First Valorant LAN Tournament Brings In Massive Viewer Numbers
Riot Games has announced the viewership numbers for the very first Valorant LAN tournament. The Masters Reykjavik, which finished on Sunday, May 31, brought in massive numbers to watch the international face-off between Team Sentinels and FNATIC. The tournament was one to remember, with over 1 million viewers tuning in for the thrilling final match.
Valorant is Riot Games' attempt at making a spiritual successor to Valve’s first-person shooter CS:GO. The closed beta attracted more than 1.7 million viewers tuning in to Twitch to catch a glimpse of the game before it launched. Since launching, Valorant has been dominating the esports scene. Riot has been running tournaments all through 2020, with three different levels of competition: Challengers, Masters and Champions. These tournaments take place all over the world, with winning teams making their way into international tournaments with enormous sums of money up for grabs. The bigger tournaments are all streamed online, hosted by Riot Games officials and casters, with viewers tuning in from all around the world.
During the finals between Team Sentinels from North America and the European FNATIC team, over a million viewers logged into the stream. According to Riot Games and Stream Hatchet via a press release, the Masters Reykjavik finals averaged over eight hundred thousand viewers per minute. This is an all-new record for Valorant esports streaming, blowing previous records out of the water. This enormous viewership just goes to show how quickly the game is gathering a following, especially in the esports and competitive scene. The Masters Reykjavik competition was broadcast globally on multiple digital platforms in over 15 different languages. Many fans also hosted their own watch parties for different matches. The ease of access to the broadcast most likely helped to contribute to the amount of views Riot obtained for the tournament.
“The sports broadcasting landscape and how fans consume content are evolving considerably. A one-size fits all approach is no longer the path to reaching the largest possible audience,” said Kasra Jafroodi, Global Strategy Lead for VALORANT Esports. “We’re going to continue to lean into Watch Parties and partnerships with co-streamers to create unique and resonant experiences for our fans.”
During the tournament final, Riot Games announced all-new initiatives that will be added to support the expansion of Valorant esports in the future. This includes an all-new circuit called ‘The Conquerors Championship’ that will be running in South Asia. This circuit is aimed at providing much-needed representation to players across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Valorant esports will continue to grow as the game continues attracting new and younger players from around the world. The game has even managed to attract competitive and professional players from other major games, with many Overwatch professionals converting to Valorant over the past year. Time will tell where the game goes from here.