Mobile esports draws more viewers than CS2 and Dota 2 combined
When a regional league outperforms world championships
There's a piece of news that at first glance seems like a boring diplomatic formality, but actually overturns our understanding of how esports works today. As reported by the channel @esportsindustry, the Russian Esports Federation signed an agreement with the Indonesian national esports federation at the Eastern Economic Forum. And here's where it gets interesting — not in the agreement itself, but in the numbers behind it.
Indonesia's MPL Indonesia league for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang gathered a peak audience of 4.13 million viewers in 2025, with an average of 488,500 concurrent viewers across the season. For comparison: peak broadcast numbers for CS2, Dota 2, and Valorant hover in the range of 1.3–2.8 million viewers — and that's at world championships, not regional leagues of a single country. It turns out that a domestic tournament for a mobile game in one country is watched by more people than the finals of The International or a Counter-Strike Major.
Why mobile games specifically
For us, teaching CS2 and Dota 2, this isn't a reason for jealousy, but a good opportunity to explain to students and their parents how the industry actually works. Esports has long split into two tiers by reach. In the first are League of Legends and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, with peaks of 4–7 million viewers. In the second are the disciplines familiar to us — CS2, Dota 2, and Valorant — with more modest numbers, but consistently commercially healthy disciplines with a long history, a serious prize pool base, and a clear career ladder for players.
The secret of the mobile tier is simple: accessibility. In Southeast Asia, where mobile internet is often the only way to get online and a smartphone is the primary device, mobile games generate 71% of the entire gaming market revenue in the region. Indonesia has a population of almost 280 million people, and 96% of them know what esports is. This isn't a niche hobby, but part of mass culture on the level of football.
A state bet on esports
The way esports management is structured in Indonesia deserves special attention. According to the same source, the discipline was officially recognized as a sport back in 2020 by a decision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, included in the national sports games, and the federation is overseen by a person from the government's security bloc. In other words, esports there isn't entertainment — it's part of a state strategy, on par with traditional Olympic disciplines.
This is an important lesson for parents in Kazakhstan who are still unsure whether it's worth supporting their child's interest in esports. While some consider it just a game, other countries are building an entire industry around the same competitions — with federations, leagues, sponsors on the level of Samsung and Telkomsel, and government funding.
What this means for our students
At CyberLab, we bet on CS2 and Dota 2 not because we don't notice the growth of the mobile segment, but because these are disciplines with the most well-established professional ecosystem: settled tournament formats, international organizations, a clear system of rankings and transfers. But it's useful for everyone — coaches and students alike — to keep track of where the industry as a whole is heading.
Indonesia's experience shows the main point: the esports audience isn't limited to computer games, and a discipline's potential is determined not only by gameplay quality but also by platform accessibility, cultural context, and — not least — state support. For those planning to tie their future to esports professionally, this is a signal to look at the industry more broadly: a career is possible not only as a player, but also in analytics, league management, commentary — and these skills are equally applicable in both CS2 and mobile disciplines.