VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters finals reaches over 780,000 peak viewers
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Stage 2 Masters peak viewership
Provided by Riot Games.
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VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters finals reaches over 780,000 peak viewers

The first international VCT event with a crowd brings a lot of viewers
Image of Michael Czar
Michael Czar
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Published: Jul 24, 2022 05:12 pm

According to Esports Charts, The VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen finals between FunPlus Phoenix and Paper Rex cracked over 740,000 peak viewers, for the first-ever VCT event with a live crowd. This is around 250,000 viewers shy of the million peak viewers from the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters finals. But, along with the sold-out live venue in Copenhagen, this is a big event for the future of VALORANT esports.

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The first ever live VCT LAN

The Forum Copenhagen arena was set for the first offline VCT event with a crowd, selling out their finals match just before the series began. The crowd was loud throughout the second weekend of the competition, peaking at the close five map series that ended it off.

Before this, the most viewed series of the competition was the winners bracket finals between OpTic Gaming and Paper Rex. The best team in the world from Stage 1 Masters played against the aggressive underdog in Paper Rex, and fans were tuning into it. That series broke over 585,000 peak viewers, with the crowd in the stands watching the Asia-Pacific team make it to the finals as the last North American team get sent to the lower bracket.

Yet, the finals between two teams who had a great run to the top broke it by just under 200,00 viewers. Not only was the series a five-map banger, but the swings and roundabouts within kept fans tuned in.

Viewership doesn’t peak as high as the previous two LANs

Comparing this event to the previous two LANs, Champions in 2021 and the Stage 1 Masters in ReykjavĂ­k, no match broke the million viewer mark. The grand finals of Stage 1 Masters was the only match to do so in that tournament, ending with OpTic winning it all. However, Champions in 2021 had two matches that broke the million viewer mark. Those two were both the grand finals and the end of the legendary KRĂœ Esports run against Gambit Esports.

As for why this event didn’t peak as high as others, there are multiple possible reasons why. At Stage 1 Masters, a North American team made it to the finals against a Brazilian team — both regions have some of the biggest fanbases in VALORANT. Last year at Champions, the season was coming to its conclusion; while the finals were a European chess match, the KRĂœ Esports run got fans a lot more invested. Without an NA team in the finals, the Stage 2 Masters peak viewership didn’t break the records previously set. However, online viewership isn’t as important as live, in-person viewership, the first live crowd in international VCT history. With Champions 2022 live in Istanbul, that’s the next opportunity for a viewership record.

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Author
Image of Michael Czar
Michael Czar
Polish-Canadian game enthusiast. I've been entrenched in gaming for as long as I can remember, with my first game being Pokemon Yellow and my most played games being Borderlands 2 and Overwatch. I have a degree in Film Studies, but writing about esports just makes my job all the better.
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