"The Major was an incredible celebration and a great achievement. We sold 43,000 tickets over the four days of the tournament and welcomed nearly 50,000 people to Bercy," Douek said.
Taking place from May 18 to 21 at the Accor Arena, this major esports event, the first of its kind organized in France, saw the eight best teams in the world compete in the famous shooter Counter-Strike, in front of a supercharged audience.
"We are delighted with the atmosphere in the stands. Counter-Strike has a long history and its longevity is proof that it is a game that captivates players and fans," said the CEO of BLAST, a Danish company.
At the end of the four days of competition, it was the Vitality club that won against the Germans of GamerLegion, becoming the 2nd French structure to win a Major Counter-Strike, the equivalent of a Grand Slam title in Tennis.
"We felt during the event that we had reached a +mainstream+ side with a growing interest from the general public. The government pushed for this competition and then entrusted the organization to BLAST who did a great job, "said AFP Fabien "Neo" Devide, co-founder of Vitality, the day after the victory.
Online, the event racked up 58 million hours of viewing, with a peak audience of 1.5 million viewers connected simultaneously during Sunday's final, according to BLAST figures, making it the "3rd most-watched Counter-Strike match of all time."
The tournament has also been televised in nearly 100 territories in 27 languages and has been mentioned 157 million times on TikTok, according to the source.
This was the last major tournament of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, after ten years of competitions around the world, before the release of a new opus this summer. For the occasion, the American publisher of the game, Valve, had planned a global endowment of $ 1.25 million (1.15 million euros).
© 2023 AFP