M5 World Championship Group Stage attracted smaller peak viewership, but amassed more watch time compared to last year

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The group stage of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang's M5 World Championship concluded on December 7th. Out of 22 participants, only eight will continue the fight for the championship title in the playoff bracket. The most-watched match of the tournament drew 1.47 million viewers at its peak — a 12% decrease from the peak online viewership of the M4 World Championship's group stage.

M5 World Championship Viewership Statistics

ONIC Esports and AP.Bren emerged as the only teams to finish the group stage undefeated — both squads secured first place in Groups A and C, respectively. In Group B, Turkish team Fire Flux Esports managed to surpass Blacklist International in the battle for the top spot. Group D saw the most intense competition, with Geek Fam ID and Deus Vult both securing an equal number of victories and showcasing an identical difference in the number of maps won. 

Most popular matches of M5 World Championship Group Stage

Following the conclusion of the group stage, M5 World Championship Group Stage accumulated 25.2 million hours of viewership, with an average online of 263.8K (including Wildcard matches) concurrent viewers. The most popular confrontation during the group stage was the series between ONIC Esports and See You Soon, drawing over 1.47 million Peak Viewers. ONIC Esports against Triple Esports and Deus Vult against Geek Fam ID also made it to the top-3. Interestingly, none of the top 5 most popular matches were from Groups B and C.

M5 World Championship Group Stage Viewership Statistics

The group stage of the M5 World Championship gathered 12% fewer peak viewers compared to the equivalent stage in the previous world championship. Regarding the average online viewership, it decreased by 22% (important note: M4 didn't have a Wildcard stage). On the other hand, the current tournament generated significantly more hours of viewership — 21.4 million against 14 million during the M4 World Championship. This signifies a 55% growth in this aspect, resulting from a format change. Previously, teams played in best-of-1 series in groups, whereas in the current tournament, organizers extended the series to best-of-3.

The playoff matches of the M5 World Championship will take place from December 9th to 17th. Teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket. The starting matches are listed below.

December 9:

• Fire Flux Esports vs Deus Vult;

• ONIC Esports vs Blacklist International.

December 10:

• AP.Bren vs See You Soon;

• Geek Fam ID vs Burmese Ghouls.