Esports Viewership Breakdown with Esports Charts: February 2023

Every month Esports Insider, in collaboration with Esports Charts, delves into esports viewership statistics to decipher what audiences are presently watching.

The month of February in esports was jampacked with worldwide showcases, split-ending spectaculars and stark reminders that Cellular Legends: Bang Bang will not be solely a cell powerhouse however an esports viewership goliath as properly.

Ending fourth and fifth place on Esports Charts’ peak viewership record are League of Legends’ LCK Spring 2023 (715,476) and LEC Winter 2023 (572,257), respectively.

Beginning with Riot Video games’ Korean league, regardless of not reaching its conclusion till mid-March, the competitors has continued to safe constant viewership this yr. With an average concurrent viewership of 200,387 the 2023 Spring break up is 40,000 beneath its 2022 version, nevertheless, the league has but to succeed in the playoffs. 

As of proper now, reaching the LCK’s highest peak viewership determine of 1.3m, which was recorded finally yr’s Spring Break up, looks like a troublesome process. Nonetheless, an analogous determine might be achieved if curiosity within the competitors continues into the latter levels. 

In Europe, the LEC’s inaugural Winter Break up recorded the second-lowest peak viewership for a LEC break up ever. Nonetheless, this statistic solely tells a part of the story. Regardless of the drop in peak viewership, LEC Winter 2023 recorded a powerful common viewership of 280,218, up from Spring 2022’s 270,749.

Consequently, solely LEC Spring 2021 recorded the next common viewership (309,951). Because of the LEC season now having three splits as an alternative of two, LEC Winter’s air time was additionally considerably decrease than final yr’s Spring competitors — 95 hours in comparison with over 130 hours. 

General, these figures do spotlight that the brand new ecosystem modifications have really helped retain audiences, albeit at the price of peak viewership. Discussions concerning LEC’s Winter statistics additionally led to Maximilian Peter Schmidt, Riot Video games’ Director of League of Legends Esports in EMEA, taking to Twitter to highlight why the figures are positive.

While there are optimistic developments for Riot Video games’ MOBA, the identical sadly can’t be mentioned for one in all Valves’ flagship CS:GO competitions. 

Garnering a peak viewership of 712,534, IEM Katowice delivered an unexpectedly decrease peak viewership. As compared IEM Katowice 2022 recorded a peak viewership of over 1.1m. What’s fascinating is that this drop in curiosity is definitely not on account of a waning participant base, with CS:GO breaking its all-time concurrent online player record on February eleventh (1.3m). 

One main optimistic is that by way of English-speaking audiences, IEM Katowice 2023 was the preferred competitors in February, recording 443,123 peak viewers. This beat out notable competitions such because the Name of Obligation League 2023: Stage 2 Main (300,277) and ALGS 2023 Break up 1 Playoffs (244,728), the later of which came about in London. 

General, IEM Katowice 2023 is the seventh hottest IEM occasion and the fourth highest IEM to happen within the Polish metropolis. With 2022 recording spectacular figures, but additionally 2019’s edition garnering 596,585 peak viewers, it’ll be fascinating to see the place IEM Katowice’s 2024 figures will land. 

As VALORANT enters the subsequent stage in its esports evolution, VCT LOCK//IN’s peak viewership determine of 883,006 in February supplied some assurances and optimism concerning the title’s aggressive future. 

This optimism was really boosted much more throughout VCT LOCK//IN’s conclusion in March, which went on to change into the second most popular VALORANT esports event in the title’s history (1.4m). Consequently, it’s extremely probably that subsequent month’s record will function the FPS shooter. For these eager about LOCK//IN’s statistics in February, the match’s hottest match-up was unsurprisingly LOUD’s conflict with North American esports organisation NRG on Day 6 of the match. 

Ending prime of the record for the second month in a row is Cellular Legends Bang Bang, nevertheless, in February it was as a result of cell title’s regional competitors — not its World Championship. 

Inside the cell house, MPL Indonesia is very thought to be one of many greatest regional leagues on this planet and its historic viewership highlights that. Regardless of the competitors but to succeed in its conclusion, MPL Indonesia Season 11 amassed a peak viewership of 1.8m final month alone. This determine was recorded on account of two of the league’s hottest organisations — EVOS and RRQ — dealing with off within the common season, which means that there’s a excessive likelihood that this quantity might rise if the 2 groups sq. off within the latter levels.

Up to now, the competitors has recorded three match-ups which have crossed the 1m peak viewership mark. Nonetheless, the competitors nonetheless has a mountain to climb if it desires to beat MPL Indonesia’s all-time viewership report of two.84m, which was garnered final yr in Season 9. 

March might become an fascinating week for esports viewership fanatics. Not solely will the LEC start its second break up of the season, however different main League of Legends competitions (and Cellular Legends Bang Bang) can be reaching the top of their present seasons. Furthermore, VALORANT’s VCT Worldwide Leagues will make their long-awaited debut in March, so it’ll be intriguing to see how all three leagues (EMEA, Americas and Pacific) carry out.