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The second Minor of the 2019 Dota Pro Circuit was massively successful. WePlay! put together not only an event that fans loved, but one that broke every viewing record and became the most-watched Minor in DPC history.
The WePlay! Bukovel Minor absolutely crushed the previous Dota Summit 11 Minor’s viewership numbers and was even able to best some of the big early events that featured popular teams like Natus Vincere in the finals.
The tournament averaged around 93,000 viewers and peaked during the grand finals at 233,000 viewers for the series between Nigma and Royal Never Give Up, according to Esports Charts. That finals match was a big reason for the viewership spike, but it was also thanks to a culmination of great teams competing and an entertaining broadcast.
Related: The WePlay! Bukovel Minor is the gold standard for future Dota 2 events
“One of the keys to the success of WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 was the stellar performance of the team,” WePlay! Esports general manager Oleh Humeniuk said in a press release. “We used new technologies and had no creative limits. Everyone who worked on the event loves esports, and judging by the results and feedback the viewers felt it.”
The production team turned the commentators loose during the broadcast, letting Austin “Capitalist” Walsh, Toby “TobiWan” Dawson, Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden, and others go completely wild during their time on stage. From dancing to outlandish commentary and a show match between the English and Russian talent desks, WePlay! didn’t hold back.
The tournament itself was met with large amounts of positive feedback from the Dota 2 community because of how refreshing it was to see a Minor run in such a professional, yet seemingly relaxed manner. This approach worked thanks to the hard work the broadcast talent put in, but also because WePlay! has consistently proven that it can put on good events for the fans.
With more than five million hours watched across all platforms, the WePlay! Bukovel Minor dethroned DreamLeague Season 10 as the most-watched Minor of all time. The grand finals of that tournament peaked at 228,707 viewers in the showdown between Na’Vi and Tigers.
The WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon is next up for the tournament host and will have teams like Team Secret and RNG competing for a $300,000 prize pool starting on Feb. 19.
