VCT 2024: Ascension — Americas and Europe see contrasting fortunes
With the top tier of Valorant esports done and the year drawing to a close, the focus is on the Ascension tournaments, which will decide the teams that will join the Champions Tour circuit next year. Three of its four events have concluded (only the Pacific region is yet to see a winner), with America and EMEA witnessing contrasting fortunes regarding viewership.
As with the previous years, this year's Ascension competitions would see the winning teams from the four regions join their respective affiliate league for the 2025 season. One thing reinforced by these events is that star teams and streamers (sometimes co-owners) remain vital to the reach and audience dynamics of Valorant as a globally competitive offering.
VCT 2024: Ascension Americas Viewership Statistics
The VCT 2024: Ascension Americas was especially profitable as it touched 159.4K Peak Viewers, which was 32.2% higher than the 2023 iteration. The identity of the winner played a big part in this rise as the support it generated from its fanbase drove up the numbers.
This competition, part of the broader Valorant Challengers series involving Tier-2 leagues in the game, saw six teams from the various regional leagues in North America, Latin America, and Brazil compete for a chance to reach the next level. Brazil's 2GAME Esports emerged as the champion and earned entry into next year's Valorant Champions Tour alongside a not-so-shabby $35,000 as prize money.
The fact that it had a Brazilian winner meant that a lot more Portuguese-speaking viewers tuned in right until the end to see one of their own clinch the trophy than at the Valorant Challengers Ascension 2023: Americas. Crucial to this success was Sentinels' Brazilian creator and former Valorant pro sacy, whose broadcasts attracted the most audiences among all the channels to cover this league. Along with coreano and the official channels, he ensured a bigger audience was attracted to the action throughout the event.
This was seen in the fact that the language's peak grew by around 230% in 2024, with its corresponding share just for the Grand Final going up by almost 400%. This was also reflected in the watch time statistics, as the language's contribution to the overall share rose by 22%, almost double its tally from the 2023 edition.
VCT 2024: Ascension EMEA Viewership Statistics
The VCT 2024: Ascension EMEA is a good example of how the presence of big names can help positively influence the viewership dynamics. It comprised ten teams from across Europe battling it out for a shot at entering the VCT 2025.
Apeks defeated Pcific Esports 3:2 in a see-sawing Grand Final to emerge as the champion. Having lost just one game across the entire event, the former took home a little over $33,000 as winnings, with the beaten finalist pocketing around $22,000.
The summit clash was also the most popular match at this Valorant competition, registering 71.7K Peak Viewers. Looking at last year's effort, this was a much smaller figure but that had everything to do with the participation of one esports organization as the event more or less reverted to its mean viewership numbers.
The Valorant Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA hit 227K PV largely thanks to Gentle Mates. The French side, co-owned by two popular streamers from the country in Squeezie and Gotaga, attracted massive crowds for each game it played.
Gotaga was the driving factor behind the success last year, as his community casting activity helped French broadcasts account for two-thirds of the total HW for the entire tournament. He also hit almost 180K PV on his channel during the Grand Final, ensuring it became a big success.
The French connection was strong in 2024 too as JLtomy's coverage of the side he co-owns, Joblife, made it the most popular side. Despite the team not making the Playoffs after finishing third in its group, he ended as the event's most successful channel by a distance.
When it comes to the VCT 2024: Ascension China, the peak concurrent viewership figures were remarkably similar for 2023 and 2024. However, the watch time saw a drop of 55.6%, which can be attributed to the presence of Taiwanese side Dragon Ranger Gaming last year, who repaid the support shown by its fans by winning the entire tournament.
Looking at the three completed Ascension events, it becomes clear that North America enjoys the highest audience reach thanks to the fervent support for the game and teams in the the region. EMEA, meanwhile, returned to its median figures after the bump witnessed last year via the involvement of Gentle Mates and Gotaga. The region has a lot of star esports orgs, so it is highly dependent on these sides doing well to pull in viewers to the extent that the numbers become newsworthy.
After another banner year for Valorant, including two of its major tournaments emerging among the game's most popular, anticipation for what is to come in 2025 is palpable. Riot Games is usually quick to inform fans on what they can expect with each new season, and Esports Charts will keep readers updated on the same.
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