Dota 2’s recently concluded Riyadh Masters 2023, which took place during the Gamers8 festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, saw an increase in viewership metrics compared to last year.
The tournament saw a total of 587,000 peak viewers, making it the most-watched Dota 2 esports tournament of the year. The tournament saw more than 60% more viewers than last year, according to esports viewership platform Esports Charts.
The Masters saw a total of 587,000 viewers according to Esports Charts, with just over 200,000 average viewers and around 149 hours of airtime.
This is an increase in all metrics when compared to last year’s event which saw a peak of 363,000 viewers and 48 hours of air time. Interestingly, in terms of average viewers, both editions recorded almost the same figure. The 2022 edition had just a thousand fewer viewers on average. Both editions saw Russian-speaking platforms as the most dominant language.
The increase in overall attention could be attributed to the fact that Gamers8 has substantially increased its prize pool for this year. The inaugural Riyadh Masters had a prize pool of $4.2m (~£3.28m), while this year’s event more than tripled that, totalling $15m (~£11.7m).
The event was ultimately won by Team Spirit, with the organisation taking home $5m (~£3.8m). The final day match-up against Team Liquid was the most popular match of the event.
It should also be pointed out that Riyadh Masters saw more viewers than any 2023 Dota 2 Major. The event is currently the eleventh most-viewed event in the game’s history, with only a couple of thousand viewers separating it from the ESL One Stockholm Major 2022.
The Riyadh Masters took place during Gamers8, an esports and gaming festival currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside Dota 2, the event will see large-scale competitions in a number of games, including fighting games, simulation racing as well as CS:GO, Rocket League and other known esports games. The event is set to be the largest gaming event ever and has the largest-ever esports prize pool of $45m (~£37.96m).
