The VCT Game Changers NA circuit reached an impressive viewership milestone on April 4 thanks to Jeremy ‘Disguised Toast’ Wang’s team.
Disguised Toast revealed on March 27 his second Valorant team, an all-women’s squad headlined by streamers Kyedae ‘Kyedae’ Shymko, Jodi ‘QuarterJade’ Lee, Sydney ‘Sydeon’ Parker, and Tenzin ‘TrulyTenzin’ Dolkar.
The announcement was immediately met with criticism in the Game Changers community as some felt that experienced players had been passed over in favor of the streamer quartet.
Disguised Toast responded by saying that the team’s players are taking this tournament “very seriously” and should not be kept from competing just because they are streamers. Sydeon also chimed in to reject the notion that she and her streamer teammates took spots that belonged to other players.
The VCT Game Changers NA open qualifiers, which began on April 4, immediately proved Disguised Toast’s claim that this is an “under-served market” with a lot of untapped potential.
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Game Changers qualifiers crack impressive viewership
During the opening day of the qualifiers, Disguised Toast’s Twitch stream peaked at over 62,000 viewers, while Valorant Americas’ channel cracked over 27,000 concurrent viewers at one point, according to Streams Charts.
Really proud of the GC team today!And very cool that we peaked the same amount of viewers as the GC Grand Finals last year at 60k+This is definitely a scene that is worth supporting and hoping investors/sponsors recognize the immense potential that is here. pic.twitter.com/7CXbLgoMZO
— DSG Toast (@DisguisedToast) April 5, 2023
Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter was also streaming the qualifier on her YouTube channel, which had over 13,000 viewers at one point.
The viewership figures represent a milestone for NA’s Game Changers circuit. The 2021 Game Changers North America Series 1 was until now the region’s most popular tournament with a peak viewership of just 35,919 people, according to Esports Charts.
Disguised will take on SHIFT X at 2pm PT on Wednesday, April 5 in Group B’s decider stage — a match that is likely to draw even more viewers and continue to shatter records.