PUBG Mobile’s season-ending event, the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2023, concluded on December 10th, reaching just shy of one million concurrent viewers.
The grand finals saw 980,110 concurrent viewers tune in to see Mongolian esports organisation IHC ESPORTS to take home the trophy and a $453,500 (~£361,300) share of the $3m (~£2.38m) prize pool, according to analytics firm Esports Charts.
Held at the Ülker Sports and Event Hall in Istanbul, Turkey, the final LAN tournament of the season saw IHC ESPORTS come back from sixth place on day one and take the championship.
The peak concurrent viewership record makes it the fifth-highest PUBG Mobile event in the history of the esports title.
The event beats last year’s PUBG Mobile Global Championship figure of 852,000, per Esports Charts data. In total, four rounds of the Grand Finals were able to beat the peak viewership record from last year.
The PUBG Mobile esports scene has been on a growing trend over the past two years and 2023 also marked an increase in average viewership. This year’s edition recorded 306,936 average viewers, up from 2022’s numbers (272,761), and over 31 million hours watched.
Nonetheless, the event is still far off the title’s all-time record, set by the PUBG Mobile Global Championship Season 0, which had an impressive 3.8m peak viewers, according to Esports Charts.
Earlier this month, James Yang, Senior Director of PUBG MOBILE Global Esports, announced major changes to PUBG Mobile’s competitive ecosystem going into 2024.
The PUBG MOBILE Super League (PMSL) will be expanding into four regions. Moreover, alongside the PMGC and an improved midseason tournament, there will be a new global event, the PUBG MOBILE Global Open, taking place in Brazil in March-April.
It was also confirmed that the PMGC will take place in the United Kingdom in 2024. The tournament will kick off in November with the Grand Finals to be hosted in December with another $3m (~£2.38m) prize pool. The exact location is yet to be confirmed.
Now that the 2023 season is over, there will be a selection for the new addition to PUBG Mobile’s esports partner programme for 2024. The round is closing on December 15th and the new lineup of partner teams will be revealed in January 2024.
