The FNCS Global Championship 2025 in Lyon, France, has gone down as one of Fortnite’s biggest esports milestones in recent years. From September 6–8, the world’s top duos battled it out for a $2 million prize pool, with Queasy, SwizzY, and Merstach emerging as champions.

While it didn’t eclipse the historic viewership of the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals (2.33 million peak viewers), the Lyon event became the most-watched Fortnite tournament since 2019, marking a massive rebound for the competitive scene.

Record-Breaking Viewership

• Peak Viewers: 939,000–954,441 (highest since 2019)
• Average Viewers: 693,431 (+25% from 2024)
• Hours Watched: 7.57 million (+7.9% from 2024, despite only 11 hours of airtime)
• Streaming Channels: Over 770 broadcast the event, four times more than 2024

These numbers shattered FNCS records and highlight Fortnite’s momentum heading into 2026.

Why FNCS 2025 Took Off

Several factors fueled the surge in viewership:

• Co-Streaming: Top creators like AussieAntics, Typical Gamer hosted watch parties, pulling in hundreds of thousands of fans with live reactions and commentary.
• In-Game Integration: Fortnite’s Legends Landing made it possible for players to watch matches live inside the game itself, adding about 50,000 concurrent viewers on average.
• Consistent Growth: FNCS has been climbing each year, 722,000 peaks in 2023, 809,000 in 2024, and now nearly 954,000 in 2025.
• Regional Strength: With Europe hosting the event in Lyon, and strong showings from European teams, fans were locked in, especially during the high-stakes endgames.

How It Stacks Up Against Past Events

• Fortnite World Cup (Solo, 2019): 2.33M peak viewers
• Fortnite World Cup (Duos, 2019): 1.6M peak viewers
• FNCS Globals (2025): 939k–954k peak viewers
• FNCS Globals (2024): 809k peak viewers
• FNCS Globals (2023): 722k peak viewers
• FNCS Pro-Am (2025): 644k peak viewers

This puts FNCS 2025 firmly as the most successful FNCS ever, and the clearest sign yet that Fortnite esports is regaining the spotlight it held during its early years.

Looking Ahead

The success of Lyon 2025 proves that Fortnite’s competitive scene is alive and thriving. With FNCS heading into Duos format in 2026 and more LAN events on the way, the trajectory suggests even bigger things for the game’s esports future.

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