EDward Gaming's matches become the most popular on Chinese LPL Summer 2023 broadcasts
The LPL Summer 2023, the second split of the current year in the Chinese League of Legends, ended on August 8. Based on the results of the regular season and regional finals, four teams have been determined to represent the region at the 2023 World Championship in South Korea.
The LPL is the largest franchise league in terms of numbers of participants in League of Legends. There are a total of 17 teams competing in the Chinese division, whereas other major regions (LEC, LCS, LCK) have only 10 teams. Partly because of the larger number of participants in the LPL, the format is more cumbersome: teams first go through a big round-robin stage with a playoff bracket for the top ten teams.
The winner receives a quota for the World Championship. After the main stage is over, the organizers calculate the earned ranking points for the season and issue an additional invite to the highest-rated team. Finally, the top four teams in this ranking (excluding those which have already received quotas) participate in the Regional Finals, where two slots for the 2023 World Championship are contested in the Swiss Stage.
JD Gaming qualified for the World Championship as the winner of the LPL Summer 2023, while Bilibili Gaming secured a spot in the tournament thanks to its LPL Championship Points. The last two quotas went to LNG Esports and Weibo Gaming, the prize-winners at the LPL Regional Finals. It should be noted that besides China, only the Korean league, LCK, also contests four quotas for the World Championship. In all other regions, 1 to 3 slots are provided.
LPL Summer 2023 Viewership Results
LPL Summer 2023 Viewership Statistics
The main stage matches of LPL Summer 2023 accumulated 12.6 million HoursWatched. On Western streaming services, the Average Viewers number for league broadcasts reached 33.8K viewers, with the Peak Viewers number being recorded at 288.4K people. The most popular game of the season was the Grand Final between JD Gaming and LNG Esports, which gathered twice as many viewers as any other series.
The top languages for the broadcasts were English, Korean, and Vietnamese. The primary international platforms were Twitch, YouTube, and AfreecaTV.
LPL Regional Finals 2023 Viewership Statistics
Speaking of the LPL Regional Finals 2023, only four matches were played in this stage. The most popular among them was the series between EDward Gaming and Weibo Gaming, where the last spot for the World Championship was at stake. This match gathered 206.7K Peak Viewers.
LPL Statistics On Chinese Services
LPL Summer 2023 matches were streamed on international streaming services like Twitch and YouTube, as well as on Chinese platforms Huya Live and DouYu. The statistics from Chinese platforms cannot be merged with others, as these services do not use traditional metrics to determine channel popularity. While platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and most international platforms evaluate channel/section/streamer popularity based on the number of viewers, Chinese platforms use their own variations of a metric called Heat Index. More details about it can be found here.
LPL Summer 2023 Viewership Statistics on Huya and DouYu
The LPL Summer 2023 matches were broadcast on the Chinese platforms Huya and Douyu. The main channel, Huya, was the most popular with a peak Heat Index of 66.5 million. Meanwhile, the average Heat Index during the tournament was 3.3 million.
As mentioned earlier, the Heat Index does not show the number of viewers, but rather reflects the activity of viewers on the channel. The more they send messages in chats, interact with the broadcast, etc., the higher the Heat Index. That's why there is such a large difference between the peak and average Heat Index values (when there are no matches, audience activity is minimal).
The second channel Huya showed a similar level of Heat Index as the main channel DouYu — 28.9 million and 26.4 million, respectively. However, DouYu had a higher average Heat Index during the season.
The decisive matches of the Regional Finals, which took place from August 6 to 8, turned out to be the most popular confrontations on the main channels Huya and DouYu. The highest Heat Index was recorded during the series between the teams Edward Gaming and Weibo Gaming, which were competing for the last spot in the world championship. The Regional Finals matches were not covered on the second channel Huya, so it only included Group Stage and playoff games in its list.
On the main Huya channel, the top popular matches also included the games between Edward Gaming and Invictus Gaming, as well as Top Esports, during both the Group Stage and playoffs. Edward Gaming is one of the most decorated teams in China, with achievements including victories at the 2021 World Championship and the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational. Moreover, in June, the legendary Chinese carry and symbol of LPL, Uzi, joined the roster. His return to the professional stage after a period of inactivity sparked great excitement among Chinese viewers.
Comparison Of LPL Summer 2023 With The Previous Season
Comparison Of LPL Summer 2023 With The Previous Season
Compared to last year, the Average Viewers number for LPL Summer broadcasts dropped from 42.8K to 33.8K people. At the same time, the Peak Viewers number for the season only grew by 2%. The Regional Finals in 2022 also attracted more viewers than in 2023. Overall, there is a difference between the seasons, but it is insignificant. The biggest difference is in the total Hours Watched, but last year's number was higher thanks to a larger number of hours on air.
Five most popular LPL seasons by Peak Viewers
LPL Summer 2023 became the fourth season in the league's history in terms of Peak Viewers. It fell behind the leader (LPL Summer 2020) by over 60K PV. Interestingly, the most popular match of that season also featured JD Gaming.
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