As in the last 3 years, the hardcore shooter Escape from Tarkov (PC) is also the biggest game in the world on Twitch at the turn of the year 2022. Tarkov has overtaken GTA Online and LoL in hours watched in the last 7 days. The streamer DrDisrespect says: Escape from Tarkov could take over the entire gaming scene if it didn’t have a major issue at the start.
How strong is Escape from Tarkov on Twitch?
- Incredibly strong. The Russian hardcore shooter has overtaken the long-term titles GTA 5, LoL, and Valorant. In the last 7 days, no game was watched more on Twitch than Escape from Tarkov. The viewer count for Tarkov rose by 126% in the last 7 days – and even by 637% in the last 30 days.
- Tarkov was watched for 37.34 million hours over 7 days – 13 million hours more than GTA 5 and 17 million hours more than LoL.
- As every year, the leading streamer for Tarkov is the Australian Pestily. He has completely specialized in Escape from Tarkov. But there are also people like summit1g or shroud streaming the shooter. And even DrDisrespect takes a look.
Twitch Drops fuel the resurgence of the shooter on Twitch 2022
Why is that? Since 2019, Escape from Tarkov has taken the lead on Twitch at the end of each year. This is because the game traditionally offers Twitch Drops before the turn of the year, making watching Tarkov particularly worthwhile:
- Escape from Tarkov regularly “wipes” the entire game, causing everyone to start anew. This leads to a spike in interest. The last wipe was on December 12. There was a peak in player numbers then.
- From December 28 to January 8, players can collect the Twitch Drops. December 28 marked the beginning of the peak of Escape from Tarkov on Twitch in 2021.
- This year, all editions of Tarkov are also 25% cheaper.
It has somehow become customary that in the last weeks of December, “Tarkov” appears on the menu of Twitch streamers. While the game plays a minor role on Twitch for most of the year, viewer numbers surge at the turn of the year.
DrDisrespect criticizes grindy “weak phase” after every wipe
What does DrDisrespect say about Escape from Tarkov? The chronically dissatisfied DrDisrespect is also back in the Tarkov fever. He explains:
Guys, I think it’s really fun. I believe even more people would play it, but there is this big barrier. Honestly: They just need to change this one thing and the game would take over [the gaming world].
DrDisrespect
DrDisrespect sees the difficulty in the initial phase after every wipe, where players start with nothing and their characters are weak:
Every time someone returns to Escape from Tarkov or plays it for the first time, they have to go through this bad part. Your character feels sluggish and slow, you are constantly gasping for air. I know that it changes as you level up, but everyone wonders: When am I finally done with this?
It’s tedious and it means that anyone who doesn’t grind 24/7 is at a disadvantage. Immediately. That’s not fun and it makes the game less enjoyable. That’s the only thing Tarkov really needs to change.
DrDisrespect
However, DrDisrespect admits that such a change would likely affect the “brutal hardcore nature” of the shooter. They made the game as they deemed fit – he accepts that too. DrDisrespect says he really likes Tarkov and wishes for more players for the shooter. But this barrier prevents it from achieving great success.
We have extensively covered a map in Tarkov on MeinMMO:
Escape from Tarkov: Everything about the map Zollgelände – loot, spawns, tactics
