Arena of Valor reaches 1 million Peak Viewers for the first time at SEA Games 2025
The ongoing Southeast Asian Games 2025 is the fourth edition of the prestigious biennial multi-sport event to include esports as part of the programme. This year, six competitions across four video games were held: EA Sports FC, Free Fire, Arena of Valor and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB).
It was the Arena of Valor event that caught the attention of the livestreaming world, becoming the title's first-ever competition to peak at over one million concurrent viewers. With the last of these tournaments coming to an end on December 19, Esports Charts recaps all the happenings from the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
33rd Southeast Asian Games for Arena of Valor
The men's tournament created a new record for the MOBA title, hitting 1.04 million Peak Viewers (PV) during the Grand Final between Thailand and Vietnam. A clash pitting two of AoV's most popular regions, it saw the latter come out as 4:2 victors, completing a Vietnamese double as the women's side won gold as well.
Vietnamese audiences continued to be the biggest contributors to the game's livestreaming viewership. The language reached almost a million peak concurrent viewers, a record for Arena of Valor esports, beating a record that had been set earlier this year at the Arena of Glory Spring 2025.
TikTok also continued its ascension in the Southeast Asian esports livestreaming market, setting a new platform PV record for Arena of Valor. Vietnamese audiences also played their part, showing high interest in their side's four matches, which culminated in the Grand Final against their regional rivals.
The 33rd Southeast Asian Games - Men also made Arena of Valor just the third mobile esports title to pass a million peak live viewers this year. MLBB has multiple entries on this list, with PUBG Mobile being another game to achieve this, as two of its tournaments have surpassed this mark.
Viewership recap of other events at the 33rd SEA Games
The 33rd SEA Games - Men's Tournament for MLBB notched around 4.4 million Hours Watched (HW) and 626,341 PV. While these numbers might not match what we saw in previous years, they were pretty solid in isolation when comparing the event to other top leagues across mobile esports.
The women's side of things was also pretty successful, with both the MLBB and Arena of Valor competitions ending among the year's three most popular female events. The 33rd SEA Games - Women's Tournament did 469,480 PV, trailing only the EWC x MLBB Women's Invitational 2025 for the top entry in the segment by peak concurrent viewers.
The 33rd Southeast Asian Games - Women, meanwhile, emerged as the year's third most popular female event in a segment where MLBB continues to lead the charge. It was also the top entry in Arena of Valor women's esports, with its 247,896 PV beating the previous record-holder, The Heaven Of Glory - SEA Games 2025 Thailand Women Qualifier.
The 2025 SEA Games, also called Thailand 2025, was another marker of the growth of esports and its viability as a part of the programme of such sports-focused regional tournaments involving different countries. This is especially true if the circumstances align, like they did with the men's Arena of Valor event finals.
The event also ended the year for MLBB and AoV esports on a high note. It showed that the audience's interest in esports remains high despite the year almost coming to a close, which bodes well for one of the final tournaments left on the current season's calendar, the M7 World Championship.
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