PC MOBA game League of Legends (LoL) topped the viewership charts in 2021, according to analytical service Esports Charts.
In 2021, League of Legends was the most-watched esport, as measured by the total number of esports tournament hours viewed across multiple online streaming platforms.
However, the data doesn't include figures from Chinese platforms due to the "peculiarities of methods" for calculating viewership.
League of Legends amassed over 664.16 million hours watched, followed by first-person shooter CS:GO with 410.81 million hours. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (387.29 million), Dota 2 (347.64 million), and PUBG Mobile (216.76 million) round out the top five.
Several other esports came too close to entering the list as well. Hero shooter Valorant was only a few million hours watched behind PUBG Mobile, followed by mobile battle royale Free Fire.
The LoL Worlds 2021 accounted for a sizable portion of the MOBA's impressive viewership numbers. The grand finals won by Edward Gaming drew 4,018,728 concurrent viewers.
According to Esports Charts, Worlds 2021 is only second to the Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore in terms of peak viewership in esports history.
League of Legends launched in 2009 and is inarguably the world's largest esport. With the release of Arcane, Netflix's show based on the game's universe, the MOBA game has broken into mainstream culture over the last year.
