Japan’s Dedicated Fan Base Shines in VALORANT Esports
As VALORANT continues to gain popularity in the esports scene, one region stands out for its exceptional fan support: Japan. The country has cultivated a passionate and devoted fan base, and this has been evident in the impressive viewership numbers during the Champions 2022 event.
In September, according to Esports Charts and Streams Charts, the VALORANT Japan YouTube channel held its own against the main VCT and Overwatch League channels in terms of hours watched. While the main VCT channel accumulated 3.05 million hours watched and OWL generated 2.9 million hours watched, VALORANT Japan alone recorded an impressive 2.63 million hours watched.
The fact that the regional VALORANT channel created specifically for Japanese fans contributed 86% of the total hours watched on the global channel, while operating with less than half the airtime, is truly remarkable. These results are a positive sign for the VALORANT esports scene, which doesn’t solely rely on YouTube for streaming and receives most of its viewership from Twitch.
VALORANT Champions 2022, the game’s second world championship, broke numerous viewership records. It became the most watched VALORANT event in terms of total hours watched, surpassing 60 million hours. The event also shattered the previous peak viewership record, reaching 1.5 million peak viewers during the OpTic vs. LOUD grand final. Additionally, the group stage match between Japan’s ZETA Division and LOUD ranked fifth in terms of viewership, attracting 773,000 peak viewers.
VALORANT, VALORANT Champions 2022, Japan, esports, VCT, viewership.