The year 2023 can be seen as a particularly special year for the VCS region. This is the first year that Riot has officially taken back League of Legends in Vietnam from Garena, simultaneously re-releasing the entire game and restarting the tournament VCS under Riot’s direct management. Of course, every issue has two sides. But it can’t be denied that under Riot’s management, League of Legends in Vietnam has integrated into the global flow of League of Legends. This was most clearly demonstrated during the recent 2023 World Championship.
Accordingly, the new VCS YouTube channel has been recognized as the fastest-growing newly launched Esports broadcasting channel in 2023. Specifically, the total watch time of the VCS channel last year reached 26.82 million hours. This figure is nearly 3 times that of the second-ranked channel, relog.ru from Russia (only 9.75 million hours). The statistics are calculated across all global broadcasting platforms, excluding platforms from China.
This has made many Vietnamese League of Legends fans extremely proud. Some even commented: “I thought League of Legends in Vietnam had reached its end stage, until the World Championship started”. At the recent World Championship, VCS consistently ranked among the regions with the highest viewership in the League of Legends community. In fact, when statistics on viewership of channels and regions broadcasting the tournament were compiled, Riot always provided a separate statistic for VCS due to its massive viewer count.
There are many opinions explaining this phenomenon, but the most noticeable is that many viewers tune into League of Legends channels even though they play little or no League of Legends themselves. With the massive reach of League of Legends and especially during the 2023 World Championship with T1’s victory, even platforms or channels that have no connection to League of Legends enthusiastically “joined in”. Not to mention that many viewers seek out the broadcasting channels to re-watch exciting matches or highlight reels.
In the first year under Riot’s direct management, the Vietnamese League of Legends scene has made a significant impression. These achievements will undoubtedly cause Riot to take VCS more seriously and potentially elevate the region within the global League of Legends scene.