From the cozy games to the horror hits, Twitch breaks down the “State of Gaming” in 2026

Twitch‘s “Just Chatting” category has long produced the platform’s biggest viewership numbers, but that doesn’t mean that Twitch’s gamers are irrelevant. To the contrary, both competitive and casual gaming streamers continue to thrive on the Amazon-owned hub, and the Twitch State of Gaming 2026 report has the stats to prove it.

The latest State of Gaming report breaks down the 8.6 billion hours of gaming-related watch time that occurred on Twitch between January 1 and September 1 of this year. Within that sample, a few familiar faces stand tall. Jynxzi, who gained fame with Rainbow Six Siege streams before becoming an all-around tour de force in the streaming world. Jynxzi generated 78 million hours of Twitch watch time during the measurement period by playing games like Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, and League of Legends.

The last of those titles is the king of Twitch’s competitive gaming scene. Across the U.S., U.K., and Latin America, League of Legends is the current most-watched title. LoL is a global phenomenon; Twitch’s report cites Germany’s Noway4u_Sir and France’s Kamet0 as two of the biggest LoL players in the world.

League of Legends and sandbox gaming have been category leaders on Twitch for years, but there are also some new wrinkles within the platform’s community button-pushers. One trend involves cozy games, which are defined by their cute characters, calm vibes, and colorful settings. Twitch reported that games featuring “creatures and companions,” including Pokopia

and Slime Rancher, have totaled 142 million hours of watch time since the start of 2026.

Or, if you want to put away the cozy titles travel to the side of the gaming spectrum, horror is here for you. Amid a general glow-up for horror creators, games like Dead by Daylight and Phasmophobia powered Twitch’s horror tag to a 6% year-over-year bump. The genre’s year-to-date watch time sits at 287 million hours.

“Since our earliest days, Twitch has always been a place for people to come together around their shared love of gaming,” said Twitch Chief Product Officer Mike Minton in a statement. “8.6 billion hours of gaming content watched in just eight months — and the GTA VI community showing up so big it broke the site — are powerful testaments to the strength of Twitch’s gaming community. There’s something for every kind of gamer on Twitch, whether you’re into creepy or cozy, Soulslikes or sandboxes, or just waiting for the game of the century.”

Minton’s references to GTA VI are telling. The Rockstar sandbox is so hotly anticipated because it can be used to build all sorts of gaming experiences. It can deliver the variety that Twitch viewers clearly crave. Some people will turn GTA VI into a cozy-style experience. Others will mine it for horror. But no matter how gamers take in GTA VI, expect them to spend a lot of time playing (and streaming) it.