The confetti is still being swept up from the floors in Iceland after the world saw EDward Gaming’s first-ever World Championship victory. The biggest League of Legends event of the year brought in droves of spectators, and as expected, the final series of the tournament broke more viewership records.
According to Esports Charts, the 2021 World Championship finals between EDG and DWG KIA brought in a peak viewership of just over four million people—excluding Chinese platforms—creating a new record for League esports. The series reached a thrilling five games, where each game went back-and-forth between the two juggernauts.
Before that, T1’s classic semifinals series vs. DWG KIA held the highest viewership count for Worlds 2021 with an impressive peak of 3.5 million viewers. Many people tuned in to watch Faker’s clash against ShowMaker, in a symbolic “passing of the torch” moment between the two superstars.
The previous peak record for League, however, was held by T1 and G2 when they faced off against each other during the 2019 World Championship semifinals. That series hit a stunning 3.9 million peak viewership but was finally bested by one of the best five-game series we’ve seen in a long while.
EDG was the David to DWG KIA’s Goliath. To the League community, this was going to be a Worlds to remember, no matter which team they supported. It was Khan’s last series as a pro, EDG’s first appearance at a Worlds final, and DWG KIA’s next attempt to establish themselves as one of the greatest teams of all time. Storylines were drawn, and now, the players were there to write the ending to one of the most thrilling Worlds ever—in front of a record-breaking audience.
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