VALORANT and MLBB dominate female esports viewership in 2025

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A new report for 2025 shows that VALORANT remains the most popular esports game for female viewership, according to Esports Charts.

A recent Esports Charts report looked at women’s esports in 2025 and found that while prize money and viewership numbers are increasing, the number of tournaments actually decreased over the year. Essentially, there weren’t as many events held, despite growing interest and rewards.

Female esports viewership in 2025

Viewership for women’s and inclusive esports grew significantly between 2021 and 2023, jumping from 12.79 to 29.16 million viewers. However, numbers have been falling since then, with a 7.9% decrease in total watch time in 2025. While there’s no single explanation, this decline could be due to insufficient investment in women’s esports.

Honestly, esports still throws me curveballs! I was surprised to see Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s female pro scene really take off in 2025. We also saw a little growth in games like Counter-Strike and Chess, but it was nothing compared to what was happening with VALORANT and MLBB. Those two games basically dominated everything – they made up over 90% of all the viewers!

Less tournaments

Esports Charts data shows that female esports tournaments were less frequent in 2025 than in 2024, with a drop of 52% in the number of events. Despite this decrease, average viewership actually went up, suggesting a more complex situation within the female esports landscape.

The EWC x MLBB Women’s Invitational in 2025 attracted 496,995 peak viewers. Meanwhile, the VALORANT Game Changers 2025 Championship generated the most media attention, with a value of $1.88 million.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is quickly becoming a popular esports choice for female viewers (40.6%), almost matching VALORANT’s overall viewership (45.6%). Other games like Counter-Strike (6.3%), Arena of Valor (3.9%), League of Legends (1.8%), and Fortnite (1%) have significantly less viewership. Even though the well-known ESL Impact Series ended, Counter-Strike 2 still attracted a large audience.

Arena of Valor has gained popularity thanks to its inclusion in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, according to Esports Charts. The game achieved a record number of female esports participants and has become a highly sought-after competition for national teams in the region.

The Olympic Council of Asia’s multi-game series attracted 3.74 million viewers. This follows viewership numbers of 3.78 million for EWC and 8.84 million for VCT Game Changers. Most of the views for EWC actually came from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang female tournament.

Esports competitions are becoming more popular, attracting a wider audience and increasing interest in betting on these events. As female esports grows, fans are engaging more through detailed analysis, compelling storylines, and more consistent tournament formats.

Popular female esports teams

Viewers watched a total of almost 20 million hours of gameplay across more than 100 tournaments. The most popular teams were Imperial Valkyries, MIBR GC, Shopify Rebellion Gold, and Team Liquid Brazil. Notably, three of the top four teams are from Brazil, making Portuguese one of the most popular languages among viewers.

In 2025, Imperial Valkyries became the most popular female esports team, racking up over 2.32 million hours of viewership. Throughout the year, they delivered many exciting moments in CS2 and earned invitations to major tournaments where they competed alongside male players, showcasing their impressive skills to a wider audience.

Both MIBR GC and Team Liquid Brazil have incredibly passionate fans who draw huge viewership. While MIBR finished third at the Game Changers Championship, Team Liquid Brazil went even further, defeating the reigning champions, Shopify Rebellion Gold, and winning Brazil’s first international esports title with an all-female team.

Team Vitality nearly reached two million viewers and really shone at the MLBB Women’s Invitational 2025. They won the tournament, becoming the first MLBB team to ever win an international women’s event.

Female esports 2025 prize pool

Okay, so looking at where the $3.3 million prize money is going, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is getting a huge chunk – 20% of it! Saudi Arabia is really leading the way thanks to the Esports World Cup and all the money they’re putting into esports in 2025. After that, Asia gets 18.6%, and the Americas take 15.7%. Europe seems to be getting the smallest share, only around 7.8%.

Nearly half of the total prize money (49.3%) is awarded at in-person events. Online events are a close second, while hybrid events account for a much smaller portion, just 8.2%.

Despite some difficulties, this community is brimming with incredible talent. The people involved – the players, the competitions, and everything around them – deserve to be noticed more. If you take a look, you’ll be impressed by the skill and dedication you find.

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2026-01-05 22:43