After our in-depth series of yearly recaps for 2025 that readers can access here, we return to our monthly series of rankings. In this case, it is the familiar topic of the most-watched esports team for December 2025, a month packed wth quite a few top-tier competitions.
However, it was one tournament, the StarLadder Budapest Major, that stood head and shoulders above anything else in terms of reach and audience engagement. The second Counter-Strike 2 Major of the year, held in Hungary, finished the year inside the top ten PC and console esports events by Peak Viewers (PV), while also ranking among the best esports competitions (including mobile titles) by Hours Watched in 2025.
As a result, Counter-Strike 2 dominated the list of the most-watched esports teams for December 2025. And the topper on this leaderboard was FaZe Clan, who also played the most matches across the month, which played a big role in helping it post 14.56 million watch hours and break away from the other sides on the podium.
The renowned American esports organization started the month with a comfortable win over Team Vitality in the opener of StarLadder Budapest Major Stage 3. Two straight losses followed, against The MongolZ and Team Spirit, meaning that another defeat could have seen FaZe Clan exit the coveted event at the first hurdle.
Luckily, the side put together a run of four consecutive victories. The first two wins in this streak were crucial, against Passion UA and 3DMAX, as they enabled Finn "Karrigan" Andersen & Co to sneak into the Playoffs. FaZe rode these victories to end Stage 3 with a 3:2 record, alongside Natus Vincere and Team Falcons, which was just enough for all three to make the knockouts.
The Playoffs began with a routine 2:0 win over MOUZ in the Quarterfinals, a series that just about peaked at over 1 million viewers and racked up 1.74 million watch hours. Then came the powerhouse match-up against NAVI in the Semifinals, which saw FaZe edge a come-from-behind 2:1 victory, with the game reaching 3.8 million HW and 1.22 million Peak Viewers (PV). This victory took FaZe to the Grand Final, where another showdown with French giant Team Vitality loomed.
The decider against Team Vitality was a historic one, as the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 was the first Major in the game's history to feature a best-of-five Grand Final, with all previous Majors using a best-of-three format. This change helped deliver a clear viewership boost to the tournament’s closing day, with the final itself attracting over 1.5 million concurrent viewers and accumulating almost 6 million HW.
Team Vitality might have comfortably won the fixture 3:1, but it showed that FaZe Clan could still mix it up with the best when it played its best. Crucially, this match helped the NA side log in enough watch time to help it end as December 2025's most-watched esports team.
