AIC 2025 becomes third most popular mobile esports world championship of the year
One of the most prominent mobile esports events of the year, the Arena of Valor International Championship 2025, concluded over the weekend. Despite the absence of Indonesian teams for the first time, it managed to maintain the viewership gains made last year to finish among the game's most successful competitions.
This Arena of Valor International Championship tournament was held in multiple venues in Vietnam, bringing together the 12 best teams from three Southeast Asian regions: Taiwan, Thailand and the host nation. Indonesian sides were absent for the first time in the series' history after the discontinuation of the AoV Star League.
After around three weeks of action, FULL SENSE emerged as the AoV world champion after beating Flash Wolves 4:1 in the Grand Final. It was Thailand's third straight Arena of Valor world title and fourth in the last five editions, making it the most successful country in the mobile MOBA.
Viewership statistics from the Arena of Valor International Championship 2025
The ninth edition of the world championship under the AIC franchise reached 742,342 Peak Viewers (PV) during the Lower Bracket Final between Bacon Time and Flash Wolves. This was around 20,000 viewers less than the 2024 edition, a tiny difference of around 2.73%.
The Grand Final was only the third-most popular game, peaking at 613,879 viewers, with the rest of the top five list coming from the Group Stage. The ideal match-up for the world title would have been between Bacon Time and Team Flash, their respective region's most popular sides.
Both Bacon Time and Team Flash are also former world champions, and it is fair to say that if they had met in the finals, the coveted Arena of Valor event would have reached a higher peak concurrent viewership number. Nevertheless, it still ended among the title's most popular competitions and in the top three when looking at the AIC series.
The 21.5 million Hours Watched (HW) that the 2025 World Championship 2025 put it in the top two most-watched AIC tournaments. It had a much lower airtime as the format was shortened to accommodate the prestigious upcoming 33rd SEA Games.
Among mobile esports world championships held this year, the Arena of Valor International Championship 2025 currently sits in the third spot. Only one entry, the ongoing PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2025, has crossed the 1 million Peak Viewers mark, with this number likely to grow as the event enters its knockouts over the next week.
Even as Honor of Kings, the game's original version, continues to expand internationally, Arena of Valor has continued to maintain a solid viewership run. With AoV finding a solid footing on the ever-growing TikTok esports landscape, it is reaching newer audiences.
Six of Arena of Valor's ten most popular events have come since 2024. If it can continue pulling in such audience figures, the MOBA has a good chance of cementing itself as one of the top mobile esports offerings outside of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
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