The League of Legends Worlds 2024 Semifinals broke viewership records

And then there were two. The 2024 World Championship has finally reached its conclusion, with the identity of the two teams to contest the Grand Finals on November 2 confirmed. As has been the case over the past decade, the winner of arguably the most coveted prize in esports today will either be Chinese or South Korean.

From 20 aspirants who began their journies on September 25, it has come down to Bilibili Gaming or T1. The latter is the reigning world champion and the most successful side in the LoL Worlds, while the Chinese team has been its premier representative at recent global events and the most successful organization locally over the past few years.

In the Semifinals, fans from two countries had it all to play for as they got an all-Chinese and an all-Korean series. The first encounter saw a repeat of last year's clash in the final four, with Bilibili Gaming avenging that loss by beating Weibo Gaming 3:0 in a pretty one-sided affair to mark its maiden appearance in the final two at the LoL Worlds.

The second Semifinals was a match-up between modern rivals T1 and Gen.G, which the defending champion won 3:1 to end a ten-game losing streak to its recent nemesis. As a result, the latter remains without an appearance in the final two of the LoL Worlds despite its regional dominance.

Some key numbers from the 2024 World Championship Semifinals Some key numbers from the 2024 World Championship Semifinals

One consolation is that it will go down in history alongside T1 when it comes to the World Championship. After all, their all-Korean affair ended as the most popular Semifinal in the history of the series, notching almost 5M Peak Viewers.

The two Semifinals combined racked up about 20.6M Hours Watched, a slight rise of 2.86% from the 2023 edition. The Average Viewership also went up 38.67%, with the peak concurrent viewership figures witnessing a spike of 15.5%. These overall viewership numbers grew despite the two last four matches being shorter in airtime than last year, highlighting the anticipation and magnitude of games and the popularity of the teams involved.

Interestingly, Korean language numbers were negligible higher last year despite the 2024 event hitting a new Semifinals peak record. Vietnamese broadcasts played a key role in making this happen, with audiences continuing to follow the exploits of Korean teams across the tournament. In fact, the language hit a new global esports record, with its 986K PV beating the previous mark (achieved at the Arena of Glory Winter 2024) by a little over 100%.

Most popular Semifinals across LoL Worlds competitions Most popular Semifinals across LoL Worlds competitions

One positive for Gen.G to consider as it heads home is that it hit a new personal viewership record during the T1 encounter. It joined a few other esports organizations, including Top Esports and FlyQuest, in reaching new PV marks at the latest LoL Worlds competition.

As with the quarterfinals, British community caster Caedrel broke his channel record during the T1 versus Gen.G series by touching 386.6K concurrent viewers. He was joined by the likes of NeVeR_LosEs, Skyyart, and Raijin in touching new PV milestones during this highly-anticipated encounter.

Worlds Semifinals: Co-Casters' Records

Caedrel — 386.6K PV
Skyyart — 44.3K PV
らいじん (Raijin) — 27.5K PV
Nervarien — 25K PV
NeVeR_LosEs — 20K PV

There was also good news for TikTok, which continued its fast rise up the esports live-streaming ladder by setting a new PC viewership record for competitive video gaming streams, with only MLBB events peaking at higher numbers. The 135K PV registered was also a LoL record for the video-sharing app, almost double the previous mark of 77K PV hit at the Mid-Season Invitational 2024.

Faker, in his seventh LoL Worlds Grand Final, and T1 have a shot at rewriting history Faker, in his seventh LoL Worlds Grand Final, and T1 have a shot at rewriting history (Image via Lol Esports on X)

Fans also got news about the next edition of the LoL Worlds, which will return to China for the third time. The 2025 iteration will be held in the Asian country, following in the footsteps of the 2017 (Beijing) and 2020 (Shanghai) editions, although details about the venue and dates were not revealed.

All said and done, the Grand Final of the 2024 League of Legends Worlds Championship will emanate from The O2 Arena in London on November 2. At the end of it all, fans will either see T1 win its fifth title or Bilibili Gaming clinch its maiden world crown. Faker will also be aiming for a legacy-defining fifth trophy, and whatever the outcome, Esports Charts will keep readers updated on the result.