Japan 2023/Q3 Esports Report; Record 19 billion minutes watched

RTA and Street Fighter 6 are leading the growth. The total viewing time related to Street Fighter 6 exceeded 200 million minutes, a 22% increase compared to the previous quarter, with the share of viewing time for competitive fighting games increasing to 13%.

Events related to Street Fighter 6 in e-sports, such as "Street Fighter League: Pro-JP 2023", "TGS2023×CR Cup", and "CAPCOM Pro Tour 2023 World Warrior Japan Tournament", have ranked in the top 20 of the total viewing time rankings, with six of them making the list.

Until now, we have been providing the viewing data for domestic e-sports broadcasts as a trend report measured through the e-sports tournament calendar site TAIYORO. However, going forward, we will be disseminating information through the e-sports data analysis service PLAYDATA, which was released in May 2023.

Statistics on total viewing time show that VALORANT remains popular, with RTA ranking in at second place.

Due to the impact of the "VALORANT Champions Tour 2023 Champions" and "VCT LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER PACIFIC", out of the total domestic viewing time of 19.6 billion minutes, approximately 6 billion minutes were attributed to VALORANT events. This accounts for roughly 30% of the total. Compared to the 7 billion minutes in the same period in 2022, there is a decrease (17% decline); however, the popularity of VALORANT is still evidently high.

The Grand Finals of the "VCT LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER PACIFIC" on July 23rd, featuring the match between 1, surpassed 90,000 simultaneous viewers on Twitch. It ranked 6th in the overall live streaming rankings for the gaming category on Twitch, attracting significant attention.

Additionally, RTA (Real Time Attack) ranked in at second place. From August 10th (Thursday) to 15th (Tuesday) in 2023, the "RTA in Japan Summer 2023" event was held, and its total viewing time surpassed 400 million minutes. Particularly notable was the time attack for Super Mario 64. In this broadcast, four record-holding players competed side by side. The stream peaked at over 100,000 simultaneous viewers, showcasing significant excitement and interest.

The popularity of "Street Fighter 6" in e-sports has been firmly established.

Esports-related events for "Street Fighter 6", which was released on June 2nd, 2023, have been on the rise. Six events related to "Street Fighter 6" have ranked in the top 20 of the total viewing time rankings.

The events that led to these results are as follows:

Street Fighter League: Pro-JP 2023 (July 7th to November 28th, 2023)

The tournament held for "Street Fighter 6" in 2023 saw a significant increase in popularity. Compared to the same tournament held for "Street Fighter 5" during the same period the previous year, the maximum simultaneous viewership on the official channel "Capcom Fighters JP" more than doubled.

TGS2023×CR CUP Street Fighter 6 (September 23rd to September 24th, 2023)

At the Tokyo Game Show 2023, which marked the first full-scale event in several years, there was significant buzz. On the main stage, an offline tournament sponsored by the pro gaming team "Crazy Raccoon" took place. This tournament ranked 12th in the total viewing time rankings, recording over 30 million minutes of viewing time and a peak of over 80,000 simultaneous viewers. This success confirms the continued popularity of streamer events hosted by "Crazy Raccoon" following the previous quarter.

CAPCOM Pro Tour 2023 World Warrior Japan Tournament (August 19th to November 18th, 2023)

This e-sports event for Street Fighter 6, where participants competed for a spot in the "CAPCOM CUP X", was held exclusively in Japan. This event ranked 18th in the total viewing time rankings, with over 14 million minutes of viewing time and a peak of over 30,000 simultaneous viewers.

Additionally, events such as "STREET FIGHTER 6 Battle Hub Party!", "Red Bull Kumite 2023", and "REJECT FIGHT NIGHT Round2" brought the total to six events that ranked within the top 20 in the cumulative viewing time rankings.

"LJL" sees a significant increase in viewership with its first offline tournament in four years.

On August 20th, 2023 (Sunday), the domestic tournament for "League of Legends", "LJL 2023 Summer Split Finals", was held offline at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall. Compared to the "LJL 2022 Summer Split Finals" which was held online during the same period the previous year, this event recorded a significant increase in the peak simultaneous viewership, surging by 70% to over 88,000 viewers. One factor contributing to this increase was the watch parties hosted by popular streamers. Many fans joined and enjoyed both the watch parties and the main broadcast.

About PLAYDATA

PLAYDATA obtains and retains viewing data from over 60,000 domestic game-related streaming channels using its unique methodology, utilizing its rich database. In the services provided by PLAYDATA, a detailed analysis of a specified e-sports tournament can be generated as a PDF report. It enables deep insights, such as trends in the number of concurrent viewers during the tournament period and comparative analysis of viewing data for other game's e-sports tournaments broadcasted at the same time slot.

PLAYDATA

About PLAYBRAIN

PlayBrain Inc. is a company specialized in the planning, branding, creative, production, event operation, product development, and marketing of esports. Since its establishment in 2016, it has been composed of members with backgrounds in various fields including the gaming industry, creative industry, and marketing industry, striving towards the goal of Japan standing shoulder to shoulder with the global esports scene.

PLAYBRAIN