The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament at EVO 2019 has been the most viewed event in EVO’s history. The tournament peaked at 279,000 online concurrent viewers during the Top 8 phase. And surpassed the previous record of 258,000 concurrent viewers set by Dragon Ball FighterZ last year.
Smash did pretty good for a party game 😎https://t.co/IVRVRKbKXV
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 5, 2019
The news comes from esports and gaming consultant and Rod Breslau, who initially announced the new viewership record with an eloquent: “Smash did pretty good for a party game”. However, in the same Twitter thread, Breslau had to clarify. The record for most concurrent viewers on EVO mainstream still is in Dragon Ball FighterZ’s hands. The viewership record that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate broke is another. As the Nintendo fighting game has reached “the overall game peak with all streams combined”. Therefore, by summing the viewers of every channel streaming the Top 8, Smash is the new record holder.
note that DBFZ from last year still has the peak for EVO's main stream at 258,000, but Smash Ultimate at this EVO has the overall game peak with all streams combined
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 5, 2019
The Reasons Behind Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament Success
Besides which game holds which record, the interesting fact is how overall successful EVO is. Every year this tournament brings the fighting genre into the spotlight by showcasing the talent of the best players in the world. And, with no surprise, more people always sit down to watch it.
The constant increase of viewers has, therefore, played a big factor in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s success at EVO 2019. Also, the popularity of the Nintendo fighting game played a big role. Though, these two haven’t been the only factors involved. For the first time since its release in 2016, Street Fighter V hasn’t headlined the event. In fact, this year it has been Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to receive the privilege of occupying the most prestigious spot and ending EVO 2019.
The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Grand Finals has been an electrifying duel between Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey and Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez. “MkLeo” was down 0-2 but made an incredible comeback by winning the next five games and became the world champion.
