Top Esports Organizations: February 2023

The esports landscape in February 2023 was defined by significant viewership engagement driven by major tournament participation and high-profile content creator activity. NRG secured the top position among esports organizations, accumulating 17.1 million hours watched. While a substantial portion of this total—12.5 million hours—originated from their live-streaming content creators, the organization’s performance in the Valorant Champions Tour: LOCK//IN was the critical factor in achieving the number one ranking.

Tournament participation served as a primary driver for viewership across the industry. The Valorant Champions Tour: LOCK//IN generated 31.6 million hours watched throughout February, with most top-ten organizations competing in the event. G2 emerged as the leader in pure esports-related viewership, recording 12.2 million total hours watched, of which 8.9 million were derived directly from competitive events. G2’s success was bolstered by their performance in the LEC Winter Season and their victory at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, which alone contributed 5.4 million hours watched.

The data highlights a strategic divergence in how organizations build their audience reach. While many teams rely heavily on tournament play, others leverage individual influencers to maintain high viewership metrics. TSM exemplified this creator-centric model, maintaining the highest percentage of watch time from streamers on the leaderboard. Specifically, TSM’s viewership was heavily concentrated in the activity of two Twitch streamers, TSM_ImperialHal and pokelawls, who generated 2.4 million and 1.5 million hours watched, respectively. These findings underscore the dual-pronged approach—competitive success and creator engagement—that currently dictates the market standing of top-tier esports organizations.