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Valorant Champions Peak Viewership Drops in 2023
With peak viewership in Valorant Champions dropping for the first time in 2023, Naim ‘Enkay’ Rosinsky, Editor at THESPIKE .GG, explores the path to esports growth in an exclusive interview with Rivington Bisland who witnessed the defining moments of both games.
2023 saw the continued rise in overall viewership in esport titles of League of Legends and VALORANT, video games released by the famed game developer Riot Games. While League of Legends, a title released in 2009, continues being at the forefront of popularity in the esports sphere, VALORANT has been climbing the ranks in the competitive first-person shooter sector of the esports market, despite it being a still young title, released during the COVID-19 times of 2020.
Naturally, League has established itself as a powerhouse in esports. An immense growth in viewership has not slowed down over the last couple of years as the MOBA genre continues to thrive, with Dota2 being the game’s main competitor in the sphere.
Meanwhile, VALORANT entered the competitive FPS scene with many more well-established competitive titles. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (now Counter-Strike 2), Rainbow Six: Siege, Call of Duty, or even Overwatch, have been on the market for much longer. Despite that, Riot Games’ sole FPS title continues to surprise year-on-year with improvements and new initiatives to its esports landscape. In 2023 one such initiative was the introduction of the franchised Tier 1 League, named VCT International Leagues 2023. This follows in the footsteps of League of Legends’ League Championship Series (LCS) which features a top-tier franchising system.
CHAMPIONS VS. WORLDS: CONCURRENT PEAK EVENT VIEWERSHIP
The VALORANT Champions and League of Legends’ World Championship (also referred to as “Worlds”) are the most notable events for the respective titles in any given season. These events boast only the finest Tier 1 teams that have excelled over the year in other events, granting themselves an entry to the elusive Champions or Worlds. It’s safe to say that the team that wins Champions or Worlds is typically considered to be the best team in the world in that season in the respective esport.
For the sake of a fair viewership comparison, this article compares seasons 2021, 2022, and 2023. VALORANT launched in June of 2020, and while it did hold esport events, it wasn’t until 2021 that it began to fully implement a more fleshed out structure with Masters and Champions events featuring the best teams. League of Legends has been seeing an immense growth in terms of peak viewership year-on-year. Each event that attained the peak viewership numbers given in the graph was the year’s Worlds event.
According to data that thespike .gg received from escharts .com, peak viewership in 2021 and 2022 both saw VALORANT Champions in the respective years feature a growing concurrent peak viewership. However, 2023, saw VALORANT Champions Los Angeles attain a peak viewership of 1 291 045, a dip compared to 2022’s Champions in Istanbul. The tournament with peak viewership of 2023 was VCT 2023: LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, which was a “kick-off” event featuring all teams of the newly introduced VCT International Leagues. To take it a step further, it would be fair to compare the numbers of the first three Worlds events against the first three VALORANT Champions tournaments. The following graph shows the peak viewership for the first three VALORANT Champions and LoL Worlds events held.
While the first Worlds event featured a mere 210,000 (still a hefty number) of peak concurrent viewers, 2012 and 2013 Worlds had garnered a lower concurrent peak viewership (excluding television viewers). Given that the two events took place ten years apart, it remains impressive how League of Legends managed to attain such a hefty viewership, especially considering the popularity and reach of esports in general back then was nowhere near as it is today.
RIVINGTON ON GROWING ESPORTS VIEWERSHIP
Rivington Bruce Bisland III, known as Riv, has been heavily involved as a commentator and analyst at both League of Legends and VALORANT.
He started his journey in 2012, being invited as a commentator for Season 2 Worlds. Since then, he’s been invested as a caster, commentator, and interviewer in League of Legendseach year until 2019. Starting from 2020 however, Rivington transitioned to being a commentator and analyst at a plethora of VCT events, including VALORANT Champions, Game Changers, or VCT Americas League. Additionally, 2023 saw him receive and invitation to a collegiate finals event, Red Bull Campus Clutch.
“So from League to VALORANT, it was a godsend because 2000-2010 was my Counter-Strike 1.6 phase. I played, competed, never professionally or anything cause the scene just wasn’t there yet,” said Rivington. “It was around 2019 when Riot said, ‘Would you like to do this thing? We have a side-project going on.’ And I was just like, ‘What?!’ Cause they knew I was a Counter-Strike player and that just lit my eyes up. It felt amazing to go back to my roots, to call the shots that got me into the commentary and be able to relate to the 2v1 site takes or the defuse clutch that for a while turned into baron steals and dragon fights to then go back to FPS.”
Given the large gap in viewership, we asked Rivington at Campus Clutch Finals in Istanbul, what does he think Riot Games should do to bring the viewership numbers of VALORANT closer to that of League. With a smile on his face Riv exclaimed: “T1 Faker in VALORANT!”
Despite a clear joke, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has become a global esports icon. In 2023, the famed League player won his fourth Worlds, being the only player to do so ever with Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong taking the number 2 spot with 3 World trophies behind his belt.
Naturally, each discipline, be it esport or traditional sport, features icons that are globally recognizable. Be it football’s Ronaldo or Messi, Formula 1’s Schumacher, League’s Faker, Counter-Strike’s s1mple, or VALORANT’s Boaster. Knowing that, Rivington argues that the storylines that develop from competitions are what drive viewership forward.
“I think the stories are huge,” he continues, “the way they’re growing the scene (Riot for VALORANT), from collegiate here, Red Bull is helping with that. We never had this kind of stuff in League of Legends and LoL was able to take the world by storm.” “So I think we’re in that growth period now for VALORANT and it’s going to be exponential with how it’s grown for League of Legends because it’s still Riot. They still know how to grow and how to create those stories to get people attached to a team you may not know in China, but you’re going to love them at the end of it. You don’t have to like VALORANT to do that. That’s one of the greatest things that can bridge that gap for people. Like ‘What’s this game?’ I may not know, but I’m involved with this story.”
VALORANT recently held its next iteration of VALORANT Game Changers Championship with Shopify Rebellion lifting the trophy in Brazil. With a growing interest in women’s and marginalized genders’ scene, hopeful improvements to the Tier 2 ecosystem, and the VCT International Leagues slightly revamped for the 2024 season, VALORANT has many more storylines to unfold. And with that, according to Riv, soaring viewership for the competitive shooter.

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The anatomy of a high-performing iGaming platform: a guide from Slotegrator
Slotegrator, a gambling solutions provider and game aggregator, has released new downloadable material about the key components of a successful online casino platform. The guide includes practical checklists to help beginners set up platforms from scratch and experts enhance their projects.
In the iGaming industry, a project’s long-term success depends on the power and versatility of its platform. But that platform can’t be based on any old software; just like how you can’t have a car without four wheels and an engine, there are vital components to an online casino platform.
So what are they?
Let’s start with first impressions. The frontend is the “face” of a platform. Almost 75% of players judge a gambling website based on its appearance, and 88% of users won’t return after a negative experience.
Key frontend elements include:
- Branding (visitors should understand the idea from the first glance)
- Navigation (everything should be simple and easy to find)
- Transparency (players must have easy access to relevant information)
- Localization (adoption of language, currency and cultural norms).
If the frontend is the face, the backend is the brain. It should contain all the tools for successful online casino management. A quality backend should give the operator total, real-time monitoring and control over every aspect of a business — payment processing, regulatory compliance, game statistics, player data, retention strategies, analytics, compliance, player support, and everything else.
New operators often find themselves trying to choose whether to build such a platform in-house or to outsource the job. Slotegrator’s report carefully weighs the pros and cons of each option and reaches a clear conclusion: in-house development might save a little money in the short term, but it’ll cost much more in the long run.
“We created this guide to help operators to understand what truly belongs in a successful iGaming platform. An engaging frontend and a powerful backend are essential tools for attracting and retaining players. The guide is a valuable resource for evaluating a platform’s strengths and weaknesses and building a clear promotion strategy”, says Svetlana Kirichenko, Head of Marketing at Slotegrator.
Slotegrator’s guide also includes several key checklists:
- Essential frontend functions
- Key backend features
- Necessary modules for platform architecture (featuring a real example of Slotegrator’s turnkey online casino platform.
Download the guide via the link.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
The post The anatomy of a high-performing iGaming platform: a guide from Slotegrator appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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PAGCOR ORDERS TAKEDOWN OF GAMBLING BILLBOARDS
In a memorandum issued on July 7, PAGCOR directed all licensees, suppliers, system administrators, and gaming venue operators to take down gambling ad materials, including those displayed on trains, buses, jeepneys, and taxis.
The agency emphasized that only institutional or responsible gaming campaigns—subject to PAGCOR’s approval—will be permitted moving forward.
“We have given all our licensees and stakeholders until August 15 to completely remove all gambling-related ads,” said PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco.
“Prior to that, stakeholders must also submit an inventory of their existing billboard and wallscape advertisements by July 16.”
The inventory, according to Mr. Tengco, must include the size, material, location, rental contract expiration, and the corresponding permit number from the Ad Standards Council (ASC).
The PAGCOR chief said the move is part of the state gaming agency’s commitment to promote a safer and more responsible gaming environment in the country.
“While PAGCOR is mandated to regulate the gaming industry and generate revenues for nation-building, we do not want to encourage a culture of gambling addiction,” he said.
“Regulating excessive and pervasive gambling advertisements is a critical step in protecting vulnerable sectors of society, especially the youth.”
The agency also warned against replacing the dismantled advertisements with new gambling promotions, stressing that non-compliance will be dealt with accordingly.
The post PAGCOR ORDERS TAKEDOWN OF GAMBLING BILLBOARDS appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Week 28/2025 slot games releases
Here are this weeks latest slots releases compiled by European Gaming
Spinomenal has released its latest title, Queen of Oasis. Set against the rolling ancient Egyptian dunes and lush, palm-lined oases, Queen of Oasis immerses players in an elegant world of riches. Camels, vultures, antelopes, snakes, and the powerful Queen herself bring this 5-reel slot to life. The reels sit within two ornate marble pillars where the bejewelled Queen represents the Wild symbol.
TaDa Gaming has released Golden Bank 2, a sequel to the popular Golden Bank slot. With a 10,000x max win and exciting features, Golden Bank 2 engage players with its immersive gameplay and the potential for substantial payouts. Set in a golden vault, Golden Bank 2 combines the simplicity of classic slots with the thrill of modern mechanics. With vibrant graphics and a dynamic soundtrack, the game immerses players in an exciting, high-stakes atmosphere.
Evoplay has launched Belfry Bliss Hold and Win, a fiery 5×3 slot that blends retro-inspired visuals with a darker twist on the fan-favourite Hold and Win mechanic. Set against a backdrop of flames and ringing bells, the game reintroduces Evoplay’s mischievous Devil character, not as a foe, but as a Wild symbol, lighting the way to potential wins. Classic slot icons like sevens, bars and cherries return, but the real action begins when the bells drop.
Brute Force: Alien Onslaught reunites the original Brute Force members… with a surprise addition. Joshua and Jason have recruited the help of Jade, a fearless mercenary, who doesn’t know defeat. This game joins the ranks of signature Nolimit City slots like Fire In The Hole 3, Highway To Hell and most recently Flight Mode. It’s time to lock and load, once again! Unlike the prequel, Brute Force: Alien Onslaught features a 6 reel setup, wilds and a new baddie, Xylox, who can steal multipliers from Joshua, Jason and Jade.
Push Gaming has returned to the deep blue with Fish ‘n’ Nudge Big Catch, a reimagined follow-up to one of its most beloved recent titles. Building on the charm and success of the originalFish ‘n’ Nudge, Big Catch brings fresh energy to the series with a new take on free spins and added layers of excitement designed to engage both loyal fans and new players.
Play’n GO unveils Rise of Orpheus, a mythical slot that takes players deep into the Underworld in pursuit of love, light, and powerful gameplay features. Following in the footsteps of mythology-inspired favourites like Gates of Troy and Rise of Olympus, Rise of Orpheus brings the tragic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice to life through emotionally charged mechanics and immersive storytelling.
Playson welcomes the return of its mischievous trickster in Super Pink Joker: Hold and Win, who features as a Wild during base play before shapeshifting into a lavish Multiplier for the renowned Hold and Win Bonus. Set in a dazzling pink world full of energy, the release cranks up the heat with dynamic animations and upbeat audio, with the jester taking his place on the enlarged 5×3 grid alongside electrified coins and cartoon-style fruits.
Blueprint Gaming™ reignites the prehistoric fun in its latest major branded IP release, The Flintstones™ Bedrock Riches, led by two lavish bonus games and an intriguing base play trail. The series’ original, The Flintstones™, enjoyed a strong initial uptake in users following its launch in May 2024, with players gravitating towards the familiarity of the brand and series. The renowned slot studio now feels confident the latest offering has built on key features and aims to retain players long term.
ELA Games, a dynamic game development studio, announces the release of John’s Book, its modern take on timeless themes and mechanics. The game invites players to join John the Explorer to hunt for ancient treasures buried in a Pharaoh’s tomb. Rich with iconic symbols and familiar mechanics, John’s Book is a tribute to the well-loved “Book Of…” format that’s prevalent in the industry while adding its twists. With high replayability, easy-to-understand features, and an immersive design, this title appeals to both veteran and casual players.
Players get to dig deeper with every spin as they search for gems and big wins in Wild Gold Mine, the latest slot release for iGaming content provider, ICONIC21. Wild Gold Mine promises a glistening player experience thanks to a cart-load of features, including a unique bonus that makes an appearance for the very first time in an ICONIC21 slot.
“Hellish 7 Hold & Win”, (Höllische 7 Hold & Win in German) is now live, a spicy Classic Series slot from the Berlin-based developer Hölle Games. This is a new summer edition in the Hellish Seven franchise, known for its high volatility, hellishly good payouts, and hard rock riffs. The new entry features Hold & Win, where, if players can fill the reels with (any) cash symbol, they will win the impressive 7777x main prize!
Tom Horn Gaming is kicking off July with Panda Rica, a fast-paced 3×3 video slot that delivers simple yet captivating mechanics and vibrant visuals. From expanding wilds and multiplier wins to Star Gamble Ladder, the game is a standout addition to the supplier’s growing portfolio of slot titles. Designed for quick sessions and high engagement, Panda Rica combines classic slot appeal with clever gameplay that elevates the player experience.
Prepare for an unforgettable summer as Endorphina announces the highly anticipated release of Sticky Lips, its latest captivating slot. This visually striking title invites players into a vibrant world where Endorphina’s Joker makes a remarkable return, blowing irresistible kisses to make their winnings truly stick. She’s wild, she’s wicked – and her lips are ready to stick you with luck! Dare to stare into her eyes in this 5-reel 4-row slot with 50 fixed paylines and prove your worth to get a lucky, juicy kiss. With every spin, her lips glow and tempt, hungry to lock in golden wins.
The post Week 28/2025 slot games releases appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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