Most popular esports games & events for Q3 2025
Esports viewership continues to hit new highs in 2025, with several titles battling for the top spot in Q3. From record-breaking League of Legends matches to Mobile Legends’ rise on the global stage, the quarter was packed with tournaments that drew millions of fans worldwide.
Alongside household names like Dota 2, PUBG Mobile, and Counter-Strike, fresh storylines emerged, proving just how dynamic and competitive the esports scene has become. Here’s a breakdown of the most popular games and tournaments of Q3 2025 by peak viewership.
Most popular esports games in Q3 2025
League of Legends was the most popular esports title in Q3 2025, driven by the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) that wrapped up in July. The grand final between T1 and Gen.G drew over 3.44 million concurrent viewers, with Gen.G coming out on top and securing their second consecutive MSI championship.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang claimed the No. 2 spot among esports titles, hitting a peak of just over 3 million viewers during the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2025. The tournament, held in Riyadh as part of the Esports World Cup 2025 series, drew massive attention. The RRQ Hoshi vs. SRG.OG series turned out to be the most-popular match of the event, surpassing even the grand final.
The International 2025 cemented Dota 2’s place in the top three esports titles of Q3. The event drew over 1.78 million peak viewers, making it the third most-popular tournament in the game’s history. The massive audience tuned in for the grand final between Team Falcons and Xtreme Gaming.
PUBG Mobile landed in fourth place with a peak viewership of 1.38 million during the PUBG Mobile World Cup 2025. Held in Riyadh, the event became the second most-popular tournament in the game’s history, trailing only the PUBG Mobile Global Championship Season 0. In fact, it’s been over four years since PUBG Mobile reached numbers like these.
Read more: The International 2025 becomes the most co-streamed TI: How watch parties shape viewership
Counter-Strike consistently ranks among the top esports titles, and Q3 was no different. The biggest draw of the quarter was IEM Cologne 2025, which peaked at 1.13 million viewers. That makes it the fourth most-popular Counter-Strike tournament of 2025.
Top esports tournaments in Q3 2025
The Mid-Season Invitational 2025 unsurprisingly topped the list of Q3’s most popular tournaments, but two other League of Legends events also cracked the top ten: the LCK 2025 Season and the Esports World Cup 2025. Notably, the biggest matches from these tournaments all featured Gen.G, with the team scoring three key wins — twice against T1 and once against AG.AL International.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is represented by two tournaments in the rankings: the Mid Season Cup and MPL Indonesia Season 16. The latest season of the game’s most popular league has already peaked at 1.9 million viewers, and with the competition still underway, it’s almost certain that the numbers will climb even higher in Q4.
Read more: Valorant Champions 2025 heads toward 1M Peak Viewers
The top 10 also featured VALORANT Champions 2025 and the FNCS 2025 Global Championship, though neither managed to cross the one-million viewer mark in Q3. Still, Valorant Champions has a shot at breaking that milestone in Q4, while the FNCS Global Championship already posted one of its strongest peak viewership numbers in the last six years.
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