Does this mean Worlds are seeing less popularity each year?
Twelve teams came to Mexico to compete in the Worlds Play-ins, but only four advanced to the Worlds 2022 Main Event after six days of action.
Play-ins included five teams from significant areas for the first time, making this stage of the competition more competitive than ever before. However, even the participation of current Mid-Season Invitational champion RNG was unable to beat the 2021 record.
According to Esports Charts, Worlds 2022 Play-ins viewership has reduced in comparison to 2021.
Viewership reached at 1.1 million, 16% lower than in 2021. The average viewership dropped by 747K, or 16%, from the previous year. Because to the broadcast delays on day one of the Play-ins, the number of hours viewed rose by 8% to 38.1 million.
These figures, on the other hand, do not indicate a decline in Worlds‘ popularity; rather, they demonstrate the event’s reliance on the European and Asian markets.
Play-ins were held in Mexico, with matches beginning about 10 p.m. European time and lasting until at least 4 a.m. Matches began about 3 a.m. in South Korea. Although the timetable is inconvenient for people watching from such areas, viewership may improve once the most popular teams enter the stage.
Surprisingly, Brazilian team LOUD became the most viewed team in Play-ins, with 835K average viewers, followed by Evil Geniuses with 801K and MAD Lions in third with 793K.
Despite the popularity of LOUD, the match between Fnatic and Evil Geniuses was the highest viewed during the Play-ins, garnering 1.1 million peak viewers. CBLOL’s twitch channel surpassed 3.6 million hours viewed, trailing only Riot Games’ main channel. LLA was the third most viewed channel, with 3.2 million hours seen. Viewership is projected to rise as Worlds 2022 had already resumed on October 7 with many famous teams competing.