Apex Legends esports draws highest viewership from Japan in Championship statistics

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 18/01/2026

Traditionally, Apex Legends esports has been most associated with the North American region. It is widely considered to be the most competitive region, and North American teams typically perform most consistently in LAN tournaments. 

However, since the introduction of the ALGS Sapporo Championship in January 2025, Apex Legends esports viewership and engagement in Japan have blossomed, shifting the esports title’s main demographic.

What were the viewership statistics for the Apex Legends Championship?

The ALGS broke records in Apex Legends esports from the Sapporo Championship, attracting an audience of approximately 16,500 in-person attendees to the Daiwa House PREMIST DOME on Match Point Final day.  

That makes this Championship audience the largest in ALGS history by at least 3,000. 

Every ticket sold before the Finals day began, with so many attendees that the live broadcast start time had to be pushed back to allow everyone to arrive. 

Even on Saturday’s Bracket Stage, the audience was reportedly pushing 13,000 in-person attendees. 

For online viewership, Apex Legends esports gained some wins and suffered some losses. 

The Championship kickoff saw a slight dip in online viewership compared to previous years. However, viewership was more consistently held, despite lower kickoff peaks.

Over the course of the tournament, viewership figures ultimately peaked at 408, 660 concurrent viewers during the record-breaking Match Point Final, won by the unsigned LCQ team Oblivion.

This lags behind the 2025 year 4 Championship, which peaked at 540, 364. 

However, growing regional popularity within Apex Legends esports and a diversification in the consumption of esports broadcasts take some weight off this drop. 

Since the 2025 Year 4 Championship, the ALGS has had a stronger Japanese and APAC North (Asia-Pacific North) fan base. 

The most popular language of the ALGS 2026 Championship is Japanese, as was the 2025 Championship, which far surpasses English, despite Apex Legends esports’ reputation as having a very North American identity. 

Clearly, the esport has grown to find homes with new audiences thanks to EA’s expansion into Sapporo, a promising indicator of the ecosystem’s potential longevity.

Co-streaming trend sees B-Stream and Japanese livestreams significantly surpass official ALGS broadcast

The most notable takeaway from the ALGS Championship for Apex Legends esports is the value of co-streaming. 

EA’s main English ALGS broadcast was consistently outpaced in viewership across the tournament by key co-streams, including the ever-popular B-Stream run by iconic Apex Legends personalities NiceWigg and Greek, and the Japanese Apex Legends channel RAGE Esports.

In particular, RAGE Esports is a core contributor to Japanese being the most-streamed language for Apex Legends esports coverage during the Championship. 

The channel’s ALGS Championship livestreams have consistently reached approximately double that of the official English ALGS channel on the same platform, despite having fewer channel subscribers. 

Co-streaming’s dominance is certainly not limited to Apex Legends esports. In fact, ALGS co-streaming popularity is contributing to a dominant trend in the wider esports industry.

This trend is being embraced by several different competitive esports ecosystems, including League of Legends, where the LEC recently announced 45 official co-streamers across 15 different languages. 

While some official co-streams are included in viewership statistics, views from other non-affiliated streamers are not counted. Therefore, as players shift to watch the co-streams of their preferred creators, the main event’s viewership will also decrease. 

Given the success of co-streaming at the ALGS Year 5 Championship, EA would likely benefit significantly from investing further in the format. 

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Hannah is a journalist 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, Apex Legends, and advocating for women's esports initiatives. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ALGS LANs, ESI London, EGX, and watch parties.

All Posts By Hannah Marie ZT