In the month of June, two major FPS titles Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) and VALORANT saw their major tournaments occur simultaneously. The BLAST.tv Austin Major and VALORANT Masters Toronto both ended on June 22accidentl. As all these important happenings took place there were some comparisons made between CS2, over a decade old, and VALORANT, which is still establishing itself.
Different Approaches: Legacy vs. Innovation
The esports ecosystems of CS2 and VALORANT are different, making them hard to compare. CS2, the latest instalment of the iconic Counter-Strike franchise by Valve, is designed to maintain an open and competitive system, where different organizations are able to compete in high-profile Tier 1 tournaments created by top names like BLAST, PGL, and ESL. On the other hand, VALORANT, a game created by Riot Games, has had a franchise model since 2023. As a result, teams are limited in the regional VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) leagues that the publisher organizes.
In 2025, VALORANT will have three regional tournaments—EMEA, Americas, Pacific—and China, as well as three global events and the Champions tournament. CS2’s season, in contrast, has smaller, more competitions, whereas VALORANT takes a slower approach with its league system punctuated with international events.
Which one has more viewership?
In 2025, the unique occurrence of the Austin Major and the Masters Toronto gave us insight into which tournament was able to attract the most FPS fans. Both tournaments got to a million-dollar prize pool, but the CS2 Austin Major stood out more with 1.8 million peak viewers than the 1.12 million peaks Toronto saw. The historic Austin event proved to be the most-watched CS2 event, amassing a record of 76.1 million hours viewed over 135 hours of live airtime. For comparison, Toronto earned 34.8 million hours viewed in 73 hours of live airtime.
Even with fewer teams and matches, VALORANT’s Masters Toronto didn’t do as well as Bangkok, while the latter struggled to beat CS2 views. CS2’s audience across both games has grown, while VALORANT’s audience has deteriorated elsewhere, although the Pacific region rose.
Prize Pools: Strategy and Distribution
Analyzing prize distribution, CS2 appears to have an edge with many tournaments with a lot of prize money. Throughout 2023, an assortment of CS2 events offered prize purses between $190,000 to above $1 million. Further events were also promised. The VALORANT Champions, which will take place soon, is expected to have the largest loot pool of $2.25 million.
Teams benefit from revenue-sharing from in-game purchases of both games. The CS2 logo capsules will provide steady revenue, while sales of VALORANT virtual goods help VCT and Ascension Teams.
Game Updates and Meta Changes
Different content update strategies for VALORANT and CS2. VALORANT has undergone consistent updates from Riot. Now we have received some updates for 2025. Tejo and Waylay are given as new Agents. VALORANT also frequently updates its map pool, keeping the meta fresh. CS2 Map Pool did not change, as they are fixing stuff.
Riot’s continuing content additions benefit both casual and professional fan groups. Even so, CS2 carries on with a steady audience despite having the same structure and meta.
Who Will Rule in 2025?
Counter-Strike 2 looks set to be the biggest esport of 2025. It has a large audience, huge prize pools and a whole lot of events. VALORANT is innovative through regular updates but currently not on the scale of CS2. Nevertheless, the upcoming VALORANT Champions tournament has the power to influence viewership and possibly break records.