VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff notches new peak viewership record as old favorites, breakout force shine
The new season for Valorant kicked off with the Kickoff events for the four international leagues (ILs), marking the start of a new competitive cycle for the popular shooter. The Pacific tournament concluded on February 15, posting series-record numbers with tweaks to the format at each stage, adding a high-stakes feel to each game.
The 2026 season's VALORANT Champions Tour Kickoff competitions saw changes to their formats to add some spice to proceedings. All the regions saw the adoption of a new triple-elimination format, which extended the number of matchdays and provided participants with a little leeway in terms of recovering from any early loss.
Fan-favourite Paper Rex had to take the extremely long gauntlet route to qualifying for the Masters Santiago. Meanwhile, Nongshim RedForce and DetonatioN FocusMe emerged as new players in the league; the former surprised many with its astounding run to finishing as the top seed after coming up through the Ascension circuit.
With so much at stake and a lot of exciting action for fans, the VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff was a big viewership success. It ended as the region's most successful Kickoff event, although the average viewership remained lower than what we saw at the inaugural edition in 2024.
VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff viewership statistics
The first regional event in the region for the 2026 season saw Nongshim RedForce, T1 and Paper Rex emerge as the three teams to qualify for the year's first global championship. As mentioned above, Nongshim RedForce defied all odds in just its second appearance at this level to book a slot to Chile, emerging as the breakout team of the Kickoff event.
T1 and Paper Rex, meanwhile, reinforced their reputations as one of the Pacific region's most consistent sides by taking the second seed. Both esports organizations will hope to find the same sparkling form at the Valorant Masters Santiago 2026 that helped them capture Masters titles at Bangkok and Toronto, respectively, last year.
The most popular match of the VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff was the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals between Paper Rex and Global Esports. This series between two diverse rosters peaked at 486,432 viewers, which was around 28% higher than the 2025 Kickoff event and a record for the region. It was also the second most popular event in the region's VCT history.
Interest in this match-up was high, as they were two of the three sides to contain representation from the Philippines. As a result, their Lower Bracket Round 3 clash also reached 374,747 Peak Viewers (PV), the fifth most popular game in the event, with Paper Rex winning both contests with a similar 2:1 scoreline.
With the additional matches played as a result of the extended format, this top-tier Valorant competition also set a Pacific region record for watch time, accruing 18.9 million Hours Watched (HW). However, it still fell short of beating the VCT 2024: Pacific Kickoff in viewership per match, finishing at 213,427 Average Viewers (AV) compared to 254,546 AV seen two years back.
Japanese audiences were the primary drivers of viewership at the VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff, reaching a peak of 291,835 viewers. Three teams from the country participated, but only DetonatioN FocusMe was able to put in a decent performance, reaching the Lower Bracket Semifinal before getting knocked out by Paper Rex.
The Japanese side might have missed out on qualifying for just its second global championship, but it edged to the top of the most popular teams pile. Unsurprisingly, this list was filled with sides from Japan and Southeast Asia, where Valorant continues to be among the top games in PC esports.
One crucial indicator of its gradual growth among global audiences is the number of channels covering the league, which crossed 200 for the first time. Platforms like Twitch, CHZZK and YouTube continued to attract the largest audiences. However, it was TikTok and SOOP Korea that made the most gains, seeing significant spikes in their livestreaming numbers compared to the 2025 edition.
With the conclusion of the four Kickoff events, the focus now shifts to the first global championship of the 2026 season. The top teams from all VCT regions will head to South America for the Valorant Masters Santiago 2026, scheduled to begin on February 28.
As always, Esports Charts will provide live updates on the official tournament page and cover all crucial matches from this event in our news section. Meanwhile, interested readers can get more information on the live audience and ticket sales here.
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