The Tekken World Tour Finals 2023 took place in New Orleans on January 13-14, marking the culmination of the season sponsored by the game developers. Throughout the year, elite fighters from around the world accumulated ranking points at intermediate qualifying tournaments, earning their spots at the Civic Theatre for the TWT Finals.
Featuring the participation of 20 players, including the top 19 fighters of the season according to the global TWT ranking and the winner of the Last Chance Qualifier, the event reached its peak viewership of over 27.8K Peak Viewers. South Korea dominated the final tournament, with most of its representatives excelling in the group stage and progressing to the double-elimination bracket.
In the TWT Finals 2023, Arslan Ash from Pakistan, representing Twisted Minds, emerged as the strongest player. Despite facing formidable opponents in the playoffs, he did not lose a single match, displaying resilience and skill on his way to victory.
Matches of the Tekken World Tour Finals 2023 garnered 695.2K Hours Watched, with 36.2K Average Viewers.
Peak viewership reached 73K during the upper bracket final between Arslan Ash and Korean player Ulsan. The Grand Final between Arslan Ash and CBM secured the third spot in the list of the event’s most popular matches.
The tournament was covered on more than 150 different channels, with a significant portion of the audience preferring to watch the official broadcasts on Twitch and YouTube, accounting for 66% and 33% of the total HW, respectively. Notable community casters for the event included Forsen and AvoidingThePuddle.
English emerged as the primary language for the tournament broadcasts. While Korean accounted for 4.3% of the overall viewing hours, despite six South Korean representatives making it to the top 8. In terms of platform distribution, Twitch streams generated twice as many viewing hours as YouTube broadcasts.
Comparatively, Tekken World Tour Finals 2023 ranked third in popularity in the history of the TWT series. Although it fell approximately 9% short of last year’s championship in terms of peak online viewership. It’s important to note that last year’s success was attributed to the gameplay demonstration of Tekken 8, with a record of 89.9K Peak Viewers. In contrast, the peak viewership for the final matches was no more than 78K PV.
The Tekken franchise and the Tekken World Tour tournament series have a small but highly loyal audience, ensuring consistent viewership statistics for the discipline. In January 2024, the release of Tekken 8 is scheduled, which could significantly impact the game’s position among other fighting games. Following the community sensation caused by the launch of Street Fighter 6 in 2023, there is potential for Tekken 8 to replicate that success.