The 2022 July-September quarter saw the total viewing time for esports tournament broadcasts in Japan increase by 20% year-over-year, totaling 1.48 billion minutes across more than 450 broadcast events, as reported by TAIYORO.

2022-10-13

PlayBrain Inc. (headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, hereafter referred to as PlayBrain) is proud to to share insights into the viewership trends of domestic esports tournaments for the third quarter of 2022 (July to September) and the entire year, leveraging data collected via “TAIYORO,” a comprehensive website for esports tournament schedule information.

The third quarter of 2022 (July-September) saw the "2022 VALORANT Champions Istanbul" world tournament held in Istanbul, along with several other international competitions leading up to it, accounting for roughly half of the domestic total viewing time of 1.48 billion minutes. This continued the trend from the previous quarter, with VALORANT esports tournaments significantly driving domestic viewing time.

In addition, the "2022 LCK SUMMER" season of the League of Legends Korean pro league, "LCK," began its official Japanese broadcast on AfreecaTV starting June. September saw the debut of the "2022 Asia Star Challengers Invitational," marking the first international contest for academy players in Asia. This led to League of Legends being the game with the highest number of broadcast days in this quarter, reaching over 90 days of airtime between July and September.

Driven by the above titles, the cumulative viewing time for domestic esports tournament broadcasts in the quarter showed a 20% increase year-over-year, continuing its growth. The number of tournament days broadcasted during the July-September period exceeded 450, nearly 100 more than in the previous quarter (April-June).

Below are the main topics from the domestic esports broadcasting viewership data for July to September 2022, as independently compiled by TAIYORO.

Cumulative Viewing Time for Domestic Esports Tournaments (Quarterly) Reaches 1.48 Billion Minutes

Over 450 esports tournament schedules were broadcasted domestically in the July-September 2022 quarter, nearly 100 days more than the previous quarter.
More than 35 game titles were featured in these esports tournaments.
The cumulative viewing time for domestic esports tournaments was approximately 1.48 billion minutes, marking a 20% increase year-over-year (July-September 2022).
The highest concurrent viewer count for a single event was 186,000 viewers (official main broadcast viewers only). (September 4, "2022 VALORANT Champions Istanbul" Day 5: Group Stage)

Esports Broadcast Viewing Trends July-September 2022 (Researched by TAIYORO)

League of Legends Tops the Chart with Over 90 Days of Broadcasts

The "LJL 2022 Summer Split," League of Legends' domestic pro league, launched in June, alongside the "2022 LCK SUMMER," the Korean pro league, which began its official Japanese broadcast on AfreecaTV the same month. With the addition of the "LJL 2022 Academy League" in July and the "2022 Asia Star Challengers Invitational" in September, a pioneering international contest for academy players, League of Legends was the most broadcasted game, airing for more than 90 days in the third quarter. This represented a threefold increase over last year’s coverage, making it the game with the highest broadcast frequency in Japan.

VALORANT Secures Almost Half of All Japanese Viewing Time

July's "VALORANT 2022 CHAMPIONS TOUR MASTERS Copenhagen" racked up 160 million minutes of viewership, while the "2022 VALORANT East Asia Last Chance Qualifier" added another 120 million minutes. The "2022 VALORANT Champions Istanbul," starting at August's end, set a season record for a single tournament with 360 million minutes watched (not including viewership from streamer-hosted mirror streams).

Together with these international tournaments and the debut of Japan’s first official women-only tournament, "2022 VALORANT CHAMPIONS TOUR GAME CHANGERS JAPAN," VALORANT’s total viewership for the quarter exceeded 700 million minutes. This contributed to VALORANT dominating around half of the total domestic viewing time of 1.48 billion minutes for the season, significantly elevating local viewership.

Apex Legends Achieves Its Highest Annual Viewing Time

The viewing time for Apex Legends esports competitions hit a yearly high during the July-September quarter with 120 million minutes watched (up 22% from the previous year), making it the third most-viewed title following VALORANT and League of Legends.

The "Apex Legends Global Series Year 2 CHAMPIONSHIP" in July, the official global showdown in North Carolina, USA, saw participation from five Japanese teams and a peak Japanese viewership of 64,000. Additionally, "RAGE Apex Legends 2022 Summer," the biggest domestic offline event for Apex Legends, was held at Makuhari Messe at the end of August, attracting 45 prominent streamers and pro players and achieving a peak viewership of 94,000.

Pokémon Unite's First World Championship Held in London Records Peak Concurrent Viewership of 20,000 from Japanese Audience

The "Pokémon World Championships 2022 (Pokémon WCS 2022)," held over four days from August 18-21 in London, aimed to crown world champions across four Pokémon gaming divisions. The Pokémon Unite event on day three surpassed 20,000 concurrent viewers from Japan, while the "Pokémon Sword & Shield" finals on day four attracted a peak viewership of 46,000.

About the esports calendar “TAIYORO”

The esports calendar website “TAIYORO” is dedicated to making it easier for fans to watch esports tournaments by offering up-to-date information on esports broadcasts within Japan and collecting data on viewership. One of its unique feature is the free Discord Bot, which enables users to link the schedule of Japanese esports broadcasts directly to their Discord servers.

Information listed on TAIYORO spans from competitions in major professional esports leagues both in Japan and internationally (with Japanese language broadcasts), down to community-level tournaments and innovative new events, all with the objective of continually updating to support the growth and expansion of the esports viewership community.

Learn more about the TAIYORO esports calendar: https://taiyoro.gg/

For more information on the free TAIYORO Discord Bot: https://taiyoro.gg/discord

TAIYORO is committed to providing accurate and analyzable viewership data to deepen understanding of fan engagement in Japan’s esports scene, aiming to facilitate new business opportunities and enrich the fan experience. Customizable reports will soon be available to offer compiled viewership data reports to businesses, event organizers, and media outlets.

About TAIYORO

TAIYORO is a portal site designed for esports viewing fans, offering comprehensive information on esports tournaments within Japan, from VODs of past events to broadcast details of upcoming events. Whether you are searching for the schedule of esports tournaments for your favorite game titles or want to catch the esports events everyone is currently buzzing about, our goal is to bring the excitement of esports viewing closer to everyone and share the fun of watching esports with as many people as possible.

The information on our site is kept up-to-date and accurate thanks to contributions and cooperation from tournament organizers and communities. If you find any inaccuracies or wish to request corrections, please reach out to us via the contact form.

Website: https://taiyoro.gg/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Taiyoro_gg