The .Martinez broadcast, which reached more than 2 million viewers, easily beat the previous record of simultaneous viewers in an individual broadcast, set by Tyler “Ninja” Blevins in 2018 with 635,000 viewers.
Martinez was broadcasting to reveal his collaboration with the Icon Series in Fortnite, a line of character skins based on the main Fortnite content creators. Streamers like Ninja, Lachlan Power and Kathleen “Loserfruit” Belsten have skins based on them in the Icon Series, and now Martinez joins the squad.
TheGrefg icon skins inspired by Dragon Ball Z.
“One of the great conclusions from TheGrefg’s stream is that it illustrated the medium’s global appeal,” said StreamElements CEO Doron Nir, in a statement to IGN about why the record is such an important milestone. “All the major live streaming platforms have considerable international bases, but having a milestone like this defined by a Spanish streamer helps to highlight the broad appeal of the industry.”
We will!@TheGrefg now holds the record for most simultaneous viewers on Twitch. pic.twitter.com/26VceVSJyS
– Twitch (@Twitch) January 11, 2021
According to StreamElements, non-English streamers such as Gaules, auroplay, ibai and Rubius, all mapped in the StreamElements report on the main 2020 streamers.Martinez’s record-breaking stream shows how streaming, whether on Twitch or elsewhere, is a global phenomenon and that creators who don’t necessarily cater to English-speaking audiences are thriving in this global ecosystem.
Matt TM Kim is an IGN reporter. You can find him on Twitter @lawoftd.