Masters London 2026 viewership dips early but playoffs surge now

VALORANT Masters London 2026 opened with modest viewership numbers in the Swiss Stage, running 15 to 20% below Masters Santiago in peak and average concurrent viewers. The decline was visible across multiple major broadcast languages, though total hours watched edged up by 2.7% thanks to a longer runtime and several competitive 2-1 series. 

FUT Esports was the Swiss Stage's biggest audience draw, appearing in three of the top five matches by peak viewers, with their deciding series against NRG peaking at 461,805 concurrent viewers. NRG's early elimination was the stage's biggest upset. Leviatán and Team Vitality both advanced with clean 2-0 records.  

The playoffs have since shifted the conversation entirely. Paper Rex defeated Team Vitality 2-1 in the upper bracket semifinals, while EDward Gaming pushed through on the other side, setting up an all-upper-bracket final that promises to be one of the tournament's most-watched series.  

Masters London runs through June 21 at a $1,000,000 prize pool, and is also making history as the first international VALORANT tournament ever held in the UK. With Paper Rex and EDG now facing off for a direct grand final berth, and teams like G2 Esports and Leviatán still alive in the lower bracket, the event's viewership trajectory still has plenty of room to climb before the weekend finale.

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