Worlds 2021 final hits 4 million viewers, breaks LoL record

William Davis Published 06/11/2021

The 2021 League of Legends World Championship final won’t only go down in history as one of the closest, but also as the match with the all-time highest peak viewership in LoL esports history. 

In the five-game series between EDward Gaming and DWG KIA, the viewership peaked at 4,018,728 viewers according to Esport Charts. This isn’t only the highest peak of the tournament, but also an all-time record for the game. This does not include Chinese viewers.

The match reached its peak during the fifth and final game where EDG stunned the whole world and took down DWG KIA against all expectations. EDG started out the series with a solid win, but it was followed up by two straight wins for DWG KIA. When it looked like DWG KIA would take a back-to-back trophy, EDG pulled through in incredible fashion and took the final two wins needed. 

EDward Gaming wins Worlds 2021 with LoL’s most-watched match

This is the first time that EDG has won a world championship and it will now also go down as the biggest match in the history of LoL esports.

The match broke the tournament viewership record by almost 500,000, which was set in the five-game semifinal between DWG KIA and T1. This match also reached a very high level of intensity but nothing compared to the final itself. 

Though there aren’t any definitive numbers out of China, it’s likely that the real peak viewership of the match was significantly higher than the numbers state. On Twitch alone, the peak was at 2.98 million, hitting 1.1 million on English channels. The rest of the viewers come from various national Worlds streams where a lot of people have tuned in over the course of the tournament. 

After another world championship that set new records, LoL esports continues to grow even if it remains a money-losing endeavor to this point. Next year, Worlds will be returning to North America where there will hopefully be a live crowd in attendance to give the proceedings an extra bit of hype that this year’s tournament lacked. 

Professional League of Legends will be entering a break now before kicking off for the 2022 season. 

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