A new Evo 2019 viewership record has been set, at the annual eSport event. In the final main competition at Evo 2019, some of the best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players in the world gathered together to battle it out for the title of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Champion. After it was all said and done, MKLeo, a popular streamer, took home the victory and helped set a new Evo 2019 viewership record in the process.
During the course of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competition, Evo viewership reached 279,000 concurrent viewers, as pointed out by Rod Breslau on Twitter. This new Evo 2019 viewership record beats out the previous record by over 20,000 viewers, which was held by Dragon Ball FighterZ and was set in 2018. This new record is undoubtedly due to the growing popularity of eSports and online streaming services like Twitch and Mixer.
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Just a few weeks ago, Bugha, a Pennsylvania teenager took home around $3 million for winning the Fortnite World Cup, one of the biggest eSports events ever. The Fortnite World Cup brought in around 2.3 million viewers in 2019 and featured a $30 million prize pool, which is an impressive feat in and of itself.
The Smash Bros. games are no stranger to Evo and appear in some form or fashion almost every year. However, no previous year has been as successful as the 2019 Smash Bros. Ultimate competition. With its success, this makes one wonder if Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will become the featured Smash Bros. game in the future, which used to belong to Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate received its 4.0.0 update just a couple of days ago, adding in a new Dragon Quest Hero, online tournaments, and tons of other minor adjustments. This is just the beginning of the post launch content that Nintendo has planned for its beloved fighting series.