VCT Masters Bangkok 2025 sees a substantial viewership boost on opening day compared to Shanghai edition

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The highly anticipated first international Valorant esports tournament of the season is officially underway. Masters Bangkok has kicked off, and fans hungry for top-tier Valorant action are tuning in with even greater enthusiasm than they did for the previous Masters event in Shanghai. The surge in viewership is especially strong among English-speaking audiences, though other demographics are also on the rise.

As in the previous tournament, opening day featured two matchups. The first showdown saw reigning world champions EDward Gaming take on Team Liquid, marking the latter’s first appearance at an international event in over a year. Right out of the gate, both teams delivered an electrifying performance. The first map, Split, was a true nail-biter, ending in an 18-16 victory for the Chinese squad.

That map set the tone for the entire day, with viewership peaking at over 469,000 concurrent viewers during overtime. The second map, Pearl, was a more one-sided affair, as EDG secured a dominant 13-6 win. Viewership remained strong, fluctuating between 400,000 and 410,000 concurrent viewers.

The standout matchup of the day was the highly anticipated showdown between South Korea’s DRX and Sentinels, the most popular Valorant team in the world. As expected, the match attracted a surge in viewership from North America. Unfortunately for Sentinels fans, their team struggled to deliver, as DRX secured a dominant 2-0 victory. The only real contest came on the second map, Haven, where Sentinels put up a fight but ultimately fell 10-13.

That second map also marked the peak viewership of the tournament’s opening day, hitting over 563,000 concurrent viewers. Sentinels nearly pulled off a comeback, but DRX held firm to close out the series.

The opening day of VCT Masters Bangkok delivered significantly stronger viewership than the previous event in the series, which was also held in Asia, meaning it faced similar time zone challenges for European and North American audiences. The biggest surge came from English-language broadcasts, which saw an average increase of 37,000 viewers. Other languages also experienced growth, with Thai and Korean audiences standing out. In total, eight languages averaged over 10,000 concurrent viewers, compared to just five on the first day of the Shanghai event.

VCT Masters Bangkok is off to an impressive start in terms of viewership, and it will be interesting to see if the event can sustain this momentum. The action continues tomorrow, with Team Vitality taking on T1, followed by G2 Esports facing Trace Esports. Stay up to date with the latest tournament stats on our event coverage page. And as always, PRO subscribers get access to even more in-depth data, not just for this tournament but for all events.