The Halo World Championship 2023 became the second most-watched Halo event in Halo Championship Series (HCS) history.
The season-ending tournament saw 16 teams compete for a share of its $1m (~£822,325) prize pool.
According to esports data platform Esports Charts, the event accumulated peak viewing figures of 159,787 and averaged viewership figures of 74,468 across its 28-hour air time.
Halo’s most popular event, based on peak viewership, remains the HCS Kickoff Major Raleigh tournament which took place in 2021. The tournament continues to top the charts with a total of 267,279 peak viewers and 4.2m hours watched.
This year’s event was won by North American esports organisation FaZe Clan, which secured $400,000 (~£328,810) after defeating OpTic Gaming in the Grand Final. This year, all of the HCS LAN events have taken place in the United States of America. In June 2023, the HCS ran an invitational event at DreamHack Dallas alongside Counter-Strike, Rocket League and Fortnite.
In comparison to the 2022 Halo World Championship, 2023 has shown encouraging signs of growth for Halo esports. Peak viewership increased by approximately 11.2% while its average viewers have risen by 33.5%.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 event, the HCS confirmed the Halo esports circuit will be returning in 2024. Details on the prize pool, partnered teams, and event locations have yet to be revealed.
The year-on-year growth of Halo is positive news for the partnered teams involved and fans of the arena shooter. With more eyes on the esports spectacle, it will be interesting to see if any other organisations qualify for its partner team programme.
