eSports
Millions of sports fans turn to eSports amid lockdown & self-isolation

Research reveals that millions of sports fans are turning to eSports for entertainment during lockdown and self-isolation, highlighting what we’re watching the most and the games which have seen the highest increase in viewings.
OLBG saw a staggering increase of 943% in traffic to their eSports tips page last week, as the world went into lockdown, following a time of social distancing and have pulled together their first weekly eSports update, sharing insights into the sport during lockdown: https://www.olbg.com/us/insights/esports-update
The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the world of sport, with an unprecedented level of events being canceled in the interest of public safety.
However, one sport has been largely unaffected during these uncertain times, with many sports fans turning their attention to the virtual world.
More people than ever before watching and playing video games at home; eSports, and the last 7 days has seen some crazy stats come out:
The Steam gaming platform hit its highest ever peak of users, with over 22 million concurrent users online at once, with 7 million of those in-game.
Many games have also seen their highest ever numbers of players, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with a peak of over 1.1 million concurrent users on Sunday, March 22nd.
Many are tuning into streaming platforms such as Twitch to watch their favourite eSports stars compete, with the number of hours watched on the platform increasing by 22% over the last two weeks alone.
Most Streamed Games on Twitch Last Week (w/c 23rd March)
It’s League of Legends which we’re spending the most time watching; with just short of 30m combined hours watched in the last week alone, closely followed by Just Chatting (vlogging), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Content | Hours Watched |
---|---|
League of Legends | 29.97M |
Just Chatting | 28.85M |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 26.57M |
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 19.29M |
Fortnite | 17.76M |
Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 16.24M |
Grand Theft Auto V | 14.95M |
Dota 2 | 10.13M |
Hearthstone | 6.09M |
Minecraft | 6.04M |
The Online Games With The Highest Increases In Viewings
On the other hand, if we look at the games which have seen the highest increase in viewings last week:
Game | 7 Day Viewership Increase |
---|---|
Teamfight Tactics | 90.10% |
FIFA 20 | 47.20% |
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 33.40% |
Grand Theft Auto V | 28.20% |
Dota 2 | 24.60% |
Fortnite | 19.60% |
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege | 18.50% |
Apex Legends | 13.80% |
League of Legends | 9.90% |
Hearthstone | 6.20% |
You can view the full report with more statistics here: https://www.olbg.com/us/insights/esports-updateÂ
It’s particularly interesting to see that FIFA 20 is one of the games which has experienced the largest viewership increase, with many football fans looking to watch virtual games play out, with the majority of real-world games canceled (although games in the Belarusian Premier League are still going ahead!).
In fact, more than 60,000 fans tuned in to watch Real Betis player Borja Iglesias face off against Sevilla’s Sergio ReguilĂłn on the same weekend that the local rivals were due to play, with talks underway for players from all 20 La Liga clubs to take part in an online FIFA tournament!
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