The official Esports Charts 2025 report on the female esports scene has been released, with VALORANT continuing to lead in viewership.
The latest Esports Charts report analyzes the female esports scenario in 2025, highlighting a decline in the number of tournaments. While prize pools and average viewership have been on the rise, this growth has not translated into more events, as fewer tournaments were held throughout the year.
Female esports viewership in 2025
Between 2021 and 2023, the female and inclusive esports scenario saw a boom in viewership, going from 12.79 to 29.16 million. However, viewership has been declining since then. In 2025, the total watch time decreased 7.9%. While no single reason can be pinpointed, this decrease may reflect the ongoing lack of investment in the female esports scene.
Nevertheless, esports can surprise us. In 2025, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang's female scenario saw a significant increase in popularity, alongside minor growth for Counter-Strike, Chess, and others. In fact, VALORANT and MLBB represent over 90% of all the viewership.
Less tournaments
According to Esports Charts, female esports hosted fewer tournaments in 2025 compared to 2024, with a 52% decrease in events. However, average concurrent viewership increased, highlighting some nuances in the broader picture of the scene.
The EWC x MLBB Women’s Invitational 2025 recorded 496,995 peak viewers, while the VALORANT Game Changers 2025 Championship generated the highest media value, reaching $1.88 million.
MLBB has proven to be an ascending esports title in the female scenario (40.6%), getting closer to VALORANT (45.6%) in general viewership. With less viewership, we have Counter-Strike (6.3%), Arena of Valor (3.9%), League of Legends (1.8%), and Fortnite (1%). Despite the closure of the iconic ESL Impact Series, CS2 managed to record strong viewership results.
Arena of Valor, just like many other esports titles, has benefited from the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, Esports Charts explains. Arena of Valor set a new female esports record and became one of the continent's most prestigious titles for players to chase in a national team.
The multi-game series hosted by the Olympic Council of Asia gathered 3.74 million views, following EWC with 3.78 million and VCT Game Changers with 8.84 million. In fact, the majority of the EWC views come from the MLBB female tournament.
The increased competitiveness of these events has broadened audience engagement, including activity on esports betting platforms. As the scene continues to mature, deeper analysis, stronger narratives, and more predictable competitive structures are shaping how fans interact with female esports.
Popular female esports teams
In total, there were 19.95 million total hours watched in over 100 tournaments. Imperial Valkyries, MIBR GC, Shopify Rebellion Gold, and Team Liquid Brazil are the most popular teams. This brings three Brazilian teams to the top four most popular teams, making Portuguese one of the three top languages.
Imperial Valkyries is the most-watched female esports team of 2025. They have recorded over 2.32 million hours watched. The team was part of many memorable CS2 moments over the year. They were invited to top-tier events alongside male competitors, bringing a lot of attention to their talent.
As for MIBR GC and Team Liquid Brazil, their devoted fanbases have proven they can move a country to watch them play. While MIBR place thrid in the Game Changers Championship, Team Liquid Brazil defeated the back-to-back winners, Shopify Rebellion Gold, and brought the first female esports international title to Brazil.
Just below the two million viewers mark, Team Vitality stood out. The MLBB roster gained significant popularity during the MLBB Women’s Invitational 2025. They claimed first place and became the first MLBB team to achieve this feat at an international women’s event.
Female esports 2025 prize pool
As for the prize pool distribution, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) stand out with 20% of the $3.3 million prize pool. Saudi Arabia is the country with the biggest share in the tournaments, thanks to the Esports World Cup and its huge investment in 2025. They are followed by Asia (18.6%) and the Americas (15.7%), with Europe having the least investment (7.8%).
The offline events hold the biggest part of the same prize pool with 49.3%. However, they are closely followed by the online events. The hybrid events have only 8.2%.
While the scene has faced many challenges, it is full of talent worth discovering. The players, the tournaments, and the entire ecosystem deserve greater recognition. Give them a chance, and you’ll find no shortage of skilled and inspiring individuals.
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