Mobile Legends overtakes League of Legends in EWC 2026 viewership

League of Legends is no longer the most-watched game of the Esports World Cup in Paris after the end of Week 3, and the gap is only expected to grow. With just its first week of the men's competition completed, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has already comfortably surpassed League of Legends in peak viewership and is now on track to overtake it in hours watched once its second week concludes.

Over the past few years, particularly in Asia, Moonton's mobile title has established itself as the second most followed esport in the world, ahead of Counter-Strike and behind League of Legends since 2022. Through its World Championship, now known as the M7 World Championship, the mobile MOBA has become the main challenger to the throne Riot Games has held onto for years. In the West, where Chinese viewership data remains largely unavailable, that LoL dominance appears to be driven above all by two names: T1 and its superstar Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok.

Finalists in each of the last four World Championships and winners of the last three, the South Korean midlaner and his teammates are, by a considerable margin, League of Legends' biggest viewership draw. At Worlds 2025, T1 featured in the five most-watched Swiss Stage matches, as well as the three most-watched playoff series, including the Grand Final against KT Rolster. That final, between two of the most iconic names in both League of Legends and the LCK, peaked at nearly 6,750,000 viewers, almost double the second most-watched series between T1 and Top Esports, which reached just under 3,598,000 peak viewers, excluding China.

Those numbers may seem impressive, especially considering that the MLBB World Championship has yet to surpass that record. The M7 Grand Final between the Philippine side Aurora and Alter Ego peaked at 5,680,000 viewers. Even so, that figure remains well above the second most-watched match at the League of Legends World Championship. More importantly, each of the five most-watched matches at M7 exceeded four million peak viewers, all outperforming T1 versus Top Esports.

That trend has continued at the Esports World Cup 2026. During the Mid Season Cup Group Stage, MLBB recorded more than 2,000,000 peak viewers, beating League of Legends' tournament record by over 500,000. LoL's highest peak came during the thrilling semifinal between T1 and Karmine Corp. Once again, T1's three playoff matches are the three most-watched matches of the tournament, all ahead of the Grand Final between Karmine Corp and Dplus KIA, which ranks fourth.

Of course, comparing the significance of these two tournaments is not entirely straightforward. The EWC is primarily not a required step on the road to Worlds for the best League of Legends teams, unlike MLBB's Mid-Season Cup, which is a genuine international mid-season competition. Still, for its first major appearance in Europe, the mobile MOBA could use these numbers and the figures still to come during this week's playoffs to generate new interest among Western esports fans. Even with Counter-Strike yet to begin in Paris, MLBB is likely to remain the game with the highest peak viewership at this year's EWC while also overtaking League of Legends in total hours watched.

It is worth noting, however, that Team Liquid and Selangor Red Giants, both featured in some of the most-watched Group Stage and M7 matches, failed to reach the playoffs, as did Alter Ego. The Indonesian organization, which featured in four of the five most-watched matches at the last World Championship, was not present in Paris. That leaves ONIC and Aurora as the two teams most likely to drive viewership during the playoffs, although a significant increase in peak viewership appears unlikely. It is also worth remembering that in 2025, MLBB had already comfortably led the way, recording nearly twice as many hours watched as League of Legends and more than double its peak viewership, with over three million peak viewers.