The Thunderpick World Championship 2024 kicked off on October 21, with its Playoffs set to be held at Berlin’s LVL Dome Arena. Matches have taken place in three out of four groups so far, featuring teams like HEROIC, Virtus.pro, Fnatic, and Cloud9.
This year’s championship boasts the series’ largest prize pool yet—$1,000,000—sponsored by a sportsbook for an esports event launched in April. The Counter-Strike competition includes both Group Stage and Playoffs phases, with 16 teams from regions like South America, North America, and Europe.
One of the event’s biggest draws has been the participation of s1mple, the renowned Ukrainian player, representing Team Falcons. While his impressive gameplay thrilled fans, Team Falcons exited early, finishing last in Group A with a 0:2 record.
statistics
Statistics from the first three days of the Group Stage underscore s1mple’s influence on viewership. Team Falcons, largely due to s1mple’s presence, became the most-watched team, securing two of the most popular matches. Only Virtus.pro, now an Armenian-based Russian organization, matched this viewership, with its match against Team Falcons ranking highest.
Both Team Falcons’ games surpassed the 100K Peak Viewers mark, with the top match reaching almost 250K PV. The next most-watched game, involving OG and Virtus.pro, didn’t feature the Danish team. Compared to the 2023 edition, viewership figures for 2024 have surged, with Hours Watched, Peak Viewers, and Average Viewers up by 158.16%, 242.67%, and 144%, respectively.
Though Team Falcons didn’t have standout performances leading into the tournament, s1mple’s presence boosted their online fan engagement. His matches drew significant attention to GRID’s official Twitch channel, which neared a new concurrent viewership record, hitting about 49K PV during Team Falcons’ match with Virtus.pro—just 1,115 viewers shy of the 2023 FaZe Clan vs. Virtus.pro final.
With teams like 3DMAX, The MongolZ, and HEROIC already in the Playoffs, the action continues, culminating in the Grand Final and Third Place Match on November 3. Esports Charts will keep fans updated on the latest developments.