Regional leagues for the Arena of Valor come to a close as teams prepare for the season finale.
A number of significant Arena of Valor competitions, including those in Taipei, Vietnam, and Thailand, have just ended. Together with the Chinese counterpart, Honor of Kings, they all helped the discipline’s esports seasons come to an end.
The champions of these competitions have all secured spots for the 2023 Arena of Valor International Championship, which is scheduled to take place from November 1–December 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The AIC franchise will now only have teams from the Garena region for the first time, and as a result, the prize pool has decreased from $1,685,000 to $500,000.
The three winners also advanced to the Honor of Kings International Championship 2023 Main Event, which served as the world championship for the combined Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor season of 2023. With so much to sort through, Esports Charts has compiled the outcomes of the aforementioned contests in the AoV calendar and crunched some figures in the process. It will take place in three Chinese cities, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, from November 25 to December 30.
Recap of Arena of Glory Winter 2023’s viewership
534K Peak Viewers watched the Arena of Glory Winter 2023 during the Playoffs and Grand Finals, which saw Saigon Phantom defeat V Gaming 4:3. Both were eligible for the AIC 2023 and the Arena of Glory Spring 2024, with the victor going on to the KIC 2023.
During 168 hours of airing, it also recorded 17 million hours watched and 102 thousand average viewers. In comparison to the Arena of Glory Spring 2023, the peak concurrent viewing on YouTube increased by roughly 6%, while TikTok witnessed a more notable increase of over 191%, continuing its quest to capture a larger slice of the broadcasting pie with each passing event, particularly in Southeast Asia.
Due to their tremendous success, the last two Winter Splits have grown to be two of the most anticipated events in the regional series. After the 2022 edition and the Spring edition that took place earlier this year, the 2023 version concluded as the third most watched AoG event.
In terms of total number of viewers, the AoG Winter 2023 finished as the ninth most watched tournament in the AoV. The most recent AoG Spring and Winter editions, two APLs, one AIC, and one AWC are all included in this list. In particular, the Arena of Valor Premier League 2023 broke numerous records and emerged as the most watched competition in the history of the sport.
Recap of RoV Pro League 2023 Winter viewership
The highest level of competition for the discipline in Thailand, the RoV Pro League 2023 Winter, concluded with 312K PV during Talon Esports’ 4:2 victory over Bacon Time in the Playoffs, Grand Final. Throughout the event, these two formidable teams faced off three times, with each meeting ranking among the top five most watched games.
The fact that this summit clash became the most anticipated event in the history of the regional series was another indication of the fan base support for the two finalists. With the next-best entry trailing 29.7%, it is the only RoV competition to surpass the 300K peak concurrent viewers milestone.
Even though it had 240 hours of airtime, the 2023 Winter Split was the seventh most viewed tournament in RoV history with 9.8 million hours of viewership. It also achieved 41K AV, and a big reason for this achievement is that Valor TV, the in-house program, witnessed a staggering 87.3% increase in peak viewership.
Recap of the Garena Challenger Series’ summer 2023 viewership
The Garena Challenger Series Summer 2023, Taiwan’s biggest AoV esports competition, recorded 68K PV during Hong Kong Attitude’s 4:2 Playoffs, Grand Final triumph over Flash Wolves. Thus, the victor was eligible to compete in the KIC 2023 and AIC 2023, while the runners-up and third-place team were also guaranteed a spot in the latter.
This tournament became the fourth most watched competition in this regional series with 1.6 million hours of broadcast time and 12 thousand hours of average viewership. The fact that TikTok has returned to live streaming has been beneficial, as the video-sharing app has helped it attract viewers from Vietnam and Thailand, which it did not have last year.
It is evident that one name is most closely followed when comparing the four Pro Leagues that acted as qualifiers for the 2023 Arena of Valor International Championship. In terms of metrics, the Vietnam tournament has been the most successful, with its Thai counterpart coming in second. Then there are the Taiwanese and Indonesian tournaments, which are not as popular but yet create teams that make it more difficult for the more well-known teams to perform well at the major events.
Readers should be aware that the International Championship 2023 has changed for the current season, in case they missed it. For the first time, the seventh edition of the AIC franchise was limited to teams from the Garena region alone, and the prize money from the previous year was also decreased. Last but not least, it is the first AIC without participation from Level Infinite or TiMi Studios, who will collaborate to provide enthusiasts the greatest rendition of the KIC 2023, the largest reward in the discipline.
Teams that will compete in the 2023 Arena of Valor International Championship
Now that every tournament has concluded, attention will turn to the two major events that will mark the conclusion of the 2023 esports season. It is to be seen whether these two regions can hold onto their iron grip, or if new sides can emerge and carve their names into AoV legend. China and Vietnam continue to be the dominant forces, with their sides the defending champions in the respective events.
