The 12 Most Popular Streamers on Twitch in 2018

11. sodpoppin

Game of Choice: Various

Followers: 1,959,939

Thomas Jefferson Chance Morris IV, also known by his alias Sodapoppin, is a former World of Warcraft player who reached top rank with over half of Twitch’s WoW followers viewing him. In 2014 and 2015, Morris was streaming blackjack gambling on casino websites, winning and losing thousands of dollars on any given day. In May 2015, Morris lost $5000 on one hand with over 40,000 viewers watching.

Morris at one point co-owned the Canadian eSports organization Northern Gaming, which was later purchased by NRG Esports, which is owned by Shaquille O’Neal, Alex Rodriguez, and others. Known for his high energy and comedic tone, sodapoppin is quickly approaching the 2 million follower milestone on Twitch.

10. TimTheTatman

Game of Choice: Fortnite

Followers: 1,977,110

Tim made his debut on Twitch in 2012 and quickly found an audience for his high energy and enthusiastic streams. He turned his passion for gaming into a full-fledged career when he began streaming on Twitch full-time in 2014 and now streams twice daily. Though he’s most well known for his Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streams, Tim has recently jumped aboard the Fortnite train and can regularly be seen teaming up with the likes of Ninja on stream.

TimTheTatman has always produced brand-friendly content and is affiliated with the likes of Monster Energy, Razer, and Audio Technica. Known for his low voice and love of tattoos, TimTheTatman has grown his followers – known as the “TatManArmy” – to nearly 2 million strong.

9. LIRIK

Game of Choice: Various

Followers: 2,102,202

Saqib Zahid, known as LIRIK on Twitch, began his career on the platform in 2011 with World of Warcraft but didn’t go full-time until the release of DayZ in 2012. Since then he has grown his channel substantially and averages 20,000 – 40,000 viewers per stream, depending on the game. What makes LIRIK unique is that he plays a variety of games across many different genres, while most of the top streamers focus on one or two popular multiplayer games.

LIRIK will often play through single player, story-based campaigns and rarely includes camera footage of himself overlayed on top of the game footage. In January 2018, Zahid announced he was taking a short break from streaming due to stress and feeling “burnt out,” but he returned a week later to the surprise of his two million followers.

8. Nightblue3

Game of Choice: League of Legends

Followers: 2,228,437

Known for his highly informative streams, Nightblue3 was a pro League of Legends player for Team SoloMid in the early days of esports around 2014. He gained a massive following online when he started streaming his top-tier challenger play on Twitch. His Rengar play is still legendary and has caused fits for many high Diamond players over the past few years. In recent years, his popularity has blossomed, pulling in over 20,000 viewers per stream during the height of his Twitch superstardom.

But as Nightblue3 grew in popularity, so did his poor reputation, marked by highly publicized conflicts with fellow streamers Imaqtpie and IWillDominate. It was the sort of drama that the League of Legends subreddit eats up for a few days and then forgets all about. All of the controversies have given Nightblue3 even more exposure and helped him surpass the two million follower mark.

7. imaqtpie

Game of Choice: League of Legends

Followers: 2,304,203

Known for his upbeat personality and catchphrases Michael Santana, a.k.a. imaqtpie is a popular League of Legends player with one of the largest followings on Twitch. He came up with the username “Imaqtpie” because his mom says he’s cute. He was a member of professional gaming team Dignitas until the end of 2014 when he officially announced his departure.

His girlfriend Lisha, a previous Diamond tier League of Legends player, helps him manage his stream and his League of Legends career. She has stated that she believes her biggest input into his life has been convincing him to take up League of Legends professionally. Imaqtpie has coined many well-known phrases including “Raise Your Dongers,” which is now commonly rephrased and spammed in other Twitch.tv chats.

6. DrDisrespectLIVE

Game of Choice: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Followers: 2,357,133

Guy Beahm, more commonly known by his online alias DrDisrespect, is a popular Twitch streamer and internet personality. Beahm has amassed over 2 million followers on the streaming platform and is most famous for playing Battle Royale video games, such as H1Z1, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Fortnite. The DrDisrespect character originated from Beahm playing Halo 2 on the Xbox, a game that featured proximity voice chat, where players could engage each other in real-time. This created an opportunity for Beahm to showcase a “dominant character” with over-the-top bravado and as he was fairly good at the game, he was able to back up his trash talking.

In March 2011, Beahm was appointed as the community manager of Sledgehammer Games. He was eventually promoted to level designer and helped create many of the multiplayer maps for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Beahm joined Justin.tv while he was working at Sledgehammer and left his position in 2015 to focus on full-time streaming. In December 2017, he took a two-month hiatus from streaming to repair his relationship with his wife, after having admitted to being unfaithful.

5. Syndicate

Game of Choice: Fortnite

Followers: 2,560,832

Tom Cassell, better known as Tom Syndicate or simply Syndicate, is a British streamer with a huge following of fans. On 17 August 2014, Cassell reached 1 million followers to his Twitch channel, the first person to do so in the history of the streaming platform. Syndicate’s YouTube channel TheSyndicateProject has grown to be one of the top 100 most subscribed channels on the website.

Syndicate is also vice president of CSGOLotto.com, a gambling website which has landed Cassell and his website in the center of a large legal and social controversy. The controversy has certainly slowed the growth of his channel, with many streamers surpassing him over that past year. Syndicate is known for his PUBG, Call of Duty, and Fortnite streams and has recently been producing more IRL content.

4. TSM_Myth

Game of Choice: Fortnite

Followers: 2,839,968

18-year-old Ali Kabbani, a.k.a. Myth, is another extremely popular Twitch streamer who is especially well known for playing survival games, most notably Fortnite. As an occasional duo partner for Ninja, Myth has been able to amass a large group of fans with his channel, which now sits on the tipping point of three million followers. Myth is a part of TSM’s pro Fortnite team, and he’s one of the premier builders in the game. It’s basically impossible to keep up with what he’s doing as he builds a tower in just seconds, but it’s impressive to watch.

Kabbani is the youngest streamer on this list and has been able to accomplish so much before the age of 20. He is considered one of the best Fortnite players around, up there with Tyler Blevins a.k.a. Ninja. He is a highly sought-after player and the captain of Team SoloMid

3. summit1g

Game of Choice: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Followers: 3,169,929

Jaryd “Summit1G” Lazar is a retired semi-competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who became well known for streaming the game in the early days of his channel. After the release of DayZ, he jumped in immediately and his channel skyrocketed into the spotlight. Before streaming professionally or taking streaming seriously as a full-time job, Jaryd worked as a call representative for Time Warner Cable.

Lazar switched to streaming PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds after the game’s pre-release in March 2017. He regularly streams a variety of games, including Fortnite, GTA V, and DayZ and garners approximately 20,00 viewers per stream. Lazar has over three million followers, becoming the top followed streamer on Twitch from January 2018 to March 2018.

2. Shroud

Game of Choice: PLAYERUNKNOWN”S BATTLEGROUNDS

Followers: 3,388,053

Michael Grzesiek, better known as Shroud, is a Canadian former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who is also known for streaming PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite: Battle Royale. Early in Shroud’s Twitch career, he was able to capitalize on his success as a CS:GO pro and provide an informative and exciting stream to his audience. Shroud’s talent is undeniable, as he has the ability to transition his skillset to a wide variety of shooters, making him a versatile streamer capable of keeping up with the latest trends on Twitch.

Once Shroud made the shift to PLAYERUNKNOWN”S BATTLEGROUNDS in 2017, his Twitch channel exploded in popularity. Shroud has become one of the most popular pro players who actively streams, regularly pulling in more than 20,000 viewers per broadcast.

1. Ninja

Game of Choice: Fortnite

Followers: 8,005,000

Ninja’s popularity has skyrocketed in 2018 after his highly publicized Fortnite stream with Drake, but he’s by no means a new face on the Twitch scene. Ninja, whose real name is Tyler Bevins, began his career as a professional Halo 3 player back in 2009. He began his streaming career in 2011 with games like Halo and CS:GO and was in on the ground floor of the H1Z1 craze before moving into the widely popular PUBG.

These days Ninja is known for playing another battle royale game, the global phenomenon that is Fortnite. As of May 2018, he is the most popular streamer on Twitch, with over eight million followers and an average of over 90,000 viewers per stream. Ninja is clearly on another level and it’s estimated that he earns nearly $1 million per month from Twitch subscriber revenue alone.