A new year means new opportunities for the millions of active streamers on Twitch. When Gordon Ramsay, New Year’s Celebrations and Squid Game took over the live-streaming platform in January, both established faces and newcomers have climbed the viewership rankings. As we move into February and prepare to see if anyone is stupid enough to stream the Super Bowl, here are the top 10 most watched streamers on Twitch in January.
All stats are provided by Sully Gnome.
1. Félix “xQc” Polish
The king stays king. After ruling the purple lands month after month in 2021 with his consistent, day-long streams, xQc kicked off 2022 with more than 24 million hours of playback in January.
It doesn’t matter if he’s playing a fugitive in Grand Theft Auto or watching Gordon Ramsay yell at amateur chefs, the Canadian streamer averages more than 75,000 live viewers on its shows.
[Disclosure: Luminosity Gaming is a subsidiary of Enthusiast Gaming, which owns and operates Upcomer.]
2. Joaquin “Elxokas” Dominguez
We’re going from a household name to a rising star in the form of Spanish streamer Elxokas.
Although Elxoka is no stranger to streaming and has drawn thousands to his shows over the years, January was a life-changing month for him. He quadrupled his Twitch subscriptions and gained more than 1 million followers while working with some of the biggest streamers in Spain. Elxokas may even have a bigger February thanks to upcoming streams featuring the likes of Spanish kingpin Ibai “Ibai” Llanos.
3. Raul “AuronPlay” Alvarez-Gene
Spain has always been one of the biggest countries for Twitch, but 2022 could be the year when it really takes over the center of the live streaming world in the west.
In that case, longtime personality and streamer AuronPlay will be at the forefront. Although it’s only third in our ranking, that’s only because of the hours put in by the two streamers above it. In terms of average January viewership, AuronPlay beat both, with more than 100,000 viewers tuning in to see the Spanish superstar live.
4. David “TheGrefg” Canovas Martinez
Spain, Spain, Spain.
TheGrefg may not have toppled xQc for watch hours in 2021, but he broke Twitch by breaking the concurrent viewership record. More than 2 million viewers tuned in to see the Spanish streamer reveal his exclusive skin in Fortnite. As one of the leading streamers in Spain, expect to see him in the top 5 as long as he hits the go-live button.
5. Ibai “Ibai” plain
When he’s not hanging out with close, personal friend Lionel Messi and streaming lavish parties, Ibai is broadcasting TV-worthy shows weekly.
From humble beginnings as a League of Legends commentator, Ibai has grown into a full-fledged celebrity in recent years. Most recently, he teamed up with Spanish soccer legend Gerard Piqué to found the esports organization KOI.
At this rate, we will see live streaming of Ibai in space by 2025.
6. Tyler “Trainwreck” Niknam
Not many people can travel to Las Vegas, but if you want to see someone play slots, Trainwreck is your guy.
A longtime member of the western Twitch community, the host of the Scuffed podcast has become the face of gambling on the network. Just behind xQc in hours streamed in our rankings, he was live for more than 280 hours in January.
7. Juan Alberto “Illo Juan” Garcia
Oh hey, another Spanish streamer. Similar to Elxokas, IlloJuan recently saw its stock surge with a star month in January, during which it gained more than 350,000 followers and more than tripled its watch hours.
8. Juan Sebastián “juansguarnizo” Guarnizo Algarra
The pride of Colombia, Juansguarnizo, had a successful 2021 and aims to break into the top five in 2022. He had a peak viewership of nearly 300,000 that month and gained more than 700,000 followers.
9. Hasan “HasanAbi” Picker
Hasan had his breakthrough year in 2020 with the presidential election, and the political streamer has maintained its momentum over the past year to become one of the leading faces of the platform. It amassed more than 9 million hours of playback in its opening month of 2022.
10. Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp
He’s what we call…a little problem.
Tyler1, the premier streamer of League of Legends, kicked off the new year with the fourth and final installment in its series to reach the Contender rank in all non-Bottom positions. After conquering the jungle, surviving top lane and sliding past mid, he attempts to complete his personal Exodia by meeting Challenger for support.
And as he rockets up the Solo Queue leaderboards, so does his viewership, averaging more than 30,000 in his bid to avoid playing Karma seven games in a row.
