CROSSFIRE world championship breaks viewership record with 37.5 million unique viewers

TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Smilegate Entertainment has announced viewership numbers for their main FPS title CROSSFIRE's world championship tournament 'CROSSFIRE STARS (CFS) 2017 Grand Finals' which was held in Xi'an, China from November 30th to December 3rd, 2017. The tournament reached a total of 37.5 million unique viewers, about a 50% increase from the previous year viewership record set by CFS 2016 Grand Finals. The audience for CROSSFIRE esports continues to grow as well as the investment of Smilegate into esports, elevating this year's Grand Finals prize pool to $850,000 USD.

The tournament was broadcasted live in 6 different languages (English, Chinese, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Russian) on YouTube, Twitch TV, Facebook and other streaming platforms, providing a wide range of localized esports contents for CROSSFIRE. In China, the tournament broadcast was expanded to 6 major esports channels which has incremented the viewership by 44% from that of last year, proving once again the popularity of CROSSFIRE esports by the local fans.

Moreover, representative teams from regions running the CROSSFIRE pro league CROSSFIRE ELITE LEAGUE (CFEL) have shown an impressive performance to match the competitive level of the Chinese teams, which can be seen as another key factor in the viewership growth. With EVA TEAM reaching the final, the viewership in Vietnam increased more than 300% compared to last year, while Brazil and Latin America viewership also showed a sharp increase.

"More fans have shown their interest in this CFS 2017 Grand Finals compared to CFS 2016 and we are very excited about it. Much of this can be attributed to all the effort and support that Smilegate has provided for the players in the pro league regions," said Brady Yeo, head of CROSSFIRE esports in Smilegate Entertainment. "This proves that CFS is indeed a global tournament celebrated by worldwide fans. We are going to continue to expand our support for CROSSFIRE pro players and keep developing the CROSSFIRE esports scene."

Further details on the CFS 2017 Grand Finals can be found in the official CFS website (www.crossfirestars.com/).

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SOURCE Smilegate Entertainment, Inc.