Mobile Legends Tops Q1 2026 Esports Viewership With 5.68M Peak

A Q1 2026 industry report shows Mobile Legends led esports viewership after the M7 World Championship reached a peak of 5.68 million concurrent viewers. That peak was the largest single-event audience recorded in the quarter.

The M7 peak was about 73% higher than the next-highest game peaks, creating a clear numerical gap between Mobile Legends and other top titles during the early-year broadcast window.

League of Legends registered the second-highest game peak at roughly 1.5 million concurrent viewers during the LCK Cup, driven by a series between T1 and Dplus KIA that ended in a reverse sweep after T1 held a 2-0 lead. Counter-Strike posted a 1.39 million peak at IEM Krakow, with the grand final between Team Vitality and FURIA drawing substantial Brazilian viewership. Valorant reached 883,000 concurrent viewers at the Santiago Masters; the event peaked during the opening map of the final between Nongshim RedForce and Paper Rex, and Nongshim won the match 3-0. Rocket League peaked at 624,300 viewers during the RLCS Boston Major.

At the tournament level, the M7 World Championship led the quarter. MPL Indonesia Season 17 peaked at 2.3 million during an early matchup between RRQ Hoshi and ONIC. The LCK Cup peaked at about 1.501 million, narrowly above First Stand 2026, which reached approximately 1.5 million as G2 Esports advanced to the final before losing to Bilibili Gaming. IEM Krakow recorded its 1.39 million peak during the CS2 grand final.

The report used peak concurrent viewers rather than average or cumulative audience, focusing on moments of maximum live engagement. Overlapping competitive seasons in Q1 concentrated viewer attention around a limited set of high-profile events, and strong regional followings contributed to high peaks for several national competitions.