Valorant officially launched in 2020 and immediately, Riot Games announced the direction of this game's eSports, through the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) ecosystem, officially used in early 2021. From here, Counter-Strike and Valorant fans began to compare the Esports background of both games in the past time.
Recently, the Esports Charts statistics published a comparison of Valorant and Counter-Strike in the period of 2020-2024, which is also the time when Valorant's launch. The indicators comparable between both games are the total number of viewing hours and the number of hours broadcasting (excluding parameters from China's broadcast platforms).
It can be seen that in 5 years of statistics, Valorant lost to Counter-Strike in terms of total viewing hours. However, it can be seen that the gap between the two sides has narrowed significantly in the following years, especially in 2023. This parameter of Valorant is even more impressive when considering the number of hours of Counter-Strike's broadcasting is always very high, in 2024 double compared to Valorant.
The large broadcast time can be explained by the tournaments of CS: GO and CS2 by the third units, every year there are many tournaments taking place. This is different from Valorant when all major tournaments are organized and broadcast by Riot Games. However, it can be seen that Counter-Strike retains the attraction with the number of hours that are stable over the years (a slightly reduced in 2023).
At the same time, considering the “file” of the followers of both games will see a significant difference. Counter -Strike is very popular in Europe and South America, while Valorant is extremely popular in Asia, especially in China – Korea. However, CS2 has begun to go to Asia more, especially with the success of the Mongolz – The Mongolz or the organization of Perfect World Major in China at the end of 2024.
However, Esports Insider said that the comparison from the community between Valorant and CS2 will soon end as Valorant is increasingly changing. Accordingly, this game no longer prioritizes shooting, but the use of skills is equally important. Valorant's eSports background also becomes different, creating its own mark, not just remembering because the players moved from CS to, like the early years.
