NiKo's Major winning moment becomes Counter-Strike's most watched match

IEM Cologne 2026 has come to a close and NiKo has finally added Counter-Strike's biggest trophy to his cabinet. The last time a Counter-Strike Major was held in Cologne was all the way back in 2016. The Major had multiple storylines in the air and it clearly reflects in the viewership numbers. At the moment, IEM Cologne 2026 Major stands as Counter-Strike's most popular event of all time across all categories.

A total of 2,758,512 viewers tuned in across multiple streams to watch NiKo's Major winning moments, setting a new high under the peak viewers category. The record was previously held by the grand-final of PGL Stockholm 2021 when 2,748,434 viewers tuned in to watch s1mple lift his first and only Major trophy.

With an airtime of nearly 160 hours, IEM Cologne 2026 drew in a colossal 100,108,998 watch hours to set another record under the "Hours Watched" category. The event also had the highest average viewers for any Counter-Strike event at 627,863 average viewers. These numbers come from Esports Charts within a day of the Major's conclusion and can go higher as more data flows in.