The Twitch launch of Pokémon Legends: Arceus drew more spectators than any previous game in the series’ history, setting a new record for the famous franchise. After being published in November of last year, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl had the previous record for most people watching a game debut. With Pokémon Legends, Nintendo has taken a risk and succeeded spectacularly in diverging from the usual Pokémon formula.
The prequel focuses on locating and assessing potentially dangerous Pokémon rather than battling to the top of a League, and it introduces a number of mechanical and systemic modifications. It has been widely praised by gamers and journalists alike, with some deeming it the best Pokémon game in a long time.
While the aesthetics and performance of Legends have been criticised, the game as a whole has been well received by the Pokémon community and the gaming industry. Pokémon Legends: Arceus smashed the record for Twitch’s most popular Pokémon game in the first 72 hours after its release, according to data analytics firm Gamesight. At its height, the game had 481,573 viewers, more than Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl had at its maximum point.
Overall, Legends outperformed any prior Pokémon game’s debut, including Pokémon Sword and Shield, Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Only on launch day did it reach the top spot on Twitch, but Sword and Shield held the top spot for two of the three days. On Twitch, at least, each subsequent Pokémon game has been statistically more popular than the previous one.
Despite this, Pokémon Legends: Arceus saw the most improvement over its predecessor. There were 15.4 million hours of television watched, 177,000 average viewers, 81k total streams, and 330.3k hours of television streamed during the first weekend of Legends. The entire Twitch platform, not just a few famous streamers, is responsible for these numbers, according to Gamesight. In many ways, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is off to a great start. Fans and critics alike are praising it, and it has already outperformed previous modern instalments in terms of viewership growth. Even though Legends is one of the most unorthodox Pokémon titles in a long time, it appears to be exactly what players were looking for.