Twitch watched 8.6 billion hours of gaming content between January 1 and September 1, 2026, with League of Legends leading its most-watched games and indie content up 51% year on year.
Twitch published the figures in its State of Gaming 2026 report, which covers global viewing, creators and community activity during the first eight months of the year. The platform says its five most-watched games — League of Legends, Counter-Strike, GTA V, VALORANT and World of Warcraft — generated nearly 1.7 billion hours between them.
Twitch State of Gaming 2026 puts League of Legends first
League of Legends was Twitch’s most-watched game globally. Counter-Strike, GTA V, VALORANT and World of Warcraft completed the top five, according to the official report. The ranking is based on Twitch’s internal data, with viewing figures rounded.
Indie-tagged content grew 51% year on year to more than 348 million hours. Meccha Chameleon, Slay the Spire 2 and Big Walk were among the titles Twitch highlighted. Sandbox games generated 831 million hours, while horror content reached 287 million hours and the Horror tag recorded 93 million hours, up 6%.
Drops turn Twitch viewing into a reward queue
Streams using Twitch’s DropsEnabled tag generated 1.6 billion hours watched, up 46%. Twitch hosted more than 7,500 Drops campaigns, while participation across channels rose 40% and the number of users who claimed Drops increased 15% to 40 million.
The report also points to creators building formats beyond standard game broadcasts. In the Middle East, sultan_feasts has been growing with cooking streams based on recipes from games including World of Warcraft and The Witcher. Twitch’s Mike Minton said the GTA VI community grew large enough to break the site, although the report does not give a separate viewing figure for that community.
The Twitch State of Gaming 2026 report covers January 1 to September 1, 2026, and compares growth figures with the same period in 2025. A separate [Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet report](https://streamlabs.com/content-hub/post/streamlabs-and-stream-hatchet-q1-2026-live-streaming-report) recorded Twitch’s Q1 streaming hours at 215.8 million. Twitch’s previous work with creators includes opening sponsorships to Affiliates, as covered in Tbreak’s earlier report.
What was the most-watched game on Twitch in 2026?
League of Legends was Twitch’s most-watched game globally between January 1 and September 1, 2026.
How many hours of gaming were watched on Twitch in 2026?
Viewers watched more than 8.6 billion hours of gaming content on Twitch during that period.
How many users claimed Twitch Drops in 2026?
The number of users who participated in and claimed Drops rose 15% to 40 million.
