Falls Guys has overtaken League of Legends as most-watched Twitch game
Will Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout ever fall from the dizzying heights it's currently at? Well, not for a while if Mediatonic has anything to do with it. Just weeks after launch, the adorable battle royale bundle has toppled another competitor as Fall Guysovertakes League of Legends as Twitch's most-streamed game.
The premise of Fall Guys is relatively simple as it cashes in on the retro nostalgia of Takeshi's Castle back in the day. Instead of watching real-life humans tumble into filthy water and relish in their failure while Craig Charles narrates, Fall Guys sends 60 beans off to their doom.
Whether it is the colourful stages of differing difficulty, the wide array of wardrobe choices, or simply the fact it's so damn addictive, the Mediatonic battle royale is a gaming phenomenon we haven't seen since the likes of Pokemon GO and Fortnite. After already taking Fortnite's streaming crown, it didn't take Fall Guys long to come snapping at LoL's heels.
Click to enlargeAccording to TwitchTracker and Sully Gnome, Fall Guys has had an eye-watering average viewership over 182k over the past seven days, putting it nicely ahead of LoL's 174k. Breaking down the numbers further, Fall Guys fans have streamed 30.6 million hours of gameplay in just a week, higher than its competitor's 29.3m).
What's more, the game has the fifth-highest average daily channel count but is just millimetres away from overtaking VALORANT and League of Legends to take third place.
The big question is, what's next? Part of Fall Guys' growing success is its constant engagement with players. There was a recent in-game auction where companies could bid to design their own bean.
All proceeds will be donated to charity, and as it stands, G2 Esports has a leading bid of $130,003. Another challenge was set when the official Twitter account said producer Alex Sudowhaley said he'd delete the hated Yellow Team if one post could get one million retweets.
Click to enlargeWe've already seen a new level make its way into the game full-time, while elsewhere, a Team Fortress 2-inspired skin and cute cactus have joined the party. There are still criticisms about the Fall Guys servers and hackers exploiting cheats, but on the whole, things are moving in the right direction.
Unfortunately, we've been here before where games have launched to huge acclaim, climbed to the top, and slowly slipped away. Huge titles including PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Apex Legends are proof that a strong start isn't always a sign of longevity.
Still, Fall Guys is going from strength to strength and has some pretty major companies willing to splash the cash in Mediatonic's direction. Only time will tell whether Fall Guys has the "beans" to go all the way.
Images via Mediatonic | Riot Games | Sully Gnome