Most Popular Esports Tournaments 2023

Loading

Esports industry hit new record for peak online viewership in 2023, and now one can claim that some of the tournaments can attract more live viewers than the populations of some European countries. The World Championships for League of Legends and Mobile Legends garnered the largest audiences this year, while The International for Dota 2 did not make it into the top 10 for the first time.

The Most Popular Esports Tournaments

10th place — LCK Spring 2023 (League of Legends)

The tenth spot in the ranking is held by the Korean regional league LCK Spring 2023 for League of Legends. South Korea stands as one of the few regions in this discipline that consistently show audience growth year after year. In the group stage of the spring season, viewers once again witnessed the rivalry between T1 and Gen.G, the league's two most significant rivals. T1 delighted fans by soaring to the top of the group, securing 17 wins out of 18 matches. As for Gen.G, they performed admirably in elimination matches.

T1 and Gen.G clashed twice in the playoffs of LCK Spring 2023. T1 emerged victorious with a score of 3:1 in the upper bracket final, while Gen.G took revenge with an identical score in the decisive game of the split. The showdown between the teams simultaneously drew 1.47 million viewers — that's how many people watched as Kim Jung-su's squad clinched the organization's second championship title in LCK.

9th place — BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 (CS:GO)

The ninth position in the rankings belongs to the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, the final major event in CS:GO, which became the most popular tournament in the discipline in 2023. The event stood out for its unpredictable outcomes among underdog teams: GamerLegion, Apeks, Monte, and Into The Breach unexpectedly made it to the playoffs, while more renowned teams like G2 Esports, Natus Vincere, and MOUZ were left out of the final stage.

• Read also: CS:GO makes way for CS2 — the game’s legacy, most popular events, and watch time dynamics

The most popular match of the Parisian event was the grand final between Team Vitality and GamerLegion, which was simultaneously watched by 1.58 million viewers — the only series in the tournament that gathered over a million viewers. Winning the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 marked the best achievement in Team Vitality's history, but not the last in the outgoing year. Later on, ZywOo's squad claimed championship trophies at Gamers8 2023, BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023, and BLAST Premier: World Final 2023.

Team Vitality with BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 trophy (Photo: HLTV.org)

8th place — LCK Summer 2023 (League of Legends)

The beginning of LCK Summer 2023 starkly differed from the start of the spring split — T1 showcased a less impressive performance in the group stage, ending it with a 9-9 record (a far cry from the 17-1 they achieved in spring). T1 fans feared the team had lost the form it had at the start of the year. However, the situation once again boiled down to the classic derby between T1 and Gen.G in the playoffs.

Initially, Gen.G defeated Faker's squad in the upper bracket final and then secured victory against their significant rival in the grand final. Thus, Gen.G won both splits of LCK in 2023, tallying a total of three championships in the regional league, each time emerging victorious over T1 in the decisive matches.

The final match of LCK Summer 2023 drew 1.52 million viewers at peak, marking the best result in the entire history of the franchise league in South Korea. It will be intriguing to see the audience reach of the league in 2024 when Twitch ceases operations in the country. However, dedicated viewers will likely find ways to watch their favorite teams' matches on other platforms.

7th place — MPL Indonesia Season 11 (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang)

The regional league MPL Indonesia Season 11 for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang secured the seventh spot in the rankings with 1.88 million concurrent viewers. Interestingly, this viewership peak wasn't during the deciding match but in a series between Rex Regum Qeon and EVOS Legends in the lower bracket of the playoffs, when teams engaged in a tense series stretched across all five maps.

6th place — Season 12 (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang)

MPL Indonesia Season 12 managed to surpass the previous season's result by gathering over 2.1 million viewers at peak; it's the fourth-highest viewership in the entire history of the ML:BB regional league in Indonesia. The 9th season remains the most popular, with over 2.8 million simultaneous viewers.

Once again, the most popular match of MPL Indonesia Season 12 was the series between Rex Regum Qeon and EVOS Legends. Interestingly, the teams recorded viewership peak not in the playoff bracket but in a group stage match (EVOS Legends didn't advance to the tournament's final stage). This further underscores the media strength of both clubs. It's worth noting that the grand final between ONIC Esports and Greed Fam ID only ranked 5th in the list of the season's most popular matches.

5th place — Mid-Season Invitational 2023 (League of Legends)

The match between T1 and JD Gaming in the upper bracket final of the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 was simultaneously watched by almost 2.3 million viewers. It marked the best result for Riot Games' international series. T1 faltered in this clash, allowing JD Gaming to advance to the grand final, where they defeated Bilibili Gaming with a score of 3:1 to claim the championship title.

The Mid-Season Invitational 2023 attracted a substantial audience despite featuring two Chinese teams in the grand final, while the event took place at the Copper Box Arena in London. The significant viewership was attributed to community casting — Riot Games allowed independent streamers to broadcast tournament matches, engaging popular content creators like ibai, Baiano, wolf, caedrel, fps_shaka, and others. It's worth noting that Riot first employed community casters at the World Championship in 2022 and, following that experience, consistently involves them in events coverage.

Mid-Season Invitational 2023 (Photo: flickr.com/photos/lolesports)

4th place — MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2023 (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang)

The MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2023 set a viewership record for the series, drawing 3.65 million concurrent viewers. This figure was approximately 850,000 more than the previous year's tournament. The excitement of viewers peaked during the grand final between Blacklist International and ONIC Esports, where the latter secured a hard-fought victory. Notably, the gap between the grand final and the second most popular match of the tournament was almost a million viewers.

Matches of the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2023 were broadcast on over 300 unique channels. This tournament became the most popular among all events ever held in Cambodia. Furthermore, it set a new record for the Khmer language, reaching 130.600+ Peak Viewers (although this record lasted only a few months and was surpassed at the M5 World Championship).

3rd place — M4 World Championship (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang)

Entering the top three most popular tournaments of the year is the M4 World Championship, held in Indonesia. This event concluded the competitive season of 2022 but was practically conducted in January 2023. The most popular match of the tournament was the series between RRQ Hoshi and Blacklist International in the upper bracket semifinal, watched simultaneously by 4.2 million viewers. Unfortunately, RRQ Hoshi fell just short of reaching the final at their home tournament.

In the decisive match, Filipino teams Blacklist International and ECHO faced off; ECHO secured a convincing 4:0 victory in the derby, with player KarlTzy becoming a two-time world champion (previously winning M2 with Bren). Despite the grand final being swift, it attracted over 3 million viewers at peak.

2nd place — M5 World Championship (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang)

At the year's end, the M5 World Championship not only surpassed the previous world championship's outcome but also amassed 5 million viewers at its peak — an unparalleled feat for the Mobile Legends professional scene. The tournament also set a record for the highest-ever esports viewership on TikTok broadcasts, drawing over 1.18 million viewers simultaneously.

The most popular match of the M5 World Championship was the grand final between ONIC Esports and AP.Bren, where the latter secured a hard-fought victory with a score of 4:3. Thus, AP.Bren claimed their second world championship title (previously victorious at M2 WC), this time in front of their home crowd, as the final leg of the tournament took place in the Philippines. Two AP.Bren players — FlapTzy and Pheww — became two-time world champions.

As for ONIC Esports, the team also displayed outstanding performance in 2023, winning their domestic league twice and becoming the champion of MSC 2023. However, they fell short of achieving the "perfect season," lacking only the victory at the M5 World Championship.

AP.Bren with M5 trophy (Photo: vpesports.com)

1st place — 2023 World Championship (League of Legends)

The most popular esports tournament of the outgoing year was the 2023 World Championship — its broadcasts gathered over 6.4 million viewers at the peak. This marked not only the best result for League of Legends but also a new record for the entire esports industry. Several factors contributed to this success, including the favorable tournament location, T1's appearance in the grand final, and active community casting by top streamers.

It's worth noting that the most popular match of the 2023 World Championship was the grand final between Weibo Gaming and T1, where the Korean team confidently emerged victorious. For T1, this marked their fourth world championship victory, and in each of these tournaments, their mid laner Faker represented the team.

Faker stood as the only player who retained his position in T1's starting lineup since their first championship and continued playing for the club for over ten years. Winning four world championships is a unique achievement for any player, and it's unlikely that anyone will surpass Faker in this regard in the near future.

The year 2023 was marked by new records across various esports disciplines. Particularly, esports viewing was notably active in South Korea and Southeast Asia. Additionally, this year marked the first time in a long while that The International for Dota 2 didn't make it into the top 10 most popular tournaments.

Read also: 

• Top Esports Newcomers of 2023;

• Top Esports Transfers of 2023;

• Key Esports Industry Events Across Franchises in 2023.