Another week, another event wraps up as we near the conclusion of the inaugural Esports World Cup 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Call of Duty tournament concluded on August 18, with a familiar team emerging victorious, though there were some notable viewership trends that will be discussed further in this article.
The tournament featured the 16 best teams in the game, including participants from the Call of Duty League, competing for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Atlanta FaZe defeated North American rival 100 Thieves 4-2 in the Grand Final, claiming the championship title and a $600,000 prize.
This victory was well-deserved for Atlanta FaZe. The most consistent team in the CDL, having topped all five Regular Season points tables in its current format. However, they had yet to secure a recent world championship to cement their dominance. By clinching their first such title since the Call of Duty League Championship in 2021, Atlanta finally erased that gap in their record.
Atlanta FaZe finally complemented their CDL consistency with a global trophy
The CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 hit a peak of 140.1K viewers during the Playoffs Quarterfinals match between OpTic Gaming and Cloud9. In this clash between two CDL 2024 Major winners, OpTic maintained their recent momentum, winning 3-1.
It’s important to note that OpTic is the most popular team in the game and recently broke a two-year title drought by winning the Call of Duty League 2024: Stage 3 Major. They followed this up by winning another world championship at the Call of Duty League 2024 Playoffs. On the other hand, Cloud9, representing New York in the CDL, was the 2023 world champion and remains one of the most consistent teams, making their matchup highly anticipated.
CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 – top matches and basic viewership stats.
A surprising observation was that the Playoffs Semifinals between OpTic Gaming and Atlanta FaZe, the biggest and oldest rivalry in the game, ranked only as the third-most popular match. This may have been due to the game being scheduled in the morning for American audiences, which wasn’t the most convenient time for such a high-profile match.
This scheduling issue may have benefited the OpTic versus Cloud9 match, which, despite being less significant, was scheduled for a post-lunchtime slot that better attracted the teams’ home fan bases. Additionally, the semifinals were relatively one-sided, with Atlanta winning three straight matches after losing the first, advancing to the final.
CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 – most popular teams.
Interestingly, two Group Stage matches made it to the list of top games by peak concurrent viewers. Including an all-NA clash between OpTic Gaming and OMiT. Another highlight was the match between Cloud9 and Gentle Mates, a high-stakes Group B Decider where the winner advanced to the Playoffs, and the loser was eliminated. The stakes made it a must-watch for fans.
The CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 logged 2.68M hours watched and an average of 86.4K viewers over 31 hours of airtime. These numbers might have been higher had OpTic not been eliminated in the Semifinals after losing 1-3 to the eventual champions. Given OpTic’s strong fan base, their presence in the Grand Final could have pushed the overall watch time closer to 2.85M hours.
Another factor limiting these figures was the single-elimination format used in the Playoffs, as seen throughout the EWC 2024. Call of Duty fans are accustomed to Double Elimination brackets, which allow more games and opportunities to watch their favorite teams. The absence of this format in Riyadh likely contributed to the lower watch time.
CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 – top channels.
Additionally, Gentle Mates, a team with a large French-speaking fanbase thanks to its co-owner Gotaga, failed to make the Playoffs, negatively impacting viewership dynamics. Despite this, French-language viewership still contributed 11.12% to the event’s overall watch time, a figure that could have been higher had Gentle Mates advanced further.
Gotaga himself ranked among the top three most-watched and popular channels, with scump once again leading in both metrics. Notably, the CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 recorded the highest French language viewership for any event in the game. Underscoring the value a team like Gentle Mates brings.
This EWC 2024 tournament also lacked the presence of official CoD channels, unlike other major events this year. While the four Majors and Playoffs, exclusive to YouTube, had fewer channels but more official ones covering the action, the Riyadh event did not have official Call of Duty channels live-streaming the games.
Even among community casters, the numbers were modest, with scump being the only one to surpass 1M hours watched on Twitch. Though his watch time was about 30% lower than at other prominent 2024 events. While Gotaga brought in a record number of French viewers, Zoomaa, another CDL regular, was less active, with his Twitch broadcasts attracting only thousands of viewers.
Most popular Call of Duty events in 2024.
Despite this, the CoD x Esports World Cup 2024 ended as one of the more popular competitions in the game this year. It ranks seventh on a list led by the recent world championship, ahead of the final CDL Major of the season, which posted the lowest peak viewership numbers since 2022.
With the conclusion of this tournament, the 2024 season of Call of Duty Modern Warfare III esports has come to a close. It was another year that solidified the game’s place in the competitive scene and helped it become one of the better-run non-mobile shooters. Fans are eager to see what 2025 will bring, especially with the upcoming release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 later this year.
