CS2’s Debut at IEM Sydney: A Record-Breaking Success, but Still Falling Short

The trial by fire for Counter-Strike 2 at IEM Sydney was a resounding success, with an impressive number of viewers tuning in to cheer on the world’s best players alongside the enthusiastic Australian crowd. However, despite breaking local viewership records, the event faced too many challenges to compete with its top-tier counterparts.

The grand final of IEM Sydney, featuring FaZe Clan and Complexity Gaming, reached a peak viewership of 463,081 across platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, and other associated channels, according to Esports Charts. This shattered the previous record set in 2018 for an esports event in the Oceanic region.

This significant increase in viewership is a remarkable achievement for the region, which has primarily hosted B-Tier events like ESL Challenger at DreamHack Melbourne since the COVID pandemic disrupted plans for large-scale top-tier tournaments.

However, when compared to other S-Tier events in 2023, IEM Sydney falls towards the bottom of the rankings. According to Liquipedia, it ranks higher than only IEM Dallas and Riyadh’s Gamers8. Although IEM Sydney surpassed Dallas in terms of peak concurrent viewers by a substantial 140,000, it had fewer average viewers.

IEM Sydney faced numerous obstacles that impacted its viewership. Matches began early in the morning for the European audience, the primary region for Counter-Strike viewership. American fans had to stay up late or wake up early to catch the end of each matchday.

The tournament scheduling also worked against IEM Sydney, as it coincided with other major titles such as Dota 2’s The International and League of Legends’ Worlds 2023. The groups stage of TI 2023 took place during IEM Sydney, and Worlds started as the Australian event continued into the evening.

Despite these challenges, IEM Sydney demonstrated that the appetite for CS2, both domestically and internationally, transcends factors like time zones. The event’s status as CS2’s inaugural top-tier LAN tournament, the enthusiastic live audience, and the outstanding performances all contributed to its success.

Now, attention turns to the Thunderpick World Championship, an online event with a $500,000 USD prize pool. Many top teams will likely recover from jetlag as they return to Europe from Australia before participating in this tournament.

Following that, LAN Counter-Strike will make a significant return to China with the CS2 Asia Championships in Shanghai. G2, FaZe, Astralis, ENCE, and other top teams will converge for this $500,000 tournament.