Dplus KIA sweeps Karmine Corp; LoL viewership jumps 33%

Dplus KIA swept Karmine Corp 3-0 in the grand final to win the Esports World Cup 2026 League of Legends title. The victory ended a five-year title drought for Dplus KIA and marked the club’s first tier-S championship.

Organizers reported average concurrent viewership rose 33.5%, peak viewers increased 22.2%, and total hours watched rose about 30% compared with 2025. The tournament carried fewer broadcast hours than the 2025 edition while total hours watched still increased.

More than 200 channels co-streamed or broadcast the games, roughly a 60% increase from the previous year. Streams in Korean and English exceeded 2025 benchmarks, and French-language streams recorded higher traffic as Karmine Corp advanced to the final.

Karmine Corp reached the final after series wins over Anyone’s Legend and an upset elimination of T1, an organization with the most international titles in League of Legends history. The European team set a new all-time peak viewers record for the organization.

Organizers narrowed the number of distribution platforms, while traffic on major streaming services rose across the event. The League of Legends tournament registered the highest peak viewership among completed Esports World Cup 2026 events to date.

Several pre-tournament favorites were eliminated early, producing multiple unexpected results across the bracket. Dplus KIA’s sweep in the final concluded the LoL competition at EWC 2026 and secured the top League of Legends title at the tournament.