Six Invitational 2023 records significant peak viewership drop

2023 Six Invitational
Image credit: Ubisoft

Rainbow 6 Siege’s 2023 Six Invitational concluded over the weekend, with the competition recording the lowest peak viewership for any Six Invitational event since 2017. 

The tournament, which was won by European organisation G2 Esports, garnered a peak viewership of 231,639, according to esports data platform Esports Charts. This is a 16% decrease from last year’s Six Invitational, which garnered a peak viewership of 272,714.

With such numbers, this puts Rainbow 6 as the 10th most popular esports title in terms of peak viewership in 2023, behind other FPS titles including CS:GO and VALORANT, which have peaked at 726,820 and 852,720, respectively.

Concerns over the tactical FPS’ popularity on a competitive level continue to grow. Peak viewership numbers have been on a gradual decline since the 2018 Six Invitational recorded an all-time high peak viewership of 316,096. The period between 2022 and 2023 recorded the biggest percentage drop of peak viewers in any given year, at 16%. Between 2021 and 2022, it dropped by 11%.

Still, these decreases aren’t just occurring in Rainbow Six. This seems to be a theme and common issue across the esports industry in 2023 so far, with CS:GO’s IEM Katowice 2023, League of Legends’ LCS and LEC, and Apex Legends’ ALGS Split 1 Playoffs, all recording drops in viewership numbers.

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The tournament viewership drops on a pro level seem to be consistent with monthly active player drops on a casual level, too. 

Rainbow 6 Siege has been gradually losing active players since April 2022, with the exception of September 2022 which recorded an 8% increase in active monthly players, according to Steam Player Count. In March 2022, the game’s concurrent player count was over 108,000, whereas in January 2023 this figure has dropped to 66,700.

Hisham Almadani, Journalist
Hisham joined Esports Insider in November of 2022. As a first-year student at the University of Detroit Mercy, he hopes to take his career into games journalism. When he isn't writing, he's probably reading.