Stockholm Major Finals 2021 was one of the most viewed eSports event ever. The scrims between NaVi and G2 broke all prior records of concurrent viewership.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most potent eSports titles since 2012. The Valve created masterpiece first started out in the half-life engine in 2003 as the Counter-Strike source.
Since the era of one tap CS 1.6 gods, the online viewership for the pro matches has been always positive. But back in 2012, when CS: GO launched, no one knew what the reception from the gaming community would be?
The game was a major hit and soon Valve announced the Major championship schedules after balancing out the weapons in 2013. The first major, ie. DreamHack winter 2013, held in Sweden had a lowly prize pool of $250000.
Stockholm Major makes it into the “Top 10 most viewed esports event” at 7th rank.
Good night.#PGLMAJOR pic.twitter.com/srIQqIIO9N
— PGL (@pglesports) November 7, 2021
But, the prize money was still more than all the eSports tournaments, except Dota 2 The International, better known as TI. PGL Stockholm Major 2021 had a prize pool of $2 million. That is almost equal to the LOL Worlds tourney held once every year.
Unlike other eSports titles, CSGO is a very generic FPS title. Most first-timers, both gamers and viewers alike, can easily understand what the eSports athletes are trying to do and achieve. The game is simple and robust, yet extremely difficult to master.
Prior to the Stockholm Major, CSGO had the most viewership in 2017 at the ELeague Major. But, the current record set by PGL takes the event to 5th on Twitch and 7th in the Top 10 most viewed eSports events of all time.
The most important statistic of all is the count of Peak Concurrent Viewership for the NaVi- G2 finals. The viewership stood at a whopping 2,748,850 peak concurrent viewers.
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Stockholm Major Finals saw NaVi create history by not dropping a single map in Champion Stage.
🏆PGL Major Stockholm 2021 broke all viewership records in CS:GO history
📰Read the complete analysis here: https://t.co/8qhYGhgAmD#PGLMAJOR pic.twitter.com/obLthZeaqk
— PGL (@pglesports) November 9, 2021
The viewership is 3 times the prior record at Berlin Major 2019 with 890000 peak views. Stockholm was the major to win if you have not won it before. The Stockholm Major starts a new era in the eSports circuit.
The current state of CSGO shows that the game is healthier than ever. And as it stands, if you could only win one major, this was it.
NaVi were the last old tyrants from the CS 1.6 era. But, since the Ukrainian powerhouse’s transition in the last decade to CSGO, they have not won a single major.
Also read: “Niko…I am sorry!!”: How Shroud, KennyS and Tarik reacted to the G2 Niko Deagle miss.
FreeFire Pro Series Singapore currently holds the record for peak viewership at 5.4 mils.
Most watched @Twitch categories for the past week (Nov 2-8):
1️⃣ #JustChatting
2️⃣ @LeagueOfLegends
3️⃣ @CSGO
4️⃣ #GTAV
5️⃣ @PlayApex
6️⃣ @CallofDuty #Vanguard
7️⃣ @PlayVALORANT
8️⃣ @FortniteGame
9️⃣ @Minecraft
🔟 @DOTA2🕹️More stats: https://t.co/csZlk3n7vm pic.twitter.com/X06SEi8S9W
— Esports Charts (@EsportsCharts) November 9, 2021
NaVi won a total of $1 million and a Major that had it all; heartbreaks to whiffed shots, impossible defuses and Cheeky plays.
The PGL Stockholm Major Finals 2021 gave the word “Major” justice in every way. As the first of the new decade, it had a lot riding on its shoulders.
As a result, we are just too excited for the next major to arrive. Who knows? Maybe a new story will be written.
Also read: Stockholm Major: Simple gives his CSGO Major winning mouse to James Banks.
