The first wave of Play-In matches has seen IEM Cologne viewership surpass the 300,000 mark on day one of the Counter-Strike tournament.
Intel Extreme Masters (IEM Cologne started on July 23rd with the first Play-In matches. However, the Group Stage doesn’t begin until July 26th, when viewership is expected to increase significantly as some of the most dominant teams join the competition.
IEM Cologne Day 1: Which games pulled the highest views?
Cologne’s first day of competition saw Play-In teams begin their journey to Group Stage qualification. According to Esports Charts, the tournament received 332,893 peak viewers in its initial 24 hours.
FURIA’s match against FlyQuest proved most popular, with current IEM Cologne viewership data displaying the game as having a peak of 275,559 viewers. The Brazilian team were able to push ahead of FlyQuest, winning the best-of-three at 2-1.
Unsurprisingly, FaZe Clan’s game against BIG also proved popular, with 225,309 peak viewers. Fans are eager to see if a rejuvenated Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants will be enough to pull FaZe back from the brink after Oleksander ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev’s FaZe loan ended.
Although impossible to tell after one best-of-three, FaZe Clan’s 2-0 win over BIG can be celebrated with cautious optimism that the roster is back on track for success.
Despite FURIA vs FlyQuest and FaZe Clan vs BIG being the only two games to rise above 200,000 peak viewership, Team Liquid vs paiN and Virtus.pro vs TYLOO also proved popular enough to hit 100,000 or more.
Which popular match-ups lie ahead?
IEM Cologne 2025 is currently in its Play-In stage. This means that some of the most popular Counter-Strike teams have yet to make an appearance.
Direct Qualification teams do not appear in the IEM Cologne 2025 schedule until the Group Stage, which begins on July 26th. These teams are highly ranked in the VRS (Valve Regional Standings) and will be key teams to watch on Counter-Strike betting sites.
The complete list of teams joining IEM Cologne during the Group Stage is as follows:
- Team Vitality
- MOUZ
- Team Spirit
- Team Falcons
- The MongolZ
- Aurora Gaming
- G2 Esports
- Natus Vincere (NAVI)
These teams were selected from the VRS Global June 2025 ranking.
Therefore, a steep increase in IEM Cologne viewership can be expected as the tournament proceeds. Team Vitality holds a particularly strong position as the highest ranked team so far this season.
The European Counter-Strike titans are coasting into Cologne with eight first-place tournament finishes in 2025 and still riding the momentum from their Austin Major success.
So far, they have won IEM Katowice 2025, ESL Pro League Season 21, BLAST Open Spring 2025, ESL Grand Slam Season 5, IEM Melbourne 2025, BLAST Rivals Spring 2025, IEM Dallas 2025, and the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.
They will be looking to add IEM Cologne to that list. The viewership numbers will certainly leap when their journey begins.
Hannah is a writer specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports and Apex Legends, although it may never surpass her drive to passionately beat her friends in every game of Mariokart. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ESI London, EGX, Discover: Esports and many League of Legends watch parties.
