Which esports had the highest viewership numbers in 2021?

From FPS to MOBAs, the global esports scene has continued to thrive this past year. With the pandemic still dragging on, most fans are continuing to tune in by watching through their computer screens. Whether from the hype surrounding the prestige of the competition itself, or for the hotly anticipated rivalries between iconic players, esports tournaments garnered millions in viewership numbers. As we await turning a new leaf, look back on the 10 most watched esports competitions of 2021, according to Esports Charts.

These rankings are based on hours watched throughout the entire tourney. This is to give us a fuller picture of the entire competition's popularity and shows whether the audience continued to tune in throughout the event's runtime. Effectively, the hours watched metric combines staying power with actual number of viewers, such that the more viewers that stay for longer, the better the numbers in a multiplier or exponential way.

Most watched esports tournaments in 2021

MOBAs fill up the rankings

Among the esports tourneys with the largest viewership this year, MOBAs have definitely staked their claim to popularity. Only two competitions in the list belong to the FPS genre—VALORANT and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Meanwhile, DOTA 2, League of Legends, and Mobile Legends (ML) dominate the list, with the latter two having multiple entries in the top 10.

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that other games, such as battle royales like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), aren't popular. Many titles have enjoyed high viewership through Twitch streams, though not necessarily the esports side. If we are to look at peak viewership alone instead of hours watched, PUBG‘s Mobile Global Championship actually makes the cut. The first round of finals slots in at third in the rankings with 3.8 million viewers.

Whether hours watched or peak viewers, though, the numbers bode well for the growth of MOBAs, especially ML and League of Legends, highlighting the profitability or marketability of continuing to host these competitive games.

VALORANT makes impressive debut

While CS:GO‘s international tournament (PGL Stockholm Major) has continued to perform well, pulling in the viewers and ranking fourth on the list, Riot's counterpart has made an impressive start in the FPS esports scene. The VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) only launched this year, but its culminating global stage VCT Champions at Berlin managed to rake in over 46 million hours watched. It's no small figure, considering that the tournament only aired for a total of 98 hours. Not only is it the second shortest runtime on the list, but the numbers would indicate close to half a million viewers (~470,000) per hour.

It definitely made for a good watch since the inaugural VALORANT Champions was nothing short of drama. It saw an early exit from tournament favorites Sentinels, while squads from non-major regions like The Philippines' Team Secret stood up to the challenge and showcased what they're made of.

The playoffs stage saw all four representatives from the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region duke it out for the crown. Acend spectacularly took down other strong contenders in Team Liquid and Gambit, en route to earning the title of first-ever VALORANT World Champions.

ML and League showcase regional popularity

Mobile Legends and League of Legends are definitely the big winners on the list, with multiple competitions pulling in high viewership numbers. It is fantastic to see that the regional leagues are capable of bringing in great viewership figures stack up well against the most hyped up year-end tournaments. Both games also showcased their popularity in Asia in particular.

For ML, the mobile game seems especially popular in Indonesia, with both Seasons 7 and 8 of the Indonesia Pro League making it to the top 10. The most recent season ranks third on the list, though it's quite far from the leaders of the pack, which we'll get to in just a bit. Still, it's impressive what a hold the Indonesian fanbase has on the game, at least for the esports scene. Season 8's viewership is also much higher than M3, which just unfolded earlier this month. In a thrilling all-Philippine finals, Blacklist International swept Onic Philippines, 4-0, to claim the ML trophy on the global stage.

Meanwhile, League continues to be a steady force in Korea, with both the Spring and Summer splits of the LCK in the top 10. It's especially interesting considering that China has arguably been the strongest region in competitive League, but it speaks to the unrelenting popularity of Korean teams, both domestically and internationally. After all, fan-favorites T1 had picked up steam this 2021 after enduring some rough seasons, with legendary mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok returning to the foray.

Other veterans like Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu on Hanwha Life (HLE) and Kim “Khan” Dong-ha on LCK champions Damwon Gaming (DWG) may have also helped a large audience. Not to mention, many rising stars have been making a name for themselves, including HLE's Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (now on Gen.G) and DWG's Heo “ShowMaker” Su. DWG and T1's rivalry may have also been the focal point of all the hype, clashing in the LCK Summer finals and again at the Worlds 2021 semifinals.

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League and DOTA 2 still ahead of the pack

The two tournaments at the top of the list are far and away the leaders of the pack, being the only ones to breach the 100-million hours watched barrier. Perhaps unsurprisingly, DOTA 2 and League of Legends continue to contend with one another in terms of popularity. This time around, League took the cake—and by quite a large margin at that. The 2021 World Championship racked up nearly 70 million hours more than The International 10.

DOTA 2 fans, too, can be proud of the viewership that TI10 garnered. If we take into account the total airtime, the competition pulled in over 850,000 viewers per hour on average. No doubt, millions tuned in to the finals, especially to follow Team Spirit's breathtaking lower bracket run through the playoffs stage. The underdogs went all the way to topple PSG.LGD, 3-2, to take the TI10 title.

Meanwhile, between VALORANT and League of Legends, Riot will definitely be pleased with its two main games featuring at both ends of the top 10 list. The Worlds 2021 numbers are especially tantalizing, averaging over a million (~1.3 million) viewers per hour. It's particularly interesting to see these figures, as there weren't exactly major upsets that might have caused a stir in the League community—but the tournament was definitely full of exciting moments to remember.

For instance, North American fans might have especially tuned in to Cloud9's (yet another) miracle run out of groups, regardless of who they might support in the LCS. Elsewhere, Group D's against-all-odds four-way tie-breaker scenario also concocted another level of chaos and drama. The playoffs were relatively straightforward for the Eastern teams, but with all four LCK representatives securing playoffs berths, it set up an all-Korean quarters in T1 versus HLE and all-Korean semis in T1 versus Damwon.

Given the large LCK following, it makes sense to see that Worlds did so well viewership-wise, with all the Korean rosters playing out the best-of-fives. DWG trumped T1 and marched on to the finals, looking poised to become back-to-back World Champions, until EDward Gaming reasserted China's rising power in competitive League.