MLG Columbus becomes biggest Counter-Strike tournament ever

MLG Columbus has set multiple new records in the world of Counter-Strike eSports events.

The first ever major event held on American soil managed to bring in over 1.6 million concurrent viewers who watched more than 45 million hours of the tournament. Both of these numbers are a significant increase on the previous records of 1.3 million concurrent viewers and 34 million hours watched, which were held by ESL One Cologne 2015.

Not only did MLG Columbus break viewer records it also became the largest Counter Strike event in history in terms of prize money. The new $1,000,000 offering is four times larger than previous majors, although is still a far cry from the largest prize pool in the whole of eSports.

Last year, more than 225 million people watched competitive gaming, and the passion, engagement and size of this audience only continues to grow,” said Mike Sepso, Senior Vice President of Activision Blizzard Media Networks and MLG co-founder. As this year’s CS:GO Major numbers show, Activision Blizzard Media Networks’ commitment to broadcasting premium content and creating incredible events is resonating with players and fans around the world.”

It was Luminosity who managed to claim victory in Columbus as hundreds of thousands of people watched online and over 10,000 experinced it in person at the Nationwide Arena. The next CS:GO major will be ESL One Cologne in July.