Livestreaming Tracker May 2026 Highlights: New Releases and Major Updates Diversify China’s RPG Viewership Landscape
Chaos Zero Nightmare captured a meaningful share of RPG viewership during the month.
RPG titles dominated China’s livestreaming landscape in May 2026, standing out as some of the month’s most-watched content. Niko Partners China Games & Livestreaming Tracker reveals that RPG remained one of the most-watched genres in China’s livestreaming market in May 2026, driven by a mix of established titles, major content updates, and new launches. Notably, Chaos Zero Nightmare captured a meaningful share of RPG viewership during the month, highlighting the genre’s increasingly competitive landscape.
miHoYo’s Honkai: Star Rail, a F2P RPG cross-platform mobile/PC/console game, garnered 37 million viewers (-69% MoM) and ranked #16, a drop from #4 in the prior month. We observe that the game released the 4.2 version 3rd anniversary update on April 22, which ran for approximately six weeks. Meanwhile, miHoYo held the 2026 Honkai: Star Rail Carnival between April 23 and May 3, which consisted of an offline exhibition, an online music performance, and online faction battles.
We observe that all miHoYo titles recorded MoM declines in May, which may suggest increased competition from new releases like Chaos Zero Nightmare and major content updates across other titles such as Kuro Games’ Wuthering Waves and Punishing: Gray Raven.
In a similar vein, Honor of Kings: World was unable to maintain post-launch momentum in the second month, unlike Roco Kingdom World.
We attribute this to weaker content stickiness after the initial IP-driven launch spike. While Honor of Kings: World benefited from the strength of Tencent’s flagship MOBA IP and strong early curiosity, Chinese player feedback suggests that post-launch sentiment became more polarized due to limited content depth and a lack of differentiation from other open-world RPGs.
Kuro Games’ Wuthering Waves, a F2P RPG cross-platform mobile/PC/console game, garnered 43.9 million viewers (+109% MoM) and ranked #14, a rise from #24 in the prior month. The title had already built momentum heading into May, following its 2nd anniversary celebration via the launch of Version 3.3 on April 30.
Notably, the Version 3.4 preview livestream was aired at 19:00 on May 29 across Bilibili, Huya, and Douyu. Our Niko Index chart recorded a significant surge in viewership on that same day, with Bilibili platform alone attracting 16.5 million views in a single day. The title’s 3.4 update was subsequently launched on June 8.
Kuro Games’ Punishing: Gray Raven, a F2P RPG cross-platform mobile/PC game, garnered 8.1 million viewers (+2,602% MoM) and ranked #39, a rise from #202 in the prior month. We observe that the game recorded an initial one-day spike on May 23, driven by its Homecoming Voyage Version Preview livestreamed at 19:00, with Bilibili platform alone attracting 7.8 million views in a single day. The title’s Homecoming Voyage update was subsequently launched on June 2.
The above is an extract from our China Games & Livestreaming Tracker May 2026 summary. See the free sample here.
Niko Partners’ China Games & Livestreaming Tracker views all current and historical data in our dashboard, updated every 24 hours. Niko’s Analysts write and post monthly analysis of key trends and data observed in the Tracker to help our clients with important insights. Learn more about the platform here. Book your free demo!