CS2 off to a good start in 2025

With returning organizers announcing events in addition to the new ones entering the scene, 2025 looks promising for Counter-Strike 2 as an esport and is safe to say that Counter-Strike is off to a solid start in 2025. The year's first iconic big event- IEM Katowice 2025 has already set a new viewership record as per Esports Charts.

IEM Katowice 2025 is now the most popular non-Major event in Counter-Strike history. The top five spots in the list are all occupied by IEM events and IEM Katowice 2025 has surpassed IEM Cologne 2022 by over 50,000 viewers in the peak viewers category. IEM Katowice 2025 also surpassed IEM Katowice 2019 Major by a big margin in terms of peak viewers.

With an average viewers count of 381,674 IEM Katowice 2025 peaked at 1,299,747. This peak viewership number was recorded in the grand-final where Spirit took Vitality and the Frenchmen emerged victorious, marking their first IEM Katowice title win.

The push provided by IEM Katowice 2025 sends Counter-Strike 2 to the top as the most popular esport in 2025 so far in terms of peak viewers. Counter-Strike surpassed League of Legends by 100,000 peak viewers at 1.3M peak viewers. Other titles such as VALORANT and Apex Legends are still trailing in the mid 500,000 range.