Fortnite, Rocket League, and Overwatch have been among the biggest video games in esports for years, but their viewership numbers have been fluctuating.
These video games reached high levels of popularity in esports several years ago, with huge numbers of viewers watching pro video gamers play, but as soon as COVID began, the industry started declining.
According to the Esport viewership website, Fortnite event viewership was at an all-time peak in 2019, hitting over 2.3 million viewers with the Fortnite World Cup event, in which Twitch streamer Bugha won. When COVID hit, Fortnite hit an all-time low with viewership, only peaking at a little over 350,000 viewers with the Grefg Summer Edition 2020 Cup.
Fortnite seems to be regaining some of that audience, having 722,000 viewers watching the Fortnite Champion Series 2023 Global Championship, which included the duo of Twitch streamers Cooper and Mero winning the event.
Fortnite, while still leading in total number of viewers, needs to take action and follow Rocket League’s path with more tournaments with a larger prize pool for their events.
— Ethan Green
Other games, including Overwatch, have had all-time peaks before COVID and then all-time lows during COVID.
In 2018, Overwatch had its highest number of viewers, peaking at a little over 430,000 viewers with the Overwatch League Inaugural Season: Stage 1 Event. By 2020 however, the viewership decreased greatly, with only about 183,000 viewers for the Overwatch League Grand Finals Event.
In 2022, when COVID restrictions had eased, the Overwatch League 2022 Playoffs were back over 395,000 viewers.
Rocket League, however, was quite the opposite: Instead of losing viewership, it was able to gain viewership. In 2020, the game had 261,000 viewers in the Rocket League Championship Series Season 9: Europe event. Fast forward to 2023, and it hit its all-time high with 468,000 viewers for the World Championship event, with the winner being Team Vitality.
There can be many reasons for the decline and rise of certain games’ viewership. For one, Rocket League has been adding more tournaments with a prize pool, getting the word out about the game.
Fortnite, while still leading in total number of viewers, needs to take action and follow Rocket League’s path with more tournaments with a larger prize pool for their events. For Overwatch, the game is dying out due to it almost being a decade since its release.
If Fortnite and Overwatch do not improve their games to where people will want to watch and play, esports companies will have to look for new faces in the competition.
