2021 was a challenging year for the whole world as the pandemic remained a hot issue in every sector. Among them, Esports is one of the rare industries that has remained resilient thanks to the power of technology. The shift from on-site to online tournaments has led to a surge in online viewership for competitions, which is a better sign than ever for Esports.
Recently, according to statistics from Esport Chart, the most viewed tournament belongs to the game League of Legends with the 2021 World Championship. This event garnered over 174.8 million views, marking a record high in Esports history to date. In addition to Riot’s appeal and media presence, the World Championship was warmly received by viewers thanks to the return of T1 and the teams that were unfortunately unable to qualify for the 2020 World Championship.
The two most viewed matches were the clash between EDG vs DK (4.01 million views) and T1 vs DK (3.54 million views).
Following closely behind is The International 10 for Dota 2. The spike in viewership this year reflects fans’ anticipation after TL was not held in 2020. With 107.2 million viewers, this number is more than 21% higher than The International 9.
Following closely are tournaments for Mobile Legends, CSGO, and Valorant. Notably, eight out of the ten tournaments are from MOBA games.
In addition to the 2021 World Championship, League of Legends also has three other tournaments on this list. These are the Spring LCK, Summer LCK, and the annual Mid Season Invitational (Unfortunately, in 2021, Vietnam’s representative GAM could not participate).
It can be said that South Korea is a crucial region for esports. This is evidenced by the fact that gamers from all over the world keep an eye on the LCK tournaments to learn about playstyles and the unique metas they employ.
Based on these figures, 2021 was still a successful year for the national game League of Legends. We also look forward to seeing whether the 2022 World Championship will break records once again.