Competitive gaming is entering a more uneven phase. League of Legends, Counter-Strike and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang still draw huge audiences, but the economics behind esports’ biggest events are changing. Viewership remains strong, while prize pools, sponsorship models and institutional ambitions no longer move in the same direction.
The first half of 2026 made that shift clear. Counter-Strike overtook League of Legends as the most-watched esports title by live viewership, while Mobile Legends: Bang Bang posted the biggest single-event peak of the first half, drawing 5.68 million concurrent viewers at its M7 World Championship. Dota 2, meanwhile, has moved far from the record prize pools that once defined its biggest tournament.
Viewership keeps setting records
The 2025 League of Legends World Championship final between T1 and KT Rolster drew about 6.75 million peak concurrent viewers, according to tracker Esports Charts. Only the 2024 final, at roughly 6.86 million, drew more. Both figures exclude Chinese streaming platforms, where the true audience is likely higher.
Counter-Strike has since raised the bar again. IEM Cologne Major 2026 peaked at more than 2.75 million concurrent viewers and generated more than 96.5 million hours watched, making it the most-watched Counter-Strike tournament in the game’s history by Esports Charts’ key metrics. Valorant’s Champions 2025 also reached about 1.47 million peak viewers across 47.6 million hours watched.
| Game | Latest major audience benchmark | Peak concurrent viewers |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | M7 World Championship, H1 2026 | 5.68 million |
| Counter-Strike | IEM Cologne Major 2026 | 2.75 million |
| League of Legends | 2025 World Championship final | 6.75 million |
| Valorant | Champions 2025 | 1.47 million |
Counter-Strike is setting the pace
The first half of 2026 showed that the hierarchy at the top of esports is changing. Counter-Strike overtook League of Legends in live viewership, driven largely by the record-breaking IEM Cologne Major.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang posted the biggest single-event peak of the first half, drawing 5.68 million concurrent viewers at its M7 World Championship, underlining the growing influence of mobile-first markets. League of Legends remains a global powerhouse, but it no longer sits alone at the top of the viewership table.
Prize pools are not keeping up
Dota 2’s The International tells a different story. TI14, the 2025 edition, finished with a prize pool of about $2.88 million: Valve’s $1.6 million base plus roughly $1.28 million raised through Supporter Bundle sales. That is far below the event’s 2021 peak of more than $40 million.
The decline was structural rather than a sudden collapse in interest. Valve did not run the Battle Pass-style promotion that once channelled huge sums into the pool, and instead directed 30 percent of Supporter Bundle sales toward the prize fund. The audience remained; the crowdfunding model behind the prize money changed.
That matters because The International was long seen as proof that esports could generate enormous fan-funded prize pools. Its smaller 2025 pool showed that even flagship events cannot rely on that model indefinitely.
How fans engage beyond the broadcast
Watching is only one way fans stay close to a season. Riot Games and Valve run free prediction games, such as pick’em brackets and fantasy drafts, that reward players for reading a bracket correctly against other participants. For adults who want to bet on esports, availability and eligibility depend on local rules, and any stake is best treated as entertainment spending.
What happened to the Olympic Esports Games?
Esports’ scale is still pushing it toward mainstream institutions, but its Olympic path became less certain in 2025. The International Olympic Committee and Saudi Arabia ended their agreement to stage the first Olympic Esports Games in Riyadh in 2027, bringing the planned 12-year hosting arrangement to a close. The IOC still intends to pursue an Olympic Esports Games, but has not confirmed a new host city, date or final list of titles.
That uncertainty reflects a broader shift in competitive gaming: major events increasingly resemble full entertainment productions rather than LAN gatherings. Stadium staging, broadcast polish and live music now share the bill with the matches — a trend CGMagazine has examined.
What it means now
Esports is not shrinking. It is becoming more uneven.
Counter-Strike’s record-setting Cologne Major showed that legacy PC esports can still reach new heights, while Mobile Legends’ dominance highlighted the rise of mobile-first markets. At the same time, Dota 2’s smaller prize pool and the collapse of the planned Olympic Esports Games in Riyadh show that commercial scale and institutional legitimacy cannot be taken for granted.
For fans, the biggest events remain worth watching. For publishers, sponsors and bettors, the more important question is which business models can sustain that attention over the long term.
Quick questions
Which esports title had the most viewers in the first half of 2026?
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang posted the biggest single-event peak of the first half, drawing 5.68 million concurrent viewers at its M7 World Championship. Counter-Strike was the leading PC esports title by live viewership, while League of Legends was overtaken by Counter-Strike during the period.
Why was The International’s prize pool so small in 2025?
Valve did not run the large Battle Pass promotion that once drove crowdfunding. The 2025 pool relied on a $1.6 million base plus 30 percent of Supporter Bundle sales, finishing at about $2.88 million rather than the more than $40 million seen in 2021.
When and where is the first Olympic Esports Games?
There is currently no confirmed date or host city. The IOC and Saudi Arabia ended their agreement for a 2027 event in Riyadh, although the IOC says it remains committed to developing an Olympic Esports Games.
