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Now that Stage 1 of the 2024 VCT Event is complete around the world, the viewership totals are starting to trickle in. It’s starting to become clear that this is an esport that is popular in many parts of the world, but intrigue has also declined in other areas.
The VCT Americas Stage 1 was not a big hit with the fans of this sport in North and South America. Esports Charts was tracking peak viewership numbers, and there was a significant drop in viewership numbers so far this year.
The average number of viewers actually increased, but there weren’t as many people tuning in to the biggest moments. Americas is the region that has actually produced the two previous world champions, but it’s been hard to keep fans interested.
There were more than 554,000 peak viewers in 2023, but that number slipped to below 500,000 during the action in 2024. 100 Thieves and G2 Esports met up for the championship matchup, and fewer than 300,000 bothered to tune in.
Riot Games have made some recent changes to the VCT action, and those moves could have turned some viewers off as well. Even though the VCT Americas Stage 1 didn’t see an increase in viewership, that was a trend seen in other parts of the world.
Big Viewership Numbers in VCT EMEA
The EMEA Region features teams from Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and there are big fans of teams from this league. While the overall viewership numbers for the VCT EMEA Stage 1 were much lower than the Americas numbers, there was still plenty of growth shown.
This was the second most popular VCT EMEA event ever as the peak viewership numbers came in at more than 305,000. There has been a growing trend of attention paid to this league, and that was seen in the most recent action.
Fnatic won the event championship with a thrilling win of Team Heretics, and those teams are going to be competing in Masters Shanghai. Anytime that Fnatic is competing in this region it is an event that attracts plenty of viewers.
Since this is a region that has teams from many different countries, there are streams that take place in many different languages. The streams that featured English speaking commentators were much more popular than other languages, but this entire region has had some popular games.
There were similar numbers in other regions during the VCT Stage 1 competitions as it was only the Americas that saw a significant drop in viewership.
New VCT Masters Shanghai Format Announced
Now that the regional events have finished up, all of those qualifying teams are going to be gearing up for an international event. The VCT Masters Shanghai will come with a brand new format that should increase excitement and intrigue.
For the first time in a VALORANT event, the top teams from each region are actually going to get to choose their first opponents. That could create some animosity right away, but will theoretically give the top teams an edge.
The Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai is going to play the host for this event, and teams have qualified from all of the different regions. Only teams that advance to the playoffs will be included in this event that will take place from June 7 through June 9.
There will be 12 teams set to compete in this event, with three teams coming from the four regions that just held a qualifying tournament. Those teams that won their region will be randomly selected in order and then they get to pick their opponent.