2022 VALORANT Champions grand final breaks viewership record
Watched by millions of audiences, the 2022 VALORANT Champions concluded last Sunday with Brazil’s LOUD as the winner over North America’s OpTic Gaming. The finale of the grand tournament racked in 1.5 million viewership, defeating the previous peak viewership record of 300,000 viewers. At the same time, 2,200 fans were recorded attending the grand final at Volkswagen Arena.
This year’s VALORANT Champions proved to be the most successful edition in the tournament’s history so far. According to Esports Charts, the peak 1.5 million viewership came from official broadcasts and co-streams in the second map of the grand final. The previous peak viewerships were recorded in the 2021 VALORANT Champions and two Masters Reykjavik at less than 1.1 million.
Fierce rivalry at 2022 VALORANT Champions
The 2022 VALORANT Champions presented diversified region representation, with multiple teams having participated in regional qualifiers.
This year’s VALORANT Champions ended up with Brazil on top, NA’s OpTic in second and South Korea’s best DRX in third, bringing home 300,000, $150,000 and $110,000, respectively. In fifth and sixth were NA’s XSET and EMEA’s Fnatic.
This year’s VALORANT Champions was a culmination of a series of VALORANT Champions Tour, which included two Masters Stages and several regional Last Chance Qualifiers, held to seed 16 best-performing teams. The S-tier tournament ended up having four groups. It kicked off on August 31 and ended on September 18.
The rivalry between LOUD and OpTic remained one of the biggest in the circuit, with the two having met five times in international competitions this year. OpTic had won three matchups. One of the most thrilling encounters ahead of VALORANT Champions took place in April’s Reykjavik when LOUD defeated OpTic in the top bracket playoff only to have the NA team bounce back in the grand final with a 3-0 win over the Brazilian group.
Winning the 2022 VALORANT Champions was more than deserving for LOUD. The Brazilian team had a slightly bumpy tour in the group stage when the team faced OpTic, ZETA DIVISION, and BOOM Esports in Group B.
LOUD wrapped up the first stage with a single defeat sustained from OpTic in Winner’s Match early in September. The loss had LOUD take on ZETA in Decider Match. The Japanese team was eliminated, and LOUD was sent to play Leviatán in the upper bracket quarterfinals. LOUD then continued to easily defeat their playoff rivals, including Leviatán (2-0), DRX (2-0), and OpTic (2-0), in the upper bracket final.
As LOUD was waiting in the grand final, OpTic was sent to the lower bracket to play DRX, who had just returned with a thrilling 2-0 win over FunPlus Phoenix. The matchup between OpTic and DRX lasted for five games, with the NA team coming out as the victor with a 3-2 win.
LOUD began the matchup with a two-map ban advantage, banning Pearl and Fracture. The first game took place on Ascent, which LOUD won 15-13. OpTic bounced back in the following game on Bind, recording a 13-6 win, only to have LOUD claim the next two games on Breeze (16-14) and Haven (13-5).
