– 10th annual Final match posts 23.04 Million Average Minute Audience (AMA), making it one of the most-watched global sports events of the year
TORONTO, Dec. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Engine Media’s (TSX-V: GAME) (OTCQB: MLLLF) esports streaming data analytics experts Stream Hatchet has teamed with Riot Games to analyze global audience results from Riot’s annual League of Legends World Championship Final.
LoL Esports today revealed viewership numbers for the event, which took place at Shanghai’s SAIC Motor Pudong Arena on October 31, 2020 with a live audience of 6,312 fans and millions more online.
Riot Games works with Stream Hatchet to analyze global viewership data. This year’s Finals match achieved an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 23.04 million and 45.95 million Peak Concurrent Viewers (PCU). There were 1+ billion hours of competition watched (Live+24) over the course of the tournament.
This viewership sets a new record for Worlds and is an indicator of esports’ increasing appeal.
“What the esports team at Riot Games achieved this year continues to set the standard for cultivating massive audiences in esports and entertainment,” says Eduard Montserrat, CEO of Stream Hatchet.
“With the record-breaking Finals AMA of 23.04 million, Riot’s leadership within the Western esports market this year continues to boost the growth of esports’ footprint. This year, for example, esports watch time on Western streaming platforms increased by 10 percent, with leagues and tournaments organized by the Riot Esports team accounting for one-third of the watch time.”
The 2020 World Championship, which consisted of 114 games played in Shanghai over five weeks, kicked off with the most-watched Play-Ins stage in its history. Over the course of 38 Play-In matches, fans watched 160.92 million hours of play, a 61.76 percent increase from the same period in 2019, and the AMA increased 87.18 percent YOY to 3.6 million – no doubt a reflection of the pent-up demand for top-tier esports competition after a season impacted by the global pandemic.
Broadcast from the Shanghai Media Tech Center, LOL matches featured extended reality (XR) production on a scale that had never been achieved before. The tournament used a modified version of the Unreal Engine rendering mixed-reality environments at 32K resolutions and 60 frames per second in real-time.
“The road to Worlds this year was full of unexpected challenges, from our pivot to a single-city tournament to navigating team travel and quarantines,” said John Needham, Global Head of Esports at Riot Games.
“We’re extremely proud that we succeeded in our promise to our players and fans to put on the safest and best show possible, and thrilled that our fans responded, allowing us to post record-breaking Play-Ins viewership through the most viewed Worlds Final ever in our tenth year.”
Broadcast in 16 languages and across 21 platforms, the much-anticipated final match featured a historic face-off between Suning from China’s LPL and DAMWON Gaming from Korea’s LCK. DAWMON emerged victorious in three matches to one, staving off a home turf upset from Suning and reclaiming the title for Korea after one of the most unique and challenging seasons in esports history.
Part of the Engine Media group of companies, Stream Hatchet, is the market leader in live-streaming viewership data across gaming platforms around the world, providing deep insights and analysis to leading brands, esports teams, leagues, publishers, and sponsors.
About Engine Media Holdings, Inc.
Engine Media is focused on accelerating new, live, immersive esports and interactive gaming experiences for consumers through its partnerships with traditional and emerging media companies. The company was formed through the combination of Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc., and WinView, Inc. and trades publicly under the ticker symbol (TSX-V: GAME) (OTCQB: MLLLF). Engine Media will generate revenue through a combination of: direct-to-consumer and subscription fees; streaming technology and data SaaS-based offerings; programmatic advertising and sponsorships; as well as intellectual property licensing fees. To date, the combined companies have clients comprised of more than 1,200 television, print and radio brands including CNN, ESPN, Discovery / Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek and Cumulus; dozens of gaming and technology companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take2Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch and Ubisoft; and have connectivity into hundreds of millions of homes around the world through their content, distribution and technology.
About Stream Hatchet
Stream Hatchet is the market leader in live-streaming viewership data across gaming platforms around the world, providing deep insights and analysis to leading brands, esports teams, leagues, publishers and sponsors. Stream Hatchet is a subsidiary of Engine Media, a company focused on accelerating new, live, immersive esports and interactive gaming experiences for consumers through its partnerships with traditional and emerging media companies. The company is traded publicly under the ticker symbol (TSX-V: GAME) (OTCQB: MLLLF).
About LoL Esports™
LoL Esports is a premier global sport that attracts the attention of millions of fans around the world. There are currently over 800 professional players on more than 100 professional League of Legends® Esports teams competing across 12 leagues globally. Each regional league is comprised of approximately 10 teams that compete against one another year-round over the course of two seasonal splits. Teams earn championship points in order to qualify for the two major international competitions: the Mid-Season Invitational™ and the World Championship™. For further information, visit: www.lolesports.com or lolesportsmedia.com.
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