IEM Dallas 2025, which took place from May 19 to 25 at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, became one of the most exciting Counter-Strike 2 tournaments of the year. According to Esports Charts, the total number of views of the tournament amounted to 16,753,218 hours, with an average audience of 352,700 viewers and a peak of 913,741 views.
However, it was not the final matches that caused the most excitement, but the FaZe Clan games, featuring the legendary s1mple , who returned to the squad on loan from NAVI. The FaZe matches surpassed even the grand final between Vitality and Mouz in popularity, which gathered 705,459 viewers, emphasizing the huge interest in s1mple .
Viewership comparison and s1mple 's contribution
The Grand Final of IEM Dallas 2025, which took place on May 25, was the culmination of the tournament: Vitality defeated Mouz with a score of 3:0, winning $125,000 and a $160,000 club bonus. Mouz received $50,000 and a $100,000 club bonus. This match garnered 705,459 views, which was the highest figure for the playoffs.
However, the group stage surpassed the final in terms of popularity: the FaZe Clan vs. Liquid match on May 19 (group stage, day 1) peaked at 789,219 viewers, and the FaZe vs. Heroic game on May 21 (group stage, day 3) reached 778,166 viewers. The third most popular match, FaZe vs. BC.Game (group stage, day 2), garnered 466,802 views, but it was behind the other games of the tournament.
s1mple , who replaced broky in FaZe's lineup, was the main reason for the excitement. His return after a break (he last played at the Shanghai Major's Europe RMR as part of Team Falcons in November 2024) aroused great interest. In the match against Liquid s1mple , he won 38 frags (38-31 K/D), and against BC.Game he showed stability with 39-16 K/D.
Despite s1mple 's strong start, FaZe was eliminated in the semifinals of the lower bracket of Group B, losing to Heroic (1-2), and took 9-12th place, receiving $5,000 and a $20,000 club bonus.
Why did s1mple attract so much attention?
The return of s1mple to active play was one of the main events of the tournament. After an unsuccessful performance with Team Falcons in 2024 and a career break, his move to FaZe on loan caused a wave of discussion. Fans were waiting for his game, and s1mple did not disappoint: his statistics in the group stage were quite good, and his ability to close key rounds reminded us of his status as a CS2 legend.
s1mple as a magnet for the audience
Despite the fact that Vitality won the title and Mouz showed a strong performance, it was s1mple who became the main star for the audience. On social media, fans actively discussed his return, and many noted that FaZe and s1mple looked more coordinated than expected.
Some commentators suggested that if FaZe had gone further and reached the playoffs, the views could have reached even higher numbers. The tournament also showed how the presence of stars can affect the popularity of matches, even if they are not decisive games.
