VALORANT Attracts More than 1 Million Viewers on Twitch

Twitch streamers initially received permission to showcase VALORANT footage on April 3. At that time, the game peaked at 994,222 concurrent viewers and a total of 6.55 million hours watched (according to Esports Charts). However, that record has since been broken as of today. And it only took an hour after the closed beta launched at 7am CST.

Breaking the records to get some keys

Riot’s competitive five-versus-five tactical shooter is a much-anticipated game this year. The viewership numbers clearly reflect that enthusiasm. Last Friday, around 50,000 VALORANT beta “keys” were distributed to players throughout North America, Europe, Russia, and Turkey.

Recent statistics put the current viewership at a little more than 1.2 million viewers on Twitch. The two streamers with the bulk of the viewership include summit1g and TimTheTatman. Even though persistent issues occur with server stability, viewership is expected to only increase further from here. It wouldn’t be unfair to expect Twitch records to be broken. At this point, more than 100,000 beta keys are available, but the number is expected to increase further in the months to come.

The closed beta will occur until VALORANT releases as a finished product this summer.

Working the system

While viewership levels have reached incredible levels, this reflects an unusual behavior. The reason so many have tuned in to watch the game stream on Twitch is due to how Riot is distributing beta keys. People need to watch Twitch streams for the chance to grab a beta key. But the odds of getting a key with just one Twitch account are only so-so.

Some people are so desperate for access to the game that they’ve created multiple Twitch accounts to watch the game. Many users hope to somehow cut corners and increase their chances of claiming a key by doing this. Opening 10 tabs of Twitch and hoping for the odds to be in your favor isn’t going to get a person anywhere. But creating multiple Riot accounts and linking them to Twitch accounts… that may tip the scale.

Some users have gone so far as to create upward of eight accounts in an effort to get closer to trying VALORANT out. There likely won’t be an open beta, so this is most folks’ one shot to get access to the game before it finally releases.

However, it doesn’t look like anyone is going to get a closed beta key anytime soon. Due to a variety of system errors, Riot has officially stopped handing out beta keys. How long will this take before they resume? Your guess is as good as ours.

Ryan Goodrich

Ryan has been writing since long before he could even write. He's written resumes, software user guides, consumer electronic reviews, and myriad web content spanning a variety of industries. But now he's writing about video games, which is much more interesting.

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