Valorant Champions breaks one million peak viewers

The most anticipated event in the Valorant competitive calendar has reached over one million peak viewers, according to data collected by Esports Charts. 

Yesterday, during one of the most contested matchups of the event between Paper Rex and Evil Geniuses, the tournament reached over one million peak viewers for the first time at Champions this year. 

This was the first time that LOUD was knocked off as the most-viewed match of the tournament so far, also. With the statistic, Evil Geniuses was featured for the first time in the top viewership category, also. 

Valorant Champions 2023 is a great result for Riot and viewers 

In the finals of Valorant Champions, viewers will be treated to some impressive and aggressive plays from the likes of Paper Rex, known internationally as the most in-your-face team at the professional level. 

Paper Rex was able to secure a victory over Evil Geniuses in the upper final last night following a back-and-forth contest. The matchup could’ve gone either way, with the game being dragged out to overtime on the third map. 

Evil Geniuses player Kelden “Boostio” Pupello credited Paper Rex for the victory last night in a post-match press conference.

“It feels so impossible just to play rounds against them, and it’s just honestly not fun to play against them. They’re really good,” he said. 

🇺🇸 EG Boostio on the PRX matchup: "It feels so impossible sometimes just to play around against them, and honestly it's not fun to play against them.

They are really good, but they are just so aggressive. […] There's a lot going on versing them and it sucks, but what are you… pic.twitter.com/2MFXbmNSMS

— VALO2ASIA (@VALO2ASIA) August 25, 2023

The grand final will likely see an increased peak viewership of around 1.1 million if Evil Geniuses manages to take down LOUD and rematch against Paper Rex in the grand final. 

But with LOUD being the most popular team in the tournament, if it qualifies for the grand final with a win, it will likely see soaring viewership to around 1.4 million peak viewers. 

The average viewership of Valorant Champions is 450,464, which is slightly lower than last year’s tournament with 525,817, according to Esports Charts.