Riot Games boasts record 550,000 peak viewership in LCS Summer Split 2020

Riot Games is all set to conclude the 2020 League of Legends season next month with LoL World Championships 2020, also known as Worlds 2020. 22 League of Legends teams across the major regions have arrived in Shanghai, China, for the commencement of the global championship. While Riot is currently busy hyping up World 2020 on all platforms, the developers also took to the time to boast of record viewership for one of their regional tournaments - League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). 

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LCS Summer Split 2020 viewership records exponential growth

In a statement released earlier this week, Riot Games reported the viewership numbers for the tournaments held this summer. Despite facing a stumbling block due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LCS Summer Split 2020 drew the highest numbers since 2016. Peak viewership for LCS Summer Split 2020 was 551,679, a 12.4% spike over last year. The total watch time was up by a whopping 72%, posting 34.67 million total hours. The LCS summer finals drew an average minute audience of more than 450,000 viewers, which is about 27.5% higher than 2019.

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These are the highest numbers the North American LoL event has posted since it rebranded to League of Legends Championship Series in 2019. The tournament was earlier known as NA LCS. The higher viewership numbers this year can be credited to Riot introducing the expanded postseason format this year, which included an inclusive playoff bracket. 

"The LCS’s new double-elimination Summer Playoffs format and adjustment to Worlds qualification led to multiple edge-of-your-seat moments with some of the best displays of talent and determination our league has seen," Riot Games said in the press release. "Thanks to the new format, fans had a chance to head-bang five times to 'Silver Scrapes' this Playoffs -- a new record for the LCS."

LCS Summer Split was played between June 12 and September 6. The tournament featured a regular season (June 12 to August 8) and extended Summer playoffs (August 13 to September 6). Team SoloMid (TSM) emerged as the champions of the tournament, winning a cash prize of $100,000. FlyQuest (2nd) and Team Liquid (3rd) were rewarded $50,000 and $25,000, respectively. 

Riot Games will naturally be hoping to smash the viewership numbers with its upcoming World 2020. The global event starts on September 25 with the Play-In stage. Ten teams will compete in the initial stage to qualify for the main event, which will start on October 3. In the main event, 16 teams (12 already qualified and four from the Play-In stage) will compete for the lion's share of the prize pool and the coveted Summoner's Cup. League of Legends Worlds 2020 final is scheduled for October 31 and will be hosted from the Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai, China.

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(Image Credits: LoL Esports Twitter)