IShowSpeed crushed 2025 as the most-watched YouTube Gaming streamer, miles ahead of second-place Gaules and three Japanese VTubers.
For years now, IShowSpeed has been one of the most popular streamers on the internet, and his travel broadcasts have been known to make international headlines.
It’s easy to see why he was Dexerto’s pick for top streamer of 2025 and the winner of the Streamer of the Year award. Throughout the year, he toured China, shattering YouTube milestones and even drawing praise from the country’s government for spotlighting the nation. He later streamed his way across Europe, with countries like Estonia publicly thanking him for boosting tourism.
Travel was only part of the run. Speed completed a Super Mario marathon with Kai Cenat, beat influencer Ashton Hall in a viral footrace.
In total, he has 64.1M hours watched in 2025, according to StreamsCharts. Nearly 20M ahead of CSGO caster Alexandre ‘Gaules’ Borba Chiqueta, who pulled in 45.2M.
Rounding out the top 5? Three VTubers.
VTubers in wild race for YouTube rankings
IShowSpeed and Gaules are trailed by three Japanese VTubers: Miko, Pekora, and Kazuha.
The clearest storyline is the rivalry between Pekora and Miko. Both are part of Hololive Production, post near-identical performance metrics, and are effectively neck-and-neck for the title of the year’s most popular female streamer.
Miko currently sits at 44.4M hours watched with Pekora just barely behind at 42.8M. Meanwhile, Kazuha is a bit back at 37.1M. A distant fifth, but with a significant lead over sixth.
Their content sticks to the proven VTuber playbook: heavy audience interaction paired with role-play-driven gaming in GTA V, Minecraft, and other top titles.
StreamsChartsRounding out the top 8 are MixiGaming, Typical Gamer (who grew by 121% from last year) and BaianoTV. Mobile esports specialists Set1awanade LoLzZz Gaming make up the final two spots covering Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Battlegrounds Mobile India, respectively.
IShowSpeed tops more YouTube categories
Just to put IShowSpeed’s dominance into perspective, he was also ranked #1 for average viewership, with 52,391 concurrent viewers.
He also came second in peak concurrent viewership with 487.7K viewers during an IRL stream from Peru.
Speed was only bested by Mario Alfonso ‘DjMariiO’ Garrido. A longtime football creator closely tied to the EA Sports FC franchise, he hit a massive 703,000 concurrent viewers.
StreamsChartsNotably, that record did not come from a traditional gaming stream. The peak was set during a football tournament show featuring popular YouTubers, underscoring just how powerful crossover events have become on the platform.
Ninja managed to squeak in with the 10th most-watched YouTube gaming broadcast, teaching his brother to play Fortnite.
Amazingly, the year is far from over for Speed. On December 21, he outlined an ambitious schedule that will see him visit 20 African countries over the span of 28 days, with the tour set to begin on December 29.
