The summer season of Counter-Strike has been remarkably eventful. Over the past three months, we've seen several high-profile tournaments take place in London, Cologne, Copenhagen, and Riyadh. This allowed the top teams ample opportunity to demonstrate their skills and captivate audiences, with three of the most successful teams collectively racking up over 10 million Hours Watched this summer.
As anticipated, Natus Vincere tops the list of the most-watched Counter-Strike teams for the summer of 2024. The team has had an exceptionally busy season, participating in nearly all major tournaments. This summer, NAVI advanced to the finals in three major events: BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, Esports World Cup 2024, and IEM Cologne 2024.
Artyom Odintsov, co-founder and CEO of Esports Charts, told Forbes.ua: “This summer season has exceeded all previous records for NAVI. Their notable performances at IEM Cologne, where they reached the final, and their success at the Esports World Cup were significant factors in their remarkable achievements. These two tournaments alone accounted for over 60% of all NAVI's views in CS2 competitions throughout the summer season”.
Team Vitality secured the second spot in the rankings with a strong summer performance. Led by Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire, the team won IEM Cologne 2024 and topped their group at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024. They accumulated 16.1 million HW, with approximately 41% of this total coming from their matches in Cologne.
G2 Esports claimed a place in the top three with 14.5 million HW. Their standout performances included a victory at IEM Dallas 2024 and a second-place finish at the Esports World Cup 2024. The team also saw a boost in popularity due to a significant transfer period, with nexa and captain HooXi leaving and being replaced by malbsMd and Snax. These changes generated considerable buzz, increasing the Average Viewers metric for G2’s matches by around 15%.
Team Spirit and FaZe Clan completed the top five for the summer, though neither surpassed 10 million HW. Team Spirit shone at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, which accounted for half of their summer viewership. FaZe Clan’s key event was IEM Cologne 2024, where they reached the quarterfinals.
Virtus.pro accumulated over 7.2 million HW over the summer. Although they did not secure major victories, the team participated in six different tournaments, the highest number among the ranked teams. Their viewership was largely driven by their performances at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024 and the Esports World Cup 2024.
Brazilian team FURIA Esports led the rankings with nearly 6.9 million HW. They played the most official matches among all teams in the ranking, with a total of 26, followed by Natus Vincere and Astralis, who each played 18 matches.
Just behind FURIA is MOUZ, one of Europe's oldest esports organizations. The summer was relatively quiet for MOUZ, as they participated in only three tournaments: Esports World Cup 2024, IEM Cologne 2024, and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2. Despite this, MOUZ consistently achieved top 3-4 placements.
Team Liquid secured the ninth spot in the rankings, having played the fewest official matches among the top teams, with only 10 games. They performed best at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, where their matches generated over 2.3 million HW. Team Liquid, like G2 Esports, underwent significant roster changes this summer, adding new players and a coach — ultimate, jks, and mithR. These changes increased viewer interest, doubling the average viewership between IEM Dallas and BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
Rounding out the top ten is the Danish team Astralis, which garnered 5.3 million HW over the summer. Despite playing many games, Astralis did not achieve notable results, with their best performance being a 3rd-4th place finish at YaLLa Compass 2024.
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