Fnatic vs LOUD reaches 1.4 million peak viewers; breaks Portuguese broadcast records

The rise of VALORANT esports since its release a couple of years ago has been nothing short of extraordinary. It comes as no surprise, however, given Riot Games' experience in growing the League of Legends competitive scene over the past decade. VCT 2023 - LOCK//IN being the first tournament of VALORANT Champions Tour 2023 was bound to attract more viewers than usual, but the fact that its peak viewership reached over 1.4 million is a testament to how mature and established the VALORANT scene has become.

Fnatic's comeback propels viewership to 1.4 million

After almost a month of intense competition, only two teams remained in the tournament vying for the title: LOUD and Fnatic. The stage was set for an intense showdown as LOUD played on their home turf in Brazil, while Fnatic fought to avoid another close finish in a VCT LAN after their previous setbacks in Reykjavik 2021 and Copenhagen 2022. With these elements adding to the hype and anticipation surrounding the matchup, the match going to a decider was the cherry on top, especially when Fnatic staged a stunning comeback from a 3-9 deficit.

Having all the ingredients for an entertaining matchup, viewers were bound to tune in to see the unbelievable demonstration of talent and strategy unfold. As the final map, Icebox, proceeded to Overtime, more viewers poured in setting a record of 1 428 242 concurrent viewers, a stark increase from the previous day when Fnatic faced off NAVI. This peak viewership statistic places LOCK IN just behind the Champions Istanbul grand finals where LOUD defeated the NA Challengers, OpTic Gaming, in front of a sold-out arena and an online audience of more than 1.5 million viewers to earn their rights to the throne.

The LOCK IN event achieved more than just breaking the peak viewership record - it shattered the Portuguese broadcast viewership record with an impressive 543,000 viewers and also secured the second-place spot in Twitch's peak viewership for esports. Throughout the event, the viewership remained consistently high, with an average viewership of over 400,000 and an impressive 44,000,000 hours watched.

Featured image courtesy of Riot Games