The PUBG Mobile World Cup 2024 concluded on July 28 after around ten days of intense action. Part of the record-breaking Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it was the title’s most popular event this year, thanks to a much-awaited win for one of the most consistent sides in the game over the last few years.
Brazil's Alpha7 Esports, having put in so many great displays across the last four years of competition, finally crossed the finish line to claim its first global title. As a result, it took home $467,300 out of a total prize pool of $3,000,000 and a crucial 1,000 Club Points.
The PUBG Mobile World Cup 2024 ended with 564.8K Peak Viewers, achieved during Round 4 of Day 1 of the Finals. This was when South Korea's DRX claimed the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, its only win during this phase of the tournament.
It was a thoroughly dominant performance from Alpha7 Esports, who had five wins out of the 18 rounds in the Main Event to amass 153 points, 29 more than any other side. With Japan's history-making REJECT finishing second, this competition also recorded 8.95M Hours Watched and 205.2K Average Viewers over an airtime of 44 hours.
Readers must note that this event could have seen higher online viewership if other prominent teams had performed better. The likes of Vampire Esports, Al Ula x IHC (defending world champion), and Falcons Force could not make the top five, meaning their fans did not turn up in the numbers expected if they had done better, with the popular Saudi side not even making it to the Main Event.
Another noteworthy point from this event was the podium-finishing exploits of China's Tianba, who ended third despite not winning a single round in the Main Tournament. The Peacekeeper Elite League Spring 2024 champion tied with REJECT on 124 points, but the lack of WWCDs meant it had to be content with a still impressive third and $212.3K in winnings.
Indonesian and Arabic continued to be the largest contributors to the overall watch time when it came to languages. However, these fans would have maintained a higher level of interest toward the latter stages of the finals had their teams been in with a shout of finishing near the top. BOOM Esports ended as the highest-finishing Indonesian side at fifth, with POWR eSports being the home country's sole representative in the final 16.
Compared to the PUBG Mobile World Invitational 2023 held at last year's Gamers8: The Land of Heroes event, English and Arabic saw increases this year. However, Nepali and Turkish, which saw more teams participate in the Main Tournament in 2023, saw decreases in their contributions, with only IW NRX finishing among the top 16 from these two countries.
With so much going on, the PUBG Mobile World Cup 2024 ended as the most popular event in the discipline this year and the fourth-most popular one since 2023. Only the last two Global Championships and the 32nd SEA Games from last year were ahead, and as mentioned, if the highly-followed Asian sides had done better, this event could have climbed higher up the list.
What did help this PUBG Mobile tournament attract as many viewers as it did were the various other announcements that happened off the battleground. PUBG Mobile announced to fans that the game would appear at ExCel London on December 7 and 8 for its world championship, the final one of the 2024 esports circuit, at the ExCel London arena.
The PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2024, which is slated to start in November, will see its finals stage being held in England's capital. Thanks to Alpha7 Esports' victory in Riyadh, the Americas region will have an extra slot, and it will be interesting to see which other sides can gain momentum over the next few months to qualify for this mega event.
