Despite the Asian-friendly timing, peak viewership has declined in both Western regions and among local demographics. After a bustling Play-In, when the tournament reached high figures, the Swiss Stage began less energetically. The most popular game of the day —  T1  versus  FlyQuest  — attracted the most viewers, yet no match surpassed the 2 million concurrent viewers mark. Overall, the first day of the group stage showed nearly a 30% decrease in average audience compared to last year.

The group stage began with eight consecutive matches, and it wasn't without surprises. The biggest upset was  100 Thieves  defeating the strong team  Bilibili Gaming . Meanwhile, the Chinese team Anyone’s Legend confidently started with a win over  Hanwha Life Esports . Unfortunately, European teams did not deliver strong results in their opening matches.

Top Matches by Viewer Engagement

The matches involving Korean teams garnered the most interest, explained by the convenient broadcast times for the local audience, as the tournament is held in China . The match T1 vs FlyQuest was the most watched, drawing 12% more viewers than the game between Anyone's Legend and Hanwha Life Esports .

Even with favorable timing for the Asian audience, the start of the Swiss Stage showed a noticeable drop in activity: peak viewership fell by 29–33% compared to the same day last year, with each major demographic showing less engagement. Even Korean viewers reduced their activity, although their drop was the mildest at about 15%.

Dynamics and Reasons for the Drop in Viewer Engagement

The decline in viewership is attributed to two main factors. Firstly, the tournament is taking place in China , making the matches less convenient for European and North American viewers, who actively followed the event last year when Worlds was held in Europe.

Secondly, the group stage began almost immediately after the Play-In. Typically, there's a noticeable increase in audience between stages, but this year the opportunity to warm up viewers was limited, as the opening consisted of only one match.

Despite the weak start, it's too early to draw final conclusions — the dynamics of viewer engagement will be closely monitored in the coming days.

Worlds 2025 is taking place from October 14 to November 9 in China . Teams from around the world are competing for a prize pool of $5 million.