Warhammer: Vermintide 2

We dove into Warhammer: Vermintide 2 in 2018, right when the sequel proved Fatshark had cracked the formula. This was Left 4 Dead meets Warhammer meets first-person melee combat, and it was glorious chaos. We spent 150 hours hacking through Skaven hordes, experimenting with different character builds, and pushing through increasingly ridiculous difficulties. Vermintide 2 hit different—it was PvE, it was skill-based, and the community around it was tight-knit and welcoming. The house got into the rhythm of it: dungeons, horde hordes, the crushing terror of a Stormvermin patrol when you're low on ammo. We averaged 304 viewers across those 150 hours, steady engagement from people who loved melee-focused gameplay. The 637 peak tells us people wanted to watch the chaos, especially during our first runs at higher difficulties where things got creative.

Those 150 hours generated 47,559 hours watched with a 304 average—solid, consistent numbers for a co-op PvE game. Vermintide 2 wasn't a mega-popular streamed title, but it had a devoted audience. The 637 peak happened because people knew what to expect from our runs and showed up for it. We gained 172 followers during our coverage, which is strong positive growth—the community was recommending us to their friends. For a game that didn't have the mainstream appeal of battle royales or competitive shooters, these numbers represent genuine engagement from people who were specifically interested in watching skilled Vermintide play.

Vermintide 2 became special to the house in a way that bigger games rarely achieve. We built a community within the chat of people who knew builds, knew the meta, knew the pain of a Chaos patrol spawning at the wrong time. These viewers came back repeatedly because they weren't watching for trend chasing—they were watching for quality melee gameplay and community. We gained followers during our Vermintide era, which means people were converting from casual viewers to loyal community members. That's the mark of a game that brings people together rather than just entertaining them.