- The event scored record-low viewership both in peak and average numbers
- It becomes the second international VALORANT event to not hit 1 million peak viewers
- This could be due to many factors, including fans’ dissatisfaction with the event’s format
The VCT Masters Copenhagen just ended but the numbers of average and peak viewers did not meet what Riot Games had expected for the first live VALORANT event in a lot of time.
VALORANT Viewership Drops Significantly
It seems the world is finally free of the pandemic restrictions and lockdowns that plagued society over the past couple of years, and esports events can once again be held in front of large live audiences. Despite that, online viewership statistics from the latest VALORANT Champions Tour Masters in Copenhagen revealed something concerning – the Masters had an all-time low viewership.
Although the venue in the Danish capital was full and the crowd was rowdy, the online viewers of the Copenhagen Masters peaked at only 786 185 for the grand finals between the champions FunPlus Phoenix and Paper Rex. This is the lowest number of online viewers in the history of international VALORANT tournaments to date.
The average viewership of the Copenhagen Masters also broke a negative record, staying at 317 748 viewers. The event becomes the second international VALORANT tournament that did not hit one million concurrent viewers. The first record holder, which the Copenhagen Masters surpassed, was VCT Stage Three Masters Berlin in 2021. According to Esports Charts, that event peaked at 811 370 viewers.
The problem becomes even more evident when we compare the Copenhagen Masters with some other international VALORANT events:
- VALORANT Champions 2021 – 469 083 (average viewership) – 1 089 068 (peak viewership)
- VCT Stage Two Masters Reykjavík 2021 – 488 364 – 1 085 850
- VCT Stage One Masters Reykjavík 2022 – 416 236 – 1 065 887
- VCT Stage Three Masters Berlin 2021 – 389 971 – 811 370
- VCT Stage Two Masters Copenhagen 2022 – 317 748 – 786 185
These figures are surprising, considering the Copenhagen Masters is not a small or insignificant event. It saw a total of 12 teams from all over the world fight for their share of the $650 000 prize pool from July 10 to 24. However, one big thing that might have negatively impacted the event’s viewership base is its format. Many VALORANT fans expressed concerns about the Copenhagen Masters format, saying it’s constructed in such a way that it will not allow for interesting matches.
It also has to be remembered that VALORANT is still a relative newcomer to the esports scene. Having been launched in 2020, Riot Game’s hero-based FPS is still building a sizable esports presence. And considering the game grew in popularity in the middle of the series of pandemic lockdowns, when people had nothing to do but stay home in front of a computer, it perhaps should not be surprising that the viewership has dropped currently.
