The Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Asia-Pacific RMR served as the qualifier for Counter-Strike’s first-ever Major in China, breaking viewership records for an Asian RMR event. Much of the attention was driven by the participation of DRILLAS, a team created by German content creator OhnePixel. Their attendance, while boosting visibility, has sparked debate within the esports community.
A key factor in the controversy is DRILLAS’ roster. Counter-Strike requires teams to have a majority of players from the region they represent, but DRILLAS adjusted their lineup after qualifying through the MENA region. As a result, only two of their players were eligible for the Asia-Pacific RMR, prompting questions about fairness to local teams striving for qualification.
Despite the criticism, DRILLAS brought unprecedented viewership to the event. Matches involving the team consistently outperformed others, nearly tripling the viewership of non-DRILLAS games. Their elimination match against FlyQuest peaked at 172.8K viewers, a significant portion coming from OhnePixel’s Twitch stream.
Overall, the event set records with 1.18M Hours Watched and achieved the highest peak concurrent viewership for an Asian RMR across Twitch, YouTube, and English-language streams. DRILLAS faced teams like Lynn Vision Gaming, The MongolZ, and FlyQuest, with each match driving higher engagement. Their opening match alone doubled the viewership of the previous most-watched Asian RMR.
While Twitch dominated as the primary platform for this event, regional audiences from Mongolia, Russia, and Portugal also contributed significantly, watching through co-streams in their respective languages. YouTube, a common platform for Asian esports, saw less engagement compared to Twitch, highlighting Counter-Strike’s unique position in the region.
Although DRILLAS’ participation elevated the Asia-Pacific RMR to new heights, much of the success stemmed from international interest rather than organic regional growth. Nonetheless, the Shanghai Major presents a promising opportunity to develop Counter-Strike’s presence in the Chinese market.
