceX previously held the record for the most viewed livestream on either YouTube or Twitch, with a launch of a test flight into space, showing the view inside the cockpit, on May 27, 2020.

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But, this record was beaten not once, but twice, during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Brazilian streamer and journalist Casimiro did watch alongs of matches, and broke the record during the Brazil vs Croatia match, with 6.1 million live viewers.

When Ninja set the Twitch record by playing Fortnite with Drake and Travis Scott, it immediately elevated the streaming space more widely, paving the way for more records to be set. As livestreaming in general grows in popularity, we could see more streamers crack the 1 million viewers mark.

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We’ll keep you updated when new records are set and these rankings change, but Ibai has secured his spot at number one on Twitch for a long time to come.

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