Esports World Cup viewership grows 37% in 2026

Image via Esports Foundation

Average live viewership for the Esports World Cup increased 37% year-on-year in 2026, reaching 145,100 viewers, according to a new report from Esports Charts.

Total watch time also increased significantly, rising 29.5% compared with 2025 to more than 237 million hours watched across the tournaments and their qualifiers.

The figures cover 25 esports tournaments and their qualifiers, with Esports Charts pointing to an expanded competition programme and larger participant fields as factors contributing to the increase in overall viewing time.

YouTube remained the largest platform for EWC livestream viewing, accounting for 42% of total hours watched, followed by Twitch with 30.2%.

Kick recorded the strongest year-on-year growth among the five leading streaming platforms, more than doubling its hours watched compared with EWC 2025, while South Korea's CHZZK increased its watch time by 40%.

The report also highlighted growth among several international audiences. Hindi-language broadcasts generated more than 300% additional hours watched compared with 2025, while

French-language viewing increased 124%.

The figures measure livestream viewership across Esports World Cup competitions and qualifiers and are separate from the event's wider digital reach and social media metrics.