31 days after New Hampshire native Ludwig Ahgren first began his subathon, the streamer has broken the record for most subscribers on Twitch. The record was previously held by renowned gamer Ninja, who amassed 269,154 subscribers in 2018.
Ludwig began streaming his subathon (an abbreviated term for "subscription marathon") on March 14, 2021. The terms: for every subscription gained or donation of 500 bits, Ludwig would continue streaming for an additional 10 seconds.
Ludwig also pledged one dollar from every subscription (valued at roughly $5) would go to charities like the St. Jude's Children's Hospital and the Humane Society of the United States.
What initially started as a 24 hour stream quickly became a phenomenon spanning weeks, as fans continued to subscribe and gift subscriptions nonstop.
With no end in sight, the subathon transitioned from a traditional gaming stream to a behind-the-scenes look at Ludwig's daily life, from cooking to working out, even sleeping. (Yes, the stream continued to watch Ludwig while he slept.)
Finally, on April 13, 2021, Ludwig achieved the unimaginable: the 25-year-old gamer became the most-subscribed streamer of all-time on Twitch.
The previous record was set in 2018 by Fortnite gamer and popular streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, who had accumulated 269,154 subscribers.
Ninja hopped on Twitter to congratulate Ludwig on his accomplishment.
"Records are meant to be broken,"Ninja tweeted. "I would be lying if I said wasn’t a little sad but congrats @LudwigAhgren on holding the new sub record on twitch."
April 13 also marked the finale of Ludwig's subathon. After nearly a month of streaming, Ludwig announced that April 13 would be the definitive end to his record-breaking subathon.
To celebrate the final day of his stream, Ludwig pledged to donate $5 to charity for every subscription received between 12 am to 9 pm.
Over 232,000 viewers tuned in for the final minutes of Lud's subathon, with the streamer surpassing 282,000 subscribers as subscriptions continued to pour in.
Ludwig counted down the final seconds of his stream with a tearful salute to his fans as the screen faded to black.
Click here to watch the final 30 seconds. (Warning: explicit language)
Ludwig posted one final thank you on Twitter before going offline for the first time in 31 days.
Congratulations, Ludwig!
Credit: Getty Images/Giuseppe Manfra/Moment