The kickoff of the
2026 VALORANT Champions Tour season highlights a reshuffling of global viewership after several years of VCT Americas dominance. According to early opening week data published by
Esports Charts, the
Pacific region has emerged as the global leader in total watch time, with nearly 4.71 million hours watched, while
EMEA records a drop of almost 50 percent on the same metric.
A disrupted global hierarchy
With 4.7 million hours watched (HW) across its first four days of Kickoff competition, the Pacific circuit posts a 7.5 percent year-over-year increase compared to 2025, overtaking the Americas for the first time. In contrast, the Americas region declines by roughly 13 percent compared to its previous season opener, reaching 4 million hours watched instead of 4.62M.
The steepest decline comes from China, which sees nearly a 75 percent drop in international viewership, with domestic figures remaining impossible to accurately measure. This decrease is partly explained by the loss of co-streamers and a broader dip in interest around the region. The 544,000 hours watched during the 2025 opening week were also likely boosted by EDward Gaming’s strong momentum, following their Champions 2025 title.
Trailing among the three main leagues outside of China, EMEA suffers a loss of nearly half of its opening week watch time compared to 2025, falling from 5.33M to just 2.83M hours watched. This decline is most visible in peak viewership per match. While French organizations and the arrival of Ava “florescent” Eugene had significantly driven interest during the Kickoff last year, with two matches surpassing 300,000 concurrent viewers (Apeks vs Gentle Mates and Team Vitality vs Karmine Corp), the 2026 edition has not generated the same level of hype. Only one match, Fnatic versus BBL Esports, narrowly crossed the 200,000 concurrent viewers mark, with subsequent games hovering closer to 175,000 live viewers.
The coming week should provide more meaningful data and clearer trends, particularly with the Kickoff playoffs and the qualification of the first teams for Masters Santiago. The event, set to feature twelve teams in Chile from February 28 to March 16, will mark the first international VALORANT LAN of the 2026 season.
