Most popular esports events — October 2023

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Thanks to the hype and expectations surrounding it, the 2023 World Championship was the most popular event in October, helping League of Legends one-up Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in these rivals' perennial quest to outrank each other on such monthly lists. Also making an appearance is Dots 2’s The International — one of the biggest events in the yearly esports calendar alongside its Riot Games competitor — and Fortnite's FNCS 2023 Global Championship, helping the Epic Games builder-shooter return to this ranking after quite a lengthy absence.

  Most popular esports competitions across October 2023   

Worlds 2023 ended as the most popular tournament in October with 1.9M Peak Viewers, thanks to the Swiss Stage, Day 8 clash between regional heavyweights T1 and Bilibili Gaming. The South Korea side eased past its Chinese opponents 2:0, with a rematch in the most important game of the season still on as they have both the Knockout Stage Semifinals. Bilibili Gaming faces countrymen Weibo Gaming while T1 takes on JD Gaming, and with the final four teams being Asian, readers can expect some strong viewership numbers come the end of the Grand Final.

Taking the second spot is the MPL Indonesia Season 12, by far the most successful regional league in the highly-coveted series. While it was at the top spot in September, it couldn't hold on this month. However, this Mobile Legends Professional League event did create history, becoming the first mobile esports competition to surpass 100M hours of watch time and surpassing highly-coveted tournaments like the TI.

Third is The International 2023, the only other esports competition to cross 1M PV last month. The match that got it this high was the Grand Final between Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators, with the former winning 3:0 to become only the second side to win multiple editions of this most prestigious of Dota 2 tourneys (OG won two straight Aegis' in 2018 and 2019).

The MPL Philippines Season 12 finished fourth with 768K PV during the summit clash between AP.Bren and Blacklist International, with the former easing to a 4:1 victory. Overall, it wasn't such a successful season for this regional league, with the failure of ECHO, the defending world champion, meaning it will not defend its crown at the mega event.

In the last spot is the FNCS 2023 Global Championship, which signaled a stylish return for Fortnite esports to the big as it became the discipline's most popular tournament since 2019. With the responsibility of capping off the 2023 season, the first under the new three Splits format, it did not disappoint, concluding as the game's fourth-most popular event ever.

  Most popular esports competitions among English-speaking viewers last month   

Three events from the above rankings found places in this top five list as well, with the Worlds, TI, and FNCS Global Championship finishing in the first, second, and fifth positions, respectively. This isn't surprising given that English has been one of the top three languages for all three disciplines for years, including at these events, and the sheer numbers they put up mean they would always figure highly on such leaderboards.

There are a bunch of CS2 competitions that round out this ranking, with the ESL Pro League Season 18 retaining its fourth position from September and the IEM Sydney 2023 rounding off the podium places. What helped the latter was that it became the most popular esports tournament in Australia and Oceania, thanks to the return of S-tier competitive esports after a few years.

The former event, the last international CS:GO tournament from ESL, concluded as the third-most-popular one in the series by peak viewership. Natus Vincere reaching its first big grand final after adopting an international roster and a new captain was a major reason for this success, and it remains to be seen how the series plays out with the adoption of CS2 from the 2024 season.

Among Spanish-speaking audiences as well, there were three events that we have already discussed that made their way to the top five. The Worlds, TI, and FNCS Global Championship reinforced the mass following of these games across the world and languages as they emerged as favorites among two of the most spoken dialects globally, which will serve as good news to the organizers heading into the new season.

Another series related to the Worlds 2023 makes it to LoL events on the same list, proving why it remains the most eminent esports competition worldwide, at least in the PC and console segments. Fifth is a mobile esports tournament that reminds readers of this segment’s enduring fame in many pockets of the globe, especially in the LATAM region.

  Most popular Twitch esports channels in October 2023   

The top three most popular channels across October came from one game and event: Dota 2's The International 2023. Two official channels of the edition — English and Russian — came in first and third, respectively. Former professional player turned streamer Nix was second, registering 272K PV (personal record); all three handles reached their peak number of watchers during the same game: the summit clash between Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators.

Interestingly, Nix had claimed during a recent live broadcast that 2020's TI was the last 'great Dota 2 event and that the game died after the ninth TI.' The numbers this year did underwhelm in the context of the overall esports picture, but the Russian seemingly tried to do his best to ensure the game continues to reach a wider audience.

Fourth is the official Riot Games English channel that streamed the action from the Worlds 2023, with the peak being the clash between G2 Esports and Bilibili Gaming. The latter won this Swiss Stage battle of heavyweight regions 2:1, and their rematch during the Knockout Stage, Quarterfinals, which the Chinese side edged 3:2 It ended up becoming the most popular game at this competition at that point and remains number two in this list.

Last is the official English channel of the IEM Sydney 2023, thanks to the Playoffs, Grand Final between FaZe Clan and Complexity Gaming. The former won 2:1 to take home $100K and seal a berth at the season-opening IEM Katowice 2024.