Two of the three VALORANT Challengers Ascension tournaments have concluded with the competitions securing an average viewership of around 50,000, according to data provided by Esports Charts.
The Pacific Grand Final between Singaporean outfit Bleed eSports and Japanese team SCARZ saw a peak viewership of around 186,000, beating the Americas Grand Final between US teams The Guard and M80 by 60,000 viewers.
The data show that the Challengers Ascension tournaments for the Pacific and Americas regions accrued 49,425 and 52,911 average viewers, respectively. The EMEA tournament will conclude on July 16th in Berlin and has managed 35,353 average viewers. This, however, will likely be boosted by the finals next weekend.
VALORANT developer Riot Games announced key details about its Ascension leagues in May, planning to end all three tournaments through LAN finals in Thailand, Germany and Brazil. For the Pacific region, all 10 days would be played on LAN, the Americas region saw the early stage played in the Riot studio in Los Angeles; and the EMEA tournament was played online first, with a LAN final in Germany.
The three tournaments gather the best regional Challengers teams across three major regions and give the winners of each tournament the chance to earn a two-year promotion to the VALORANT Championship Tour (VCT). Once the two-year grace ends, the team then has to re-earn its spot.
As a result, The Guard and Bleed Esports will now attend their respective Championship tours, having taken home the trophy in each Ascension league.
Because of format differences, the Pacific Ascension tournament was on air for around 46 hours more than its Western counterparts.
The extension in airtime led to a doubling in hours watched, and, therefore, added value for league sponsors that include food delivery company Grab, monitor provider Zowie, and PC manufacturer Acer.
