VALORANT: Masters Madrid attracts huge peak viewership vs Masters Tokyo

The first major international VALORANT event of the year is trying to set a new viewership record for Masters’ history.

Day 1 of VCT 2024: Masters Madrid opened up with a major boost in peak views, thanks to Brazilian fans and notable European talent on the panel, according to a report from esports statistics provider Esports Charts.

“The event kicked off with a significant surge in audience engagement compared to Masters Tokyo, largely thanks to Brazilian fans and prominent European community casters such as kamet0 and Mixwell,” according to Esports Charts’ report.

Two matches were played on the inaugural day of VCT 2024: Masters Madrid: a match between Karmine Corp and Chinese team FunPlus Phoenix, while VCT Pacific Kickoff Champion Gen.G took on Latin America’s LOUD. Karmine Corp and Gen.G both won their opening day matches, and will be a step closer to playoff contention.

The Gen.G vs LOUD match garnered 642,688 peak views – a 70% increase in peak viewership compared to Masters Tokyo, based on Esports Charts’ data. The number of stream viewers also notably surged — average viewership rose by 66%, while peak viewership increased by 70%.

It is this same match which so far holds the peak viewership record, which was bolstered by a 400% increase in viewership on Portugese streams compared to the first day of Masters Tokyo.

The English-language broadcasts of Masters Madrid also won big in terms of audience views, with 247,454 peak views – a 47% increase over Masters’ Tokyo.

“This growth can be attributed to more convenient time zones for European fans. However, this same factor (along with the fact no Japanese team qualified for the event) led to a decline in viewership on Japanese streams,” Esports Charts noted in its report.