Halo Infinite has received success in critical reviews and player count, but not when it comes to Twitch viewership. Despite a strong first week, the shooter has quickly fallen off and now averages between 40th to 70th amongst Twitch’s most viewed games. As of writing, Infinite currently holds the 58th spot, behind Bungie’s Destiny 2 and even Rockstar’s 16-year-old Bully.
However, this isn’t necessarily a Halo Infinite issue. It may be more related to a shift in what viewers want to watch. As pointed out by 100 Thieves co-owner Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, “FPS viewers have moved away from casual respawn arena shooters” like Halo Infinite and Call of Duty: Vanguard.
As you can see by the numbers Dunlop tweeted, viewers are hardly watching traditional multiplayer shooters and are much more interested in battle royales, hero shooters, and tactical shooters. On top of that, many Twitch viewers are more engaged by Minecraft and other survival-type games. Therefore, it seems like Twitch just isn’t the place for games like Halo Infinite anymore.
Yet, unlike many battle royales and survival games, which live and die by Twitch, this is not an issue for mainstream shooters like Halo and Call of Duty. In fact, their player base seems too busy playing their games instead of watching them. For example, Microsoft announced that Halo Infinite had crossed the 20 million player mark earlier this week. Additionally, Call of Duty is the best-selling game every year in the U.S., and it’s not usually close. Therefore, although Twitch can be a necessity for some, it doesn’t indicate success for most “casual respawn arena shooters.”
