LoL Esports is Number One in Viewership

League of Legends was the most viewed esports throughout 2021. Is that surprising? Nope. Is it awesome? Yes! How many hours were spent watching LoL esports in the last year though? And who were the runner ups?

That’s what we will check out today, thanks to Esports Charts, who put everything into a nice little infographic that even we can understand!

LoL Esports Dominates Viewership in 2021

As just mentioned, League of Legends was the most viewed esport in 2021. Thanks to the huge success of both the Mid-Season Invitational and the 2021 League of Legends World Championship. Not only that, but the regional leagues also raked in huge viewership numbers.

How Many Hours of LoL Esports Were viewed in 2021?

Over 660 million hours of LoL esports were viewed in 2021. This number, from Esports Charts, does not include Chinese nor Indian viewership. Imagine if we had some Douyu and bilibili numbers added into the mix!

So, even without the biggest viewership market being part of the numbers, League of Legends has a huge lead over the runner-up in terms of hours watched. The next most hours watched? Over 410 million.

What Was the Peak Viewership for LoL esports?

The most viewed game came in November 2021 when EDward Gaming took on the reigning League of Legends world champions, DAMWON KIA in a battle for the 2021 Summoner’s Cup. Over 4 million fans tuned in on western streaming sites to watch as the LPL representative managed to grab the title in a 5-game series.

Which Are the Runner-Ups?

The second most viewed esport was Counter Strike. Counter Strike had a massive year after a lacklustre 2020 — thanks Covid… S1mple finally winning a major and other insane tournaments helped boost Counter Strike into second place.

Dota 2 came in fourth with over 340 million hours watched in 2021. Thanks to the International finally taking place again, the beloved MOBA was able to secure a top spot and it goes to show that the game is still as popular as ever.

The final two spots in Esports Charts’ list go to mobile games. To see both PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends up there is insane. Imagine adding in the numbers from India and you will have even higher viewership ratings since India is one of the biggest mobile gaming markets.

Overall, we can deduce that League of Legends is ruling the esports scene and will likely continue to do so. Riot Games has figured out the formula to making insanely good esports events and have consistent esports content available for fans. So let’s cheer for another great year in 2022 when Worlds finally comes home to North America.