TikTok Live: How the platform is gaining solid ground in esports broadcasting

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Esports is thriving and more global than ever. Over the past year, major trends have reshaped the industry, marking a new era of growth: co-streaming continues to surge in popularity, boosting event viewership, while Western esports organizations are venturing boldly into Southeast Asia to tap into the booming mobile gaming market. Meanwhile, the launch of several new streaming platforms this year has event organizers exploring innovative ways to engage and grow their audiences.

Amid the whirlwind of industry developments, TikTok has quietly, yet rapidly, emerged as a major player in the world of esports streaming. By the end of 2024, it stands as a close contender to giants like Twitch and YouTube. But how did TikTok achieve this milestone? Which tournaments are attracting audiences on the platform, and how big are these viewership numbers? Esports Charts covers the meteoric rise of TikTok in esports and its exciting potential for the future.

TikTok Live and the future of gaming content

TikTok entered the live streaming scene in 2020 and has been on a fast track to innovation ever since, raising its game to rival the industry’s biggest players. Over the years, it has rolled out features designed to elevate both the viewer and streamer experience. From live events that simplify scheduling and promoting streams to TikTok Live Studio, a desktop app offering an OBS Studio alternative, the platform has also introduced powerful monetization tools that make earning on streams more accessible than ever. 

When it comes specifically to gaming, a standout feature of TikTok Live is its interactive gaming streams, which bring viewers into the action by letting them influence gameplay in real time. Tools like virtual gifts, polls, and challenges allow fans to shape in-game events or guide the streamer’s decisions, creating an experience that’s both immersive and collaborative. With gamified elements such as mini-games and voting on game choices, TikTok Live transforms passive spectators into active participants, redefining how audiences engage with gaming content.

TikTok Live has also significantly enhanced its presence in the gaming sector particularly, mainly through strategic partnerships with major gaming events. In August 2024, TikTok became the official partner of Gamescom 2024, one of the world's largest gaming conferences held in Cologne, Germany.

Earlier in July 2024, TikTok was named the official entertainment partner for the inaugural Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This partnership included the creation of a special hub in the TikTok app, offering exclusive content from broadcasters, teams and players. Additionally, TikTok Live hosted live broadcasts from the event, featuring diverse creators and introducing custom icons and exclusive features.

In 2024, the LIVE section was also given a refreshed design, and perhaps more importantly, a dedicated esports section was introduced, separating it from general gaming content. This change helps distinguish the default gaming audience from the more hardcore, engaged esports community. Furthermore, the platform now features an enhanced content recommendation system, similar to YouTube's, which enables more effective audience growth for streams.

Generally, gaming has become a significant part of TikTok Live, a fact the platform proudly acknowledges. TikTok is focused on enhancing the experience for everyone in the gaming ecosystem: content creators, viewers, brands, and publishers. The developer of TikTok, ByteDance, sees immense potential in this space, backed by its massive, loyal gaming audience that rarely ventures to competitor platforms for similar content. This exclusivity makes TikTok’s gaming community one of the prime focuses for future growth, and the company has ambitious plans to deepen its influence in the industry.

Rapid growth of esports on TikTok Live

As multistreaming (broadcasting the same live content across multiple platforms) continues to gain traction, TikTok Live is attracting a growing wave of Western streamers. Big names like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Dylan "CaseOh" Baker, and hundreds of other well-known creators from rival platforms are flocking to TikTok in search of new audiences. Even major tournament organizers are following their lead, recognizing the platform’s potential to connect with new viewers.

Esports broadcasts appeared on TikTok almost immediately after the livestreaming feature launched. By October 2020, thousands of viewers were already tuning in for MPL PH Season 6, the largest regional Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) tournament in the Philippines. Surprisingly, by the end of 2020, TikTok's total esports viewership was only a few tens of thousands of hours. But in the years that followed, that number exploded, and it reached nearly 200 million Hours Watched (HW) by 2024: an absolutely remarkable growth in such a short time.

Mobile esports games were the natural pioneers in adopting TikTok Live. Leading the way was MLBB, along with other popular titles like Free Fire, Arena of Valor, Brawl Stars, and more.

Desktop games are keeping up as well. In 2020, TikTok hosted its first esports broadcasts for Dota 2 and PUBG: Battlegrounds, with several other major titles quickly following. Today, esports streams on TikTok offer something for everyone, from sports sims like NBA 2K and casual picks like UNO Mobile to powerhouse titles like League of Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and many others.

TikTok hosts a huge number of esports tournaments, but audience sizes can vary widely. Right now, TikTok Live remains primarily focused on mobile game streams. At the end of the year, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang led the pack, accounting for an impressive 65% of all esports watch time on the platform. PUBG Mobile and Arena of Valor rounded out the top, with just over ten percent of the total watch time.

The desktop game with the largest audience on TikTok is League of Legends, making up just under 5% of the total watch time, while PUBG: Battlegrounds takes sixth place. Currently, desktop games aren’t as popular with viewers, but this trend is likely to change. TikTok is expected to gradually become a more influential platform for these titles in the future.

The rise of mobile esports content on TikTok is shaping the platform’s audience, with nearly half of the viewership coming from Indonesia, where games like MLBB and PUBG Mobile are hugely popular.

By 2024, Southeast Asia’s largest countries will account for over 90% of all esports watch time on TikTok. English-language streams, which cater to a more diverse audience, currently make up just over 4%, but this is expected to grow as TikTok continues to expand its global reach.

Turkey, Spain, the Middle East, and Brazil are also showing strong growth potential, with tens of thousands of viewers already tuning in, and the numbers are expected to keep rising.

What’s next for TikTok Live and esports?

By the end of 2024, TikTok had already outpaced platforms like Kick, SOOP (formerly AfreecaTV), NimoTV, and Trovo in esports viewership. The future will depend on two key factors: the platform’s evolution in various regions and how ByteDance continues to enhance user experience and make it easier for viewers to access live content.

For now, the future of TikTok in certain regions, especially the US and EU, remains uncertain. In the US, the app’s fate is still up in the air: it’s unclear whether it will be shut down or acquired by some local company, possibly avoiding a ban. Similarly, in Europe, the possibility of TikTok facing bans continues to make headlines. While no final decisions have been made yet, it’s still a possibility that can’t be ruled out.

Top 10 Most-Watched Esports Games on TikTok Live (All-Time)

TikTok's younger audience means the platform enforces strict content controls, limiting access more effectively. For example, a 13-year-old would have a harder time watching Counter-Strike esports on TikTok than on Twitch, as the platform requires user authentication to access such content. Although this approach is sensible and responsible, it may hinder the platform's growth by restricting the ease of access to certain content.

On the whole, though, TikTok’s future looks incredibly promising, at least for now. The platform has already established a solid foothold in Southeast Asia and is steadily gaining traction in Western countries. By 2025, TikTok could be posing an even greater challenge to Twitch and especially YouTube.

Top 10 Languages for Esports Streaming on TikTok Live (All-Time)