Who Are The Most-Watched Competitive Fortnite Streamers Of All Time?
Not too long ago, Fortnite sat atop the esports world. The battle royale game was a must-watch spectacle with non-stop tournaments for large purses, all culminating in the Fortnite World Cup and its $30M prize pool.
Nowadays, the entire Fortnite category on Twitch hovers around 100K viewers. But at one time, it was not rare to see a single channel with 100K plus viewers. Certain competitive Fortnite streams amassed nearly 300K concurrent viewers by themselves.
So which competitive Fortnite streamers were pulling in these monumental viewer counts? Let’s review the data and discuss the events that led to these staggering competitive Fortnite streaming numbers.
Tfue
This may come as a surprise to some, but it’s Turner “Tfue” Tenny who is the most-watched competitive Fortnite steamer of all time. Tfue holds the top four spots in the ranking of most-watched Fortnite tournament POVs. And out of 40 positions, Tfue claims 26 of them. No one, not even Ninja, came close to Tfue’s dominance as a competitive Fortnite streamer.
At his absolute peak, Tfue pulled in over 289,000 concurrent viewers during the World Cup Week 8 finals. This is an astronomical number that serves as a reminder of how popular Fortnite was during Chapter 1.
Tfue’s insane viewership occurred during his pursuit of double-qualifying for the Fortnite World Cup. Tfue aimed to be one of the few players to qualify for both the Solos and the Duos tournament. Tfue’s most viewed streams were the ones where he was chasing this goal.
Tfue has since moved on to other games like Call of Duty: Warzone and Minecraft, but he was the king of competitive Fortnite during its heyday.
Click to enlargeNinja
Fortnite’s golden boy, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, is the second most-watched competitive Fortnite streamer ever. Ninja’s known for his kid-friendly and casual Fortnite streams, but Ninja also has a competitive side. Seven of the 40 most-watched competitive Fortnite tournament POVs came from Ninja’s perspective. Ninja’s most-watched competitive stream brought in 215K views. This was during Week 2 of the Summer Skirmish, an event that saw Ninja place a respectable 14th.
Ninja has hung up the sticks when it comes to competing in Fortnite professionally, but not before proving to himself and the world that he could contend with the best of them.
Click to enlargeSolary
It’s not an individual, but an organization that takes the title of the third most-watched competitive Fortnite stream. The French organization Solary is a household name in competitive Fortnite, sponsoring some of the best European players the game has to offer. Huynh "Kinstaar" Duong Huynh, Corentin "Hunter" Tardif, and Karim "Airwaks" Benghalia are just a few of the big-name players Solary had representing their organization during the prime days of competitive Fortnite.
All of Solary’s most impressive streams came during the World Cup Finals. This makes sense when you consider that a whopping four players under the Solary banner qualified for the World Cup. Solary has an eye for elite Fortnite talent, and their streams certainly benefited from it.
Click to enlargeBenjyfishy
Fan-favourite Benjy "Benjyfishy" David Fish may not have the draw of a Tfue or a Ninja, but the 17-year-old is a shining star in his own right. While obviously not to the degree they have now, Ninja and Tfue had followings prior to Fortnite. Benjyfishy however, was a no-name before Fortnite. Benjyfishy worked his way from nothing to a streamer, pulling in over 100K viewers during Fortnite tournaments. The England native has hosted two of the 40 most-watched competitive Fortnite streams ever.
Click to enlargeMongraal
The decisive Kyle “Mongraal” Jackson rounds out the list as the fifth most-watched competitive Fortnite streamer of all time. Despite the stark contrast in their personalities, Benjyfishy and Mongraal were a dynamic duo as Fortnite partners. Mongraal is unruly and rambunctious while Benjyfishy is more soft-spoken and calm. But despite their differences, they made a great team and their streams benefited from the partnership. Mongraal’s streaming highlight came during Season 14 FNCS Grand Finals, where he amassed over 125K concurrent viewers.
Mongraal is no longer the competitive powerhouse that he once was, but he still actively plays the game and is fighting to take back his throne as one of Fortnite’s strongest competitors.
Final Takeaways
Overall, this graphic is a testament to the popularity of Fortnite during its early days. All 40 of the tournament POVs on the graph occurred prior to Fortnite Chapter 2 - Season 6. And the Chapter 2 streams are few and far between. The large majority of Fortnite’s most-watched competitive events took place during the World Cup and Chapter 1. This graph will likely stand the test of time unless another massive Fortnite tournament like a second World Cup is announced. Otherwise, Fortnite has likely already seen the peak of its competitive viewership numbers.
Furthermore, there's a lot more that goes into the success of the most-watched streams than just the gravity of the event being streamed. Tfue and Ninja are streaming icons capable of drawing in insane viewership, regardless of what it is they are playing. With both of these legends retiring from competitive play, there's no one left in the Fortnite community capable of taking their role.
Fortnite remains a very popular game, but the success and attention it saw from launch to Season X was historic. Gaming and streaming had seen nothing like it, and these competitors made the most of their opportunity.
