CS2 sees significant growth in viewership

As Counter-Strike hits the snooze button on major gameplay updates, the competitive side of things has been witnessing rapid growth. An increase in S-tier events in newer locations has fueled a massive influx in audience across all of these events.

In the first half of 2024 (January - May) six non-Major S-tier events were held with an average viewers of a little over 178,000. This year 10 non-Major S-tier events were held in the first half posting 50% more average viewers compared to last year at 270,237.

2025 is currently witnessing record-breaking storylines such as Vitality's LAN win streak, Vitality's S-tier title streak, ZywOo's all-time high career MVP count and much more. This could be one of the driving factors of the increase in viewership.

According an Esports Charts report, both IEM events in the first half of the 2025 performed significantly better than their counterparts from the previous year. Big roster moves such as the NiKo-m0NESY reunion at Falcons, ropz's addition to Vitality alongside ZywOo also brought in fans in massive numbers.