Twitch is home to some of the world’s biggest streamers, most of whom started as small unknown streamers. They were no different from countless others still on the grind trying to make a name for themselves.
As a result, most of their debuts weren’t notable. They had to build their communities from scratch, starting with the bare minimum. However, that doesn’t mean all Twitch debuts started out in the same way.
For example, some people who stream irregularly on the platform were already well-known in other industries. Logic, Snoop Dogg, and T-Pain are notable examples and their debuts were massive. However, only one person deserves the title of the best Twitch debut of all time, and it’s none other than U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who debuted on Twitch in Oct. 2020 at the peak of the Among Us craze.
Ocasio-Cortez’s debut Twitch stream was the biggest in the platform’s history. It peaked at 426,109 viewers, which is still the 33rd highest recorded number of concurrent views to date, and it was the first stream she’d ever done.
The monumental achievement even earned her a Guinness World Record for the most successful debut stream on the platform.
However, that’s not the only reason we consider it the best Twitch debut of all time: Ocasio-Cortez’s stream was also remarkably entertaining. As mentioned above, it happened at the peak of the Among Us Craze. She played with Imane “Pokimane” Anys, Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang, Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker, and more, who all helped make it an enjoyable session.
Ocasio-Cortez was the star of the show, though. She did everything from impersonating Corpse Husband to slamming her desk while trying to maintain her innocence, opening up about her experience with League of Legends, and more.
Moreover, the stream helped raised $180,000 to help ensure food and housing for homeless people and paved the way for other politicians to follow suit and use the platform to connect with people in the gaming and streaming community.
For that reason, it ticks more than enough boxes to deserve the title of being the best Twitch debut of all time. A close second would be League superstar Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee’s debut in 2017, which had more than 245,000 concurrent viewers.