Fortnite beats out Apex Legends and Warzone as top battle royale on Twitch

Jacob Hale
Warzone Fortnite and Apex Legends characters with twitch logo in the middle

2021 saw the rivalry between Fortnite, Apex Legends and Warzone grow ever stronger as they all sought to establish themselves as the premier battle royale title — but it looks like Fortnite reigns supreme once again.

Fortnite was once by far the most popular game out there, with every top streamer and gamer worth their salt looking to gain notoriety on the Epic Games battle royale title.

It completely changed gaming in terms of mainstream appeal, and in its wake titles such as Apex Legends and Warzone were spawned, seeking to imitate the popularity of the BR mode.

Both titles have provided some serious competition for Fortnite over the years but, as the latest stats show, it wasn’t quite enough to overtake the Epic Games hit.

Christmas Tree Decorations in Fortnite
Fortnite is still flying high into 2022.

Assessing viewership for every game on Twitch throughout 2021, these stats courtesy of SullyGnome show just how much Fortnite beat out its closest competition by, as it fell just shy of a total 1 billion hours watched.

Here are the viewership figures for Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Warzone throughout 2021:

Game Watch Time
Fortnite 966,514,114 hours
Warzone 851,481,372 hours
Apex Legends 689,817,667 hours

In terms of where these games fared among the top 10 most streamed games on Twitch, Fortnite came in at 4th place, with Warzone in at 7th and Apex Legends in at 9th. Fortnite and Warzone both saw a one-place drop from 2020, while Apex actually rose up from 13th.

Fortnite remains atop the battle royale standings for another year, but with Apex making steady ground — thanks especially to the migration of top streamers such as NICKMERCS — Warzone is under threat.

The question is, will 2022 see Fortnite continue its reign of dominance, or will it finally lose its top spot?

About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.