Valorant Champions 2023 group stage draws lowest viewership in event history

Valorant Champions 2023 viewership continues to pace below the levels of the last two years as the tournament enters the playoffs.

The group stage of Valorant Champions 2023, which came to a close on Sunday, totaled just under 24 million hours watched, down 25% when compared to last year’s group stage, according to data firm Esports Charts.

Just as significantly, the group stage averaged 404,768 viewers, marking a 17% decline from the 2022 group stage.

The nail-biting elimination match between LOUD and NAVI was the most popular match of the group stage, peaking with 713,960 viewers. This was 17% lower than the peak viewership in 2022, which happened during the day one group stage match between Paper Rex and EDward Gaming.

Group stage viewership over the years:

Valorant Champions 2021:

• Average viewers: 425,887
• Peak viewers: 836,991
• Hours Watched: 30.3M
• Airtime: 71H

Valorant Champions 2022:

• Average viewers: 490,607
• Peak viewers: 860,353
• Hours Watched: 31.9M
• Airtime: 65H

Valorant Champions 2023:

• Average viewers: 404,768
• Peak viewers: 713,960
• Hours Watched: 23.9M
• Airtime: 59H

An important caveat to note is that viewers from Chinese streaming services are not accounted for as these platforms do not show the number of people who are tuned in.

This is especially noteworthy as Chinese Valorant is enjoying its most successful international run, with EDward Gaming and Bilibili Gaming both making the playoffs.

Earlier this month, Esports Charts launched DoHuya, a platform that will track data from DouYu and Huya based on the ‘Heat Index’, a metric used by both streaming platforms. While it still won’t provide viewership figures, DoHuya will be able to measure the popularity of esports tournaments in China.

According to Esports Charts, a sharp decline hit both English- and Japanese-language broadcasts, which experienced viewership drops of 35 percent and 39 percent, respectively. Japanese broadcasts had the third-highest peak viewership during the group stage at 198,571 viewers, but it’s expected that fewer Japanese fans will tune in for the remainder of the tournament after the elimination of ZETA DIVISION.

Valorant Champions 2023 will continue on Wednesday, August 16, with the double-elimination playoffs, featuring the top eight teams of the group stage. LOUD, the reigning world champion, attracted the biggest audience during the group stage, with their matches averaging 525,222 viewers.