The VTubers are coming: Ironmouse was one of the 10 most-watched Twitch streams in February

Ironmouse is already the most-subscribed female streamer on Twitch, but the Puerto Rican VTuber continues to achieve new milestones. StreamElements, using data from Rainmaker.gg, has released its ranking of the most-watched Twitch content during February 2022. Across that month, Ironmouse’s content registered the eighth-most watch time among all accounts. Her subscribers, who now number more than 100,000, helped deliver about seven million hours of monthly watch time.

This is the first time a VTuber has placed in the top ten of StreamElements and Rainmaker’s monthly ranking. The VTuber community, which was little more than a fringe group five years ago, has experienced sweeping growth of late, thanks to the help of companies like VShojo. With their adaptable personalities and fantastical backstories, virtual creators are defining a new entertainment paradigm, and Ironmouse — whose recent sub-a-thon allowed her to raise her follower count above 1.1 million — is leading the way.

StreamElements, beyond its rankings, also offers tools and services to creators. “VTubing as a format continues to grow the diverse landscape of the creator economy with Ironmouse and her milestone-setting month leading the charge to over 100k subscribers,” said StreamElements CBO Jason Krebs in a statement.

Ironmouse’s eighth-place finish in the StreamElements ranking is impressive, but the VTuber still has a ways to go if she wants to catch the most-watched Twitch star. XQCow

(real name Félix Lengyel), who received more watch time than any other streamer last year, has still not been caught. In February, his stream’s watch time totaled more than 20 million hours. To put that number in context, keep in mind February has only 28 days, so XQCow got more than 700,000 hours of watch time per day.

StreamElements and Rainmaker.gg also track the most-streamed games on Twitch, and in February, one particular inclusion caught my eye. Most of the top games are multiplayer titles like Lost Ark and League of Legends, and it’s harder for a game to get traction on Twitch if it is designed as a single-player experience. This makes sense when you consider the close ties between Twitch and the competitive esports scene.

But if a single-player game makes a big enough cultural impact, it can move the needle on Twitch. In February 2022, that game was FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. Despite being (mostly) a solo experience, Elden Ring generated more than 57 million hours of monthly watch time on Twitch. That put it one spot ahead of Fortnite in the StreamElements ranking.

In summation: It’s a good time to try something new on Twitch. The breadth of the platform’s content is expanding, which means that unconventional creators — some of whom are pink-haired anime girls — have a chance to shine.