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The Esports World Cup saw significant growth in 2026, with the addition of Fortnite and Trackmania, a rise in participants across multiple tournaments, and the introduction of new qualification stages. These changes led to more matches, increased broadcast hours, a larger livestream audience, and a new record for total Hours Watched, as reported by Esports Charts.
EWC 2026 viewership increases by 37% compared to last year
All Esports World Cup 2026 events collectively accumulated over 237 million Hours Watched. This figure encompasses 25 esports tournaments from various games, including their respective qualifiers. In comparison to EWC 2025, total watch time rose by 29.5%. The growth was fueled by a broader game selection and larger team participation in the most popular competitions.
The Esports World Cup 2026 series averaged 145.1K live viewers, marking a 36.9% increase from the previous year. This growth was largely driven by higher viewership for broadcasts in Hindi and French, with the latter benefiting from the event’s relocation to Paris. Holding EWC 2026 in France was a significant moment for local content creators, evident from the rise in French streamers covering EWC events.
Regarding peak viewership, EWC 2026 came close to surpassing last year’s record. The MLBB Mid Season Cup 2026 playoff match between ONIC Esports and Aurora Gaming attracted over 2.89 million Peak Viewers, just 6% below the previous year’s peak. The absence of popular Indonesian or Filipino teams in the final impacted peak viewership, as the underdog teams from other regions drew less audience from Southeast Asia, a crucial market for the game.
Increased team fields and new qualifiers boost viewership for EWC 2026 series
The Esports World Cup 2026 altered its game lineup slightly, replacing StarCraft II and Rennsport with Fortnite and Trackmania. The new titles reached larger audiences and generated more Hours Watched, contributing to the overall growth in viewership.
However, the primary driver behind the viewership surge for the Esports World Cup was the expansion of participant fields, impacting nearly half of the tournaments in 2026. Additionally, many competitions introduced open qualifiers this year, further enhancing the overall viewership numbers.
The Counter-Strike tournament at EWC 2026 featured 32 teams, double the field from the previous year. The increased number of participants led to more matches and broadcast time, with the tournament’s total airtime nearly doubling and Hours Watched almost doubling as a result.
In 2025, qualification primarily relied on regional league outcomes, with regional champions advancing directly to EWC. The 2026 format included an additional qualification stage, expanding the tournament ecosystem and generating more broadcast hours before the main event.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament experienced the most significant decline in Hours Watched, mainly due to the lineup in the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2026 grand final.
Dota 2 also saw a slight decrease, with almost 10% fewer Hours Watched than the previous year despite more teams competing. This decline was attributed to changes in the regional qualifier format, leading to fewer matches at that stage.
Street Fighter 6 recorded a 43% year-over-year drop in Hours Watched, reflecting a different tournament structure compared to Counter-Strike. While most EWC 2026 competitions expanded their participant fields, Street Fighter 6 was the only title to reduce the number of competitors from 2025.
EWC 2026’s top platforms and languages: Kick doubles its watch time as Hindi and French broadcasts surge
YouTube and Twitch remained the top livestreaming platforms for esports, contributing 42% and 30.2%, respectively, to the total Hours Watched across all EWC 2026 tournaments.
Among the top five platforms, Kick saw the most significant growth, doubling its Hours Watched compared to the previous year. CHZZK also performed well, growing by 40% and playing a significant role in the viewership for the League of Legends tournament, becoming the most popular local streaming platform for Esports World Cup events.
Most of the primary esports broadcast languages showed substantial growth compared to the previous year. Hindi-language streams, for instance, saw a 300% increase in Hours Watched compared to EWC 2025, driven by the Free Fire and PUBG Mobile tournaments where Hindi was the most popular broadcast language.
French-language broadcasts experienced a 124% growth in Hours Watched. Local audiences showed strong interest in the League of Legends tournament, particularly when French team Karmine Corp reached the grand final. French broadcasts also attracted significant viewership across Rocket League, Counter-Strike, Valorant, and Call of Duty tournaments.
The decline in several Southeast Asian language segments is notable: Indonesian decreased by 8.8%, Tagalog by 14.2%, and Bahasa Malaysia by 40%. These regions are crucial markets for Mobile Legends, and the absence of teams from these countries in the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2026 grand final explains the drop in viewership.
Read more: What EWC 2026 club portfolios reveal about esports sponsorship