The fan wars between Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) and Valorant have been ongoing since Valorant's release in 2020. Both games have dedicated fan bases that have fiercely defended their favorite FPS title, causing debates to rage on. However, recent statistics show that Valorant has outperformed CSGO in viewership.
According to Sullygnome, Valorant was the most watched FPS game on Twitch in 2022, with 1,197,406 peak viewers. On average, over 4,000 channels streamed Valorant, attracting viewers from all around the world. Valorant's viewership was at its highest in September during the VCT circuit finals, where 831,550 viewers tuned in to watch the best teams compete for the golden trophy. In November, during the VCT Game Changers event, Valorant saw another spike in viewership, despite the controversy surrounding the event.
In comparison, CSGO had 699,783,949 watch hours and was ranked at number five. While the gap between the two games' peak viewers isn't significant, Valorant's watch hours seem to be a tough feat for CSGO to surpass in 2023.
One factor that may have contributed to Valorant's popularity in 2022 was the third-party off-season tournaments organized by Riot Games. These events brought attention to up-and-coming talent and were streamed on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. This approach, similar to the way in which CSGO tournaments have attracted fans from around the globe, likely contributed to Valorant's success.
Overall, Valorant was a hit in 2022 and the statistics show it. While CSGO has been a dominant force in the shooter genre for over a decade, especially in esports, Valorant has proven to be a strong competitor. The game's emotive characters and powers, along with its exceptional gameplay, have attracted a large and dedicated fan base. It will be interesting to see how the competition between these two FPS titles plays out in the future.
