The VCT LOCK//IN final between LOUD and Fnatic went down as possibly the best match in Valorant history, and it came very close to shattering the game’s viewership record.
Over 1.4 million people were tuned in at one point as Fnatic beat LOUD 3-2 in the grand final of VCT LOCK//IN, according to statistics website Esports Charts. This is the second-highest peak viewership in Valorant esports history.
The data collected includes the main English streams on English and YouTube, as well as co-streams and streams in other languages. The previous holder of second place was the grand final of Valorant Champions 2021 between Gambit and Acend, which peaked at 1,089,068 viewers.
The nail-biting VCT LOCK//IN match was just 60,000 viewers short of the Valorant Champions 2022 final between LOUD and OpTic, which remains the game’s most popular esports match. Over 1.5 million viewers watched then as LOUD ran out 3-1 winners in an exciting match that had multiple overtimes on Ascent and Breeze.
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#VCTLOCKIN Grand Finals@FNATIC vs @LOUDgg Peak Viewers – 1.4M (TOP-2 match in @ValorantEsports)@Twitch peak – 1.1M (TOP-2)🇧🇷 PT peak – 543K (New record)More stats of event:https://t.co/9vs6lqIMZe pic.twitter.com/Kfs8QeBGFE
— Esports Charts 🇺🇦 (@EsportsCharts) March 5, 2023
The strong viewership figures posted by VCT LOCK//IN stand in contrast to the general industry trend as various tournaments across multiple esports struggle for viewers. Earlier this week, it was also revealed that Twitch, the biggest videogame streaming platform in the world, had seen a 9.4% decline in both average viewership and hours watched year-over-year.
VCT LOCK//IN averaged over 430,000 viewers during its 15-day run – only the fourth-highest average viewership in the game’s history. This is partly down to the tournament’s unforgiving single-elimination format, which sees teams eliminated after one defeat. Sentinels, the team with the most average viewers at VCT LOCK//IN outside of the two finalists, according to Esports Charts, were sent packing in the first round.
Most popular Valorant esports matches
| Match | Event | Peak Viewership |
| OpTic vs LOUD | Valorant Champions 2022 | 1,505,804 |
| Fnatic vs LOUD | VCT LOCK//IN | 1,443,103 |
| Gambit vs Acend | Valorant Champions 2021 | 1,089,068 |
| Sentinels vs Fnatic | VCT 2021 Masters Reykjavík | 1,085,850 |
| Gambit vs KRÜ | Valorant Champions 2021 | 1,060,257 |
| OpTic vs DRX | Valorant Champions 2022 | 1,001,726 |
| NRG vs LOUD | VCT LOCK//IN | 886,395 |
| OpTic vs LOUD | Valorant Champions 2022 | 875,688 |
| Paper Rex vs EDG | Valorant Champions 2022 | 860,353 |
| Sentinels vs KRÜ | Valorant Champions 2021 | 844,387 |
| Sentinels vs Fnatic | VCT LOCK//IN | 820,549 |
Most popular Valorant events
| Event | Peak Viewership | Avg. Viewership |
| Valorant Champions 2022 | 1,505,804 | 525,817 |
| VCT LOCK//IN | 1,443,103 | 432,596 |
| Valorant Champions 2021 | 1,089,068 | 469,083 |
| VCT 2021 Masters Reykjavík | 1,085,850 | 488,364 |
| VCT 2022 Masters Reykjavík | 1,065,887 | 416,236 |
| VCT 2021 Masters Berlin | 811,370 | 389,971 |
| VCT 2022 Masters Copenhagen | 783,985 | 317,604 |
Elite-level Valorant will return at the end of this month with the international leagues in EMEA, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. The next LAN event with teams from all over the world will be VCT Masters Tokyo, scheduled for June 11-25.