GeoGuessr World Cup 2024 records impressive viewership

16 September 2024

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Image credit: GeoGuessr

The GeoGuessr World Cup 2024, the biggest esports event for geography-based guessing game GeoGuessr, has attracted more than 250,000 viewers.

This year’s GeoGuessr World Cup, held in Sweden, recorded a total of 254,000 peak viewers, according to data and viewership platform Esports Charts, more than three times the amount compared to its inaugural edition in 2023.

The recently-concluded tournament was the second edition of the GeoGuessr World Cup, a tournament that was created in 2023. The latest edition surpassed all of its previous metrics, with last year’s event only recording around 71,000. The 2024 edition had around 59,000 average viewers, up from 2023’s figure of 25,240. In total, the 2024 World Cup had around 1.56m total hours watched.

Although not viewed as a typical esports title by the broader esports community, GeoGuessr has a very strong scene. The main goal of the game is for players to guess where they are located on the world map.

Interestingly, the scene’s rapid increase has seen the GeoGuessr World Cup 2024 beat some notable esports competitions this year in peak viewership. This includes League of Legends’ LCS Spring 2024 (246,184), the Call of Duty League 2024: Stage 1 Major (245,437) and the Halo Championship Series 2024: Arlington Major (109,670).

The tournament did well across all metrics, dramatically increasing its viewership while still keeping its prize pool relatively small, with just over $50,000 (~£37,900) handed out to top players during the playoffs. The event took place at the Stockholm City Hall, a venue notable for hosting the Nobel Banquet which takes place after the Nobel Prize ceremony.

The rise of GeoGuessr esports started during the pandemic, with a large number of streamers and creators taking to the game during lockdown. This prompted the creation of a dedicated esports tournament in 2023, which has proven to be a success for such a niche game.

In 2024, however, GeoGuessr has expanded its World Cup, as well as its partnership with Black Molly Entertainment, to further enhance the experience.

Ivan Šimić
Ivan comes from Croatia, loves weird simulator games, and is terrible at playing anything else. Spent 5 years writing about tech and esports in Croatia, and is now doing it here.