Update, November 7: The overall stats were revised after new data from broadcast channels was obtained.
The PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2023 is finally underway, and the first week of play saw the Group Green in action. Compared to last year's edition, the first group's games did not attract as many viewers, which can be attributed to the popularity of teams in action.
After four days of intense action across 24 matches, Loops, Alpha7 Esports, and Stalwart Esports finished in the top three to advance to the Grand Finals (January 6-8). The next eight teams made it to the Survival Stage, while the bottom five sides (Tianba, Falcons White, BRA Esports, AGONxi8 Esports, and XERXIA Esports) were eliminated.
So far, this PUBG Mobile event has recorded 4.3M Hours Watched, 437K Peak Viewers, and 220K Average Viewers over 20 hours of airtime. Compared to the first four days of the 2022 edition, these were drops of 21.9%, 15.4%, and 14.2%, with the broadcast time this year being around 80 minutes less.
One of the reasons for this fall is the teams that were in action, with the 2023 version mostly seeing participants from Europe, Brazil, and West Asia. While these sides enjoy generous support from their fans, there is no doubt that the Southeast Asian organizations enjoy a different level of following.
A prime example is the performance of Bahasa Malaysia, whose watch time during Week 1 fell by 111.8% year on year. Mostly spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, viewers speaking this language did not show that much interest as their teams were not yet in action during the first four days. Moreover, Portuguese’s share increased by 102.5%, showing that there was more following from fans of the LATAM region during Week 1 as more of their sides were in action. They were duly rewarded for this support with the progress of two of their representatives to the Grand Finals.
The presence of more Southeast Asian sides is what helped the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2022 do better over its first week of games. There were popular names like Buriram United Esports, DRS Gaming, LGD Gaming, S2G Esports, and Bigetron RA in action, meaning a lot more fans from the densest and most influential region in the discipline were engaging much more often.
Another reason is that PUBGMOBILE.ID, the official Indonesian Facebook channel for PUBG Mobile, did not stream games from the first week. As one of the more famous regions where fans take their teams and games very seriously, this was a big miss for the competition. The language remained the most watched across the first four days, but it did see a fall compared to Week 1 of 2022.
However, the broadcasts from this regional handle could be back once the Red Group's matches begin. After all, sought-after units like FaZe Clan, HAIL Esports, KoninaPower, Yoodo Alliance, and Next Rüya Gaming will be in action bringing together some of the best teams from across Asia.
The PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2023 also made it to the top eight events in the discipline this year for both watch time and popularity. It is the fifth most successful tournament as per peak concurrent viewers and the eighth most viewed one, with both tables led by the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2022.
With lots more to come, there is a chance it could end near the top of both these rankings come the summit clash. In fact, it could end as the most successful PUBG Mobile event of the last two years, with last year’s iteration being 2022’s most watched and the 31st Southeast Asian Games PUBG Mobile being the most popular.
During the Group Stage, matches take place from Thursday to Sunday, meaning the Red Group will be in action from November 9 to 12. The next week, Yellow Group's games will occur from November 16 to 19, with the top three heading to the Grand Finals and the eight sides below them heading to the Survival Stage (November 22 to 24). The action is only going to get hotter, so stay tuned to our tournaments page for regular updates on this PUBG Mobile tournament and lots more.
