The Valorant Esports World Cup 2025 struggled to match the success of Masters Toronto. Discover five key reasons behind the drop in viewership, including lack ofco-streamers, regional disengagement, and poor scheduling.

Valorant EWC2025 Falls Short of Expectations: A Closer Look at the Viewership Decline

Thedebut of the Valorant Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC) was poised to be a majormilestone in Riot Games’ competitive calendar. Hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,and part of the highly-anticipated Esports World Cup summer gaming festival,the tournament set out to make a bold statement. However, despite a grand stageand strong team matchups, the event underperformed significantly compared toprevious tournaments like Masters Toronto 2025.

Whilethe EWC 2025 pulled ahead of other EWC opening week titles, itsValorant-specific metrics told a different story. Peak concurrent viewershipbarely passed 450,000 viewers, a number that fell far short of the 8.3 millionhours watched (HW) target and was nearly three times less than Masters Toronto.This article breaks down five critical factors that contributed to EWC 2025’slow engagement and reception.

1. Lack ofSupport from Co-Streamers and Community Leaders

Oneof the major differentiators in modern esports success is communityparticipation, especially from top-tier co-streamers and influencers.Unfortunately for the Valorant EWC, many of these key figures distancedthemselves from the event early on.

Britishcaster Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson was among the first to publiclywithdraw support for the EWC, encouraging others to follow suit. Soon after,fan-favorite streamer and former pro Tyson “TenZ” Ngo also opted out.Meanwhile, Tarik “tarik” Çelik, arguably the biggest co-streamer inValorant, reportedly declined a seven-figure deal to host the event. WhileTarik eventually did co-stream the tournament, his initial rejection left avisible mark on the community’s perception of the event.

As aresult, only around 150 global channels covered the tournament, a 62% decreasecompared to Masters Toronto. In an esports ecosystem where co-streamers driveconversation and draw large, loyal audiences, this absence proved damaging.

2. Limited OfficialBroadcasting and No Riot Support

Beyondthe lack of third-party co-streamers, official broadcasting for EWC 2025 wasscarce. Only a few language streams were available (English, Arabic, Russian,Ukrainian, and Portuguese), limiting global accessibility. Even moredetrimental was the absence of Riot Games’ own streaming platforms, whichcontributed to 40% of Masters Toronto’s viewership.

Thislack of direct Riot involvement created a visibility vacuum. Withoutamplification from the publisher itself, many casual and core fans alike simplydidn’t know when or where to watch the event. In a game as international asValorant, such gaps in accessibility drastically impact event metrics.

3. RegionalDisengagement, Especially in Japan and Korea

Theviewership decline wasn’t just about language or platform, it wasgeographically imbalanced as well. While English-speaking audiences did show upin moderate numbers, key regions such as Japan, Korea, and Latin America werenotably disengaged.

Japanwas perhaps the most glaring case. The region, typically one of the topValorant viewership markets, recorded less than 500 peak concurrent viewers forEWC matches. This is shocking, considering Japanese fans made up 9.5% of totalwatch time during Masters Toronto, despite no Japanese team competing in eithertournament.

Koreanviewership also underperformed despite the fact that Gen.G Esports performedbetter at EWC than in previous tournaments. Meanwhile, Spanish-languageengagement received a slight boost due to Team Heretics’ victory and thepopularity of Kamel “Kamet0” Kebir’s co-stream, but even that wasn’t enough tooffset the overall decline.

4. SchedulingConflicts with Major Esports Events

TheEWC 2025 was unfortunately scheduled during an already saturated esportscalendar. Its finals clashed with the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational(MSI) 2025, drawing attention away from Valorant fans who may also follow othercompetitive titles.

Moresignificantly, the event overlapped with the start of Valorant ChallengersJapan: Split 3, the most-watched regional Challengers league in the world.Instead of watching the EWC, Japanese fans and casters focused their attentionon local matchups, which further explains the stark drop in Japaneseviewership.

Withno Japanese teams at EWC and an ongoing domestic league offering localizedaction, many fans naturally gravitated toward more relevant content.

5. ViewerBurnout and Oversaturation of Valorant Esports

Eventhe most dedicated fans need a break, and the tight scheduling between majorValorant events may have caused unintended viewer fatigue. Just two weeks afterMasters Toronto, the EWC began, and ended right before Stage 2 of the VCTseason kicked off.

Thisrelentless pacing likely impacted audience enthusiasm. As G2’s Jacob “Valyn”Batio pointed out in a stream, there simply wasn’t enough downtime for fans torecover and re-energize. Burnout isn’t just a player issue, spectator fatigueis real, and the numbers reflect it.

WithMasters Toronto still fresh in fans’ minds, the EWC couldn’t generate the sameemotional investment or anticipation. Fans didn’t have time to miss the action,making the EWC feel less like a milestone and more like an extension of analready-packed season.

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