Valorant Champions 2025 Group Stage: audience on the rise, but hype yet to catch up

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With all Valorant Champions 2025 playoff spots now set, it’s the perfect moment to check in on the tournament’s viewership trends. Following a slow start, the event has climbed above last year’s world championship in average audience, yet continues to trail in peak numbers, suggesting that, despite a few surprises, it hasn’t produced enough breakout hype moments just yet.

The group stage closed with do-or-die matches in all four groups, where GIANTX, MIBR, DRX, and G2 Esports claimed the final playoff spots. That meant a complete exit for China (including reigning champions EDward Gaming), while fan favorites like Sentinels, Team Liquid, and T1, the winners of the year’s first Major, also fell short of the knockout stage.

Week 2 delivered some of the tournament’s strongest viewership yet, with its matches now topping the popularity charts. Leading the pack was GIANTX vs. Paper Rex, where PRX punched their ticket to the playoffs in front of more than 666,000 live viewers.

Second on our list of the event’s most popular matches was a thriller between Team Liquid and EDward Gaming, going the full three maps with overtime in the decider. With elimination on the line, it was EDG who bowed out, before Team Liquid was eliminated by DRX in the following match.

The third spot belonged to T1 vs. Team Heretics, which benefited from the pull of both Spanish-speaking and Korean audiences, pushing the match close to the 600,000 live viewers mark.

Overall, the event delivered strong viewership, with Week 2 matches helping drive a 3.2% boost in the tournament’s key metric — Average Viewers. While the group stage ran slightly shorter than last year’s, leading to a natural dip in total watch time, the decline was a modest 4.4%, cushioned by this year’s higher average audience.

Peak viewership has taken the biggest hit so far, down more than 13%. Despite some dramatic exits and comebacks, the event hasn’t matched last year’s hype, when the Gen.G vs. Sentinels elimination clash, featuring superstar Tyson "TenZ" Ngo, pushed the group stage close to 770,000 live viewers. Still, it’s too soon to judge, with the playoffs likely to bring far bigger numbers.

Valorant Champions 2025 pauses for two days, coming back on September 25–26 for the opening playoff matches. Stay updated on the tournament and its audience numbers at Esports Charts!