The Esports World Cup welcomed VALORANT to the most valuable stage in the business for the first time last week. Over the weekend, a monumental finish that featured a dramatic reverse sweep pulled in a staggering viewer count, marking the first EWC VALORANT event a huge success for Riot Games and the EWCF.
Team Heretics managed to hold firm and decimate Fnatic in a last-minute turnaround that shocked and enthralled fans worldwide, proving the power of both VALORANT and the Esports World Cup.
Incredible Run
Heretics powered through the playoffs at the Esports World Cup to secure a place in the VALORANT history books. The squad effortlessly breezed by BBL, took down Gen.G, and then performed one of the most memorable reverse sweeps in recent esports history against Fnatic in the grand final.
After falling immensely short in the first two maps (4 – 13, 1 – 13), Heretics looked shaky at best, but something stirred inside the squad, and the next three maps made for some of the most nail-biting esports action I’ve seen in a long time. The 13 – 11 win for Heretics on Icebox had visitors and viewers alike on the edges of their seats.
This debut VALORANT EWC tournament was nothing short of an utter spectacle, and it was a perfect way to kick off the three-year collaboration between Riot Games and the Esports World Cup Foundation.
According to data collected by Esports Charts, VALORANT hit a peak viewer count of 451,943 users, averaging just over 163,000 throughout. More than 8.2 million watch hours were logged across the 50 hours that the EWC VALORANT event was live.
While that peak viewer count is only a third of the all-time concurrent record recorded during 2024’s VCT Masters Madrid, it’s a perfect indication of more people tuning in to see the Esports World Cup.
VALORANT has already cut out a place in the industry as one of the most popular esports games around, but where does it go from here? Let me know what you thought about the EWC VALORANT event on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming esports, check out the claim that EWC will be bigger than COD Champs for Call of Duty
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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