With the latest inflow of funding from Saudi Arabia, Esports’ prize pool, curiosity, and viewership are on the rise as soon as once more – particularly with the introduction of Gamers8. In the course of the Lockdown of 2020, Esports went via a interval of huge progress as few different sports activities have been capable of compete with the character of how Esports is performed.
Now that we’re again to regular dwelling, sponsors are sad with the lower in viewership we at the moment are seeing, with some stating that “Esports is lifeless”. Nonetheless, this isn’t the case.
Though Esports viewership has declined since 2020, we at the moment are seeing giant buyers backing the trade at an important time for the game. ESL, the biggest Esports manufacturing firm, has obtained huge funding from Saudi Arabia – and the identical may be stated for the brand new Gamers8 match hosted in Riyadh.
However how profitable was Gamers8 2023, and what can we count on from the way forward for the match? Right here’s all that you must know…
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Gamers8 2023 Viewership
This 12 months, Gamers8 hosted over 10 big Esports titles together with Rocket League, CS:GO, Rainbow Six: Siege, and Fortnite. Sadly, some titles carried out significantly better than others on streaming platforms. It’s unclear why this can be, however the present assumptions are across the prize pool, groups, and the video games themselves.
Gamers8 CS:GO 2023
The Gamers8 CS:GO match ran from 16-20 August and featured a prize pool of $1,000,000. Saudi Esports Federation partnered with ESL to ask 16 high Esports groups together with ENCE and Workforce Vitality. As this is likely one of the final CS:GO tournaments (with the discharge of Counter-Strike 2 across the nook) there was plenty of hype across the match and the ambiance was electrifying within the stadium. Sadly, the viewership didn’t meet expectations with 429,000 peak viewers. This doesn’t come near the BLAST.television Paris Main 2023 which was hosted a number of months earlier than Gamers8.
Gamers8 2023 Rainbow Six: Siege
The Rainbow Six match featured 8 groups together with Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP), Workforce BDS, and G2 Esports. The prize pool for this match was double that of CS:GO sitting at $2,000,000. With a lot on the road, chances are you’ll count on a a lot larger viewership, nevertheless, that isn’t the case. The match solely hit 33,900 peak viewers which is way lower than the Six Invitational which hit 232,000 viewers in 2023.
Maybe this prize pool will assist promote Siege sooner or later and push its viewership nearer to that of Counter-Strike.
Dota 2 Riyadh Masters 2023
The Ryadh Masters is a Dota 2 occasion produced by the Saudi Esports Federation and options the biggest prize pool of any Esports match in historical past. At a whopping $15,000,000 it’s straightforward to consider that the match reached 588,000 peak viewers, probably the most of any Dota 2 match in 2023.
Different Tournaments
On high of CS:GO, Rainbow Six: Siege, and Dota 2, Gamers8 additionally hosted different tournaments, these may be seen under together with their prize pool and peak viewers:
Gamers8 Fortnite 2023 – Prize Pool: $2,000,000 – Peak Viewers: 105,000
Gamers8 Tekken 7 2023 – Prize Pool: $1,000,000 – Peak Viewers: 44,000
PUBG Cellular World Invitational 2023 – Prize Pool: $3,000,000 – Peak Viewers: 517,000
Gamers8 Rennsport 2023 – Prize Pool: $1,000,000 – Peak Viewers: 14,000
Avid gamers 8 StarCraft 2 2023 – $500,000 – Peak Viewers: 54,300
Gamers8 Rocket League 2023 – $2,000,000 – Peak Viewers: 83,819
The Way forward for Gamers8
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Gamers8 will return in 2024. For now, the gamers can concentrate on different main tournaments that happen all year long for his or her respective video games.
It’s clear to see that the largest attraction of the occasion is the huge prize swimming pools. It’s at the moment unclear as as to whether these will keep for subsequent 12 months’s Gamers8 occasion, nevertheless, it feels as if they’ve set their expectations excessive and plan to fulfill expectations.
This injection of funding into the trade has managed to breathe new life into Esports. Though Gamers8 is a brand new occasion, it has managed to rejuvenate the eagerness for the game – for each the gamers and the followers.
