IEM Katowice 2022 Sets CS:GO Viewership Record: Most Watched Non-Major Event in History

The recently concluded IEM Katowice 2022 which took place in the historic Spodek Arena has broken the CS:GO viewership record of becoming the most-watched Non-Major tournament in the history of the game.

IEM Katowice 2022 had an average viewership of 328,087 viewers but the grand final between G2 Esports and FaZe Clan resulted in a peak of 1,122,015 concurrent viewers, according to Esports Charts.

This shows that CS:GO events still have the potential to attract a significant number of eyeballs as this tournament in particular was able to set a new viewership record, despite its grand final not having teams from popular regions like Brazil and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).

IEM Katowice 2022 breaks Non-Major viewership record with a peak of 1.12 million concurrent viewers

The first CS:GO LAN tournament of the 2022 competitive circuit took place from 15^th to 27^th February with the playoffs (last stage) of the event taking place in front of a live audience in Katowice, Poland.

A total of 24 CS:GO teams had participated in the tournament which aired for a total of 91 hours exclusively on Twitch - ESL CS:GO. The event witnessed a clash between the top teams from across the world, as only six of them made their way into the playoffs.

With a total watch time of almost 30 million hours, IEM Katowice 2022 managed to gain an average viewership of 328,087 viewers and a peak of about 1.12 million concurrent viewers. This was observed during the grand final between FaZe Clan and G2 Esports, roughly around the conclusion of the second map (Mirage) which witnessed a total of 58 rounds being played between the two teams, as the game went into five overtimes before FaZe closed it with a ‘31-27’ scoreline.

The buildup to the grand final: G2 Esports vs FaZe Clan

With a revamped roster for the new season, the Spanish esports organization G2 Esports despite falling down to the lower bracket of ‘Group-B’ fought valiantly to survive three do-or-die matches and qualify into the playoffs. They kept moving forward to reach the grand finals, whitewashing both Virtus.pro and NAVI to set up a clash against FaZe Clan.

While there were high hopes from G2, the same was not the case with FaZe as the team suffered setbacks right through the IEM Katowice 2022. First, Robin "ropz" Kool and then Håvard "rain" Nygaard tested positive for COVID, forcing them to play with Justin "jks" Savage as a stand-in for the majority of the tournament.

Despite the handicap, the team kept moving forward. FaZe breezed through the first two rounds and then went undefeated through the playoffs to win seven consecutive maps, lifting the trophy, as they walked away as the champions of IEM Katowice 2022.

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