In a perhaps not-so-surprising turn of events, Hogwarts Legacy, in its first day of early access, has broken the Twitch record for highest peak of concurrent viewership for a single-player title, when it reached 1.3 million viewers earlier today, as per Insider Gaming (this tallies up the viewership of every single stream playing Hogwarts Legacy).
As per data gathering site TwitchTracker, the previous record was held by the massively successful (at least, financially) 2020 title Cyberpunk 2077, which peaked at 1.14 million viewers back around the time it first launched. These numbers are particularly impressive for single-player titles. Several multiplayer games have gotten higher peaks, like League of Legends at over 3 million, but these usually come from huge tournament events that build up for weeks.
There are a few factors that have undoubtedly aided in drawing in this massive amount of attention. Firstly, Hogwarts Legacy is implementing the now very common Twitch Drop strategy. By connecting your WB Games account to your Twitch account, you get a unique cosmetic for every 30 minutes you spend watching a Hogwarts Legacy stream, up to a total of four cosmetics. The cosmetics are as follows, and they're obtained in the subsequent order:
- Silver Dragon-Eyed Spectacles - Facewear Cosmetic.
- Urchin Hat - Headwear Cosmetic
- Carmine Lightning Bolt Scarf - Neckwear Cosmetic
- Lilac Ensemble - Outfit Cosmetic
Another likely reason for the game's record-breaking numbers is that it's technically not out yet. Hogwarts Legacy opted for the savvy strategy of adding a 72-hour early access bonus to the game's deluxe edition, so, currently, only those who were willing to fork up the $79.99 are able to play the game. There is possibly a larger number of players watching now than there would be if the game released normally, as a sizeable chunk of viewers would probably just be playing the game instead.
Finally, Hogwarts Legacy is simply a very anticipated title. Harry Potter is surpassed only by a handful of other franchises in popularity, and, though there have been some solid HP games in the past, this is, without a doubt, the most big-budget large-scale Wizarding adventure the gaming audience has seen yet, where you can create your own character and live your own Hogwarts school-life. The game topped Steam Wishlist charts prior to release, and it was even one of the best-selling games on Steam, purely on pre-orders.