History Made as Mixed-Gender Counter-Strike Match Breaks Viewership Records
In a groundbreaking moment for esports, the BLAST Premier Bounty Season 1 2025 witnessed unprecedented viewership numbers when Imperial Valkyries faced off against NAVI. The match, which marked the first time a dedicated female squad competed against a major-winning team at a premier Counter-Strike event, drew nearly half a million concurrent viewers.
The encounter was made possible by BLAST’s innovative Bounty format, which allows lower-seeded teams to select their opponents from the higher bracket. Imperial Valkyries, who qualified through Valve’s prize-money-based ranking system, boldly chose to face NAVI in their opening match.
The decision proved historic, as viewership numbers soared past 300,000 within the first ten minutes of play. The match ultimately peaked at 490,804 concurrent viewers, establishing a new record for female participation in PC esports, surpassing the previous benchmark of 464,695 set by the VCT 2024 Game Changers Championship finals.
Imperial Valkyries demonstrated remarkable competitiveness on Ancient, securing five rounds in the first half and maintaining a fighting chance deep into the match. While NAVI eventually closed out the map 13-7, the extended duration of competitive play helped sustain the record-breaking viewership.
The match’s popularity transcended geographical boundaries, drawing particularly strong viewership from Russian-speaking regions, reflecting both NAVI’s fanbase and the Eastern European composition of Imperial’s roster. While Brazilian viewership was more modest, Portuguese-language broadcasts still ranked third in popularity, ahead of Ukrainian and Polish streams.
The event’s success
The event’s success extended beyond this single match, with the Play-In stage’s first three days accumulating 5.25 million hours watched. These numbers surpassed those of previous tournaments like BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, suggesting growing momentum for the format.
Multiple streaming platforms saw their own records broken during the match. With new benchmarks set for Russian-language broadcasts and peak viewership on both Twitch and YouTube Gaming. This comprehensive success across platforms underscores the broader appeal of mixed-gender competition at the highest level.
The BLAST Bounty format will continue through January, with the round-of-32 concluding and subsequent matches determining qualification for the main event. Given the unprecedented success of this initial mixed-gender matchup, the tournament’s remaining stages are positioned to potentially set new viewership records for Counter-Strike in early 2025.
This historic match has demonstrated both the competitive potential of female Counter-Strike players and the substantial viewer interest in mixed-gender competition, while validating BLAST’s innovative approach to tournament formatting and team selection.
