In recent weeks, the venerable MMORPG World of Warcraft had a surge on Twitch. That has now come to a stop for the time being. We explain what it is all about.
What was that surge on Twitch about?
- WoW is actually not a big game on Twitch, except when there is currently a “World First Race” for a new raid boss in WoW Retail.
- But in recent weeks there was an unusually large boost for WoW on Twitch, and it was precisely because of WoW Classic: In the last 90 days, the game had double the viewer hours compared to the previous 90 days.
- This was partly due to the World First Race in WoW Retail, but even when that ended, interest remained high. This was due to a special project: “OnlyFangs” in WoW Classic Hardcore.
Anyone raiding on a hardcore server must be a bit crazy:
Twitch streamers come together for project “OnlyFangs” and it hits hard
What was this project? “OnlyFangs” is a raid guild in WoW Classic Hardcore on the server “Ragnaros”, consisting of major Twitch streamers. The unique appeal: Anyone who dies here is out. And in a raid in WoW, people can die.
Leading the guild and the raid is the popular sodapoppin, who achieved 7.6 million viewer hours in the last 90 days, almost as much as raid leader Maximum.
Other big Twitch streamers like Mizkif or Annie Fuchsia were also part of OnlyFangs – and they welcomed people who are not usually known for WoW, like Pokimane or CohhCarnage.
That sodapoppin is serious about the project is evident from the fact that he kicked a whole bunch of “big names” from the guild at the end of November because he thought they were playing too little WoW Classic and were inactive.
Viewer hours drop by 51%
What happened now: The surge for WoW began to stall on December 16 and then dropped significantly starting December 20. Since then, top streamer sodapoppin has not been streaming WoW, and many other major streamers are missing:
- In the last 7 days, WoW has lost 34% of viewer hours compared to the previous week.
- Over the last 14 days, there is even a 51% drop in viewer hours – with the end of the “World First Race” on November 27 also playing a role.
Tragedy leads to a pause in WoW project
What is the cause? As Twitch streamer Mizkif explains, “OnlyFangs” is currently paused. The father of Veibae, sodapoppin’s partner, has passed away, and therefore the guild leader, Chance “Sodapoppin” Morris, has taken a streaming break.
As Mizkif explains, they will not play WoW without sodapoppin and are putting the entire project on hold:
“No, WoW is not over, but Chance is missing. Chance will… Chance will be gone for a while, he will be away for a while. Yeah, it’s pretty sad stuff.”
Mizkif thinks the “WoW stuff” will take a break for a few weeks without the raid leader. Because without Chance, they will not be able to continue the guild.
More about sodapoppin:
Twitch streamer allegedly rejects “big money” – launch of WoW Classic more important
