Viewership for CS2’s first tier-one event wasn’t spectacular, but there was plenty to blame

Counter-Strike 2’s trial by fire at IEM Sydney proved an unequivocal success, with hundreds of thousands of viewers tuning in with the Aussie crowd to cheer home the world’s best. However, while the event shattered viewership figures locally, it simply had too much going against it to take on the big dogs.

IEM Sydney’s grand final between FaZe Clan and Complexity Gaming topped out at 463,081 viewers across Twitch, YouTube, and other associated channels, according to viewership stats site Esports Charts—utterly dismantling the Oceanic record set in 2018.

It’s a remarkable leap forward for viewership in the region, which has only seen B-Tier events like ESL Challenger at DreamHack Melbourne since the COVID pandemic halted efforts to host large-scale top-tier events in the region.

Where it ranks as far as S-Tier event viewership goes in 2023 is a little less spectacle though; it has landed toward the bottom of the rankings.

Of the offline S-Tier events this year, as designated by Liquipedia, IEM Sydney only comes in ahead of IEM Dallas and Riyadh’s Gamers8, and while Sydney beat out Dallas for peak concurrents by a whopping 140,000 observers, the Australian event garnered fewer average viewers.

Again, there was so much going against CS2‘s arrival via IEM Sydney this weekend that it’s tough to comprehend. Matches began early in the European morning—the number one region for Counter-Strike viewership—while American fans were made to stay up incredibly late or wake early to catch the very end of each matchday.

Tournament scheduling also went against IEM Sydney, with rival titles Dota 2 (The International) and League of Legends (Worlds 2023) both running parallel to the CS2 event Down Under. TI 2023 matches were played through IEM Sydney’s groups before Worlds kicked off as IEM dragged on into the Australian evening.

And yet, between the massive boost provided by being CS2’s maiden top-tier LAN tournament and the incredible reception to the live audience, not to mention some outstanding results along the way, IEM Sydney proved appetite for CS2 both domestically and internationally transcends factors like timezones.

Eyes now turn to this week’s Thunderpick World Championship, held online and boasting a $500,000 USD prize pool, as plenty of top teams likely recover from jetlag as they return to Europe from Australian shores.

Afterward, LAN Counter-Strike returns in a big way to China, with G2, FaZe, Astralis, ENCE, and more converging in Shanghai for the $500,000 CS2 Asia Championships.