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The PUBG: Battlegrounds event at the 2025 Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, shattered last year’s numbers, boosting average viewership by an astounding 89% to 98,158 viewers. Live audiences skyrocketed too, with peak viewership climbing 145% and total watch time reaching 2.5 million hours over approximately 26 hours of tournament broadcast.
This standout performance made PUBG one of the most consistently watched competitions of the year, ranking among the top PUBG events in 2025 by both viewership and watch time.
Twisted Minds Take the Crown at Esports World Cup
Representing homegrown talent, Saudi Arabia’s Twisted Minds clinched the PUBG: Battlegrounds title in a heart-stopping finale. The club outpaced South Korea’s Gen.G by a narrow seven-point margin, while third-place Team Falcons trailed just three points behind second. This triumph powered Twisted Minds to stay alive in the Club Championship race. The win also underlined the rising dominance of regional teams on the global esports stage.
Audience Growth Fueled by Regional Support
A driving force behind the viewership surge was the performance of regional favorites. With Twisted Minds and Team Falcons both finishing on the podium, Arabic-speaking fans tuned in en masse. Peak concurrent viewers in Arabic soared by over 16.5 percent.
Other languages like English, Thai, and Korean also saw sharp year-on-year gains, thanks in part to captivating matches from teams like Gen.G and Theerathon Five.
Coverage platforms also expanded, increasing the number of channels hosting the event from 77 to over 100.
Club Championship Race Heats Up the Esports World Cup
In the Club Championship standings, the top positions became fiercely contested:
Rank Club Points
1 Team Falcons 4,700
2 Team Liquid 4,200
3 Team Vitality 3,750
4 Twisted Minds 3,200
5 Virtus.pro 3,200
6 Gen.G Esports 2,850
With Team Falcons holding a narrow 500-point lead over Team Liquid, the final week of competition promises fierce action as teams vie to claim or retain their championship.
Check out a weekly recap from the event here:
