IEM Cologne 2025 breaks 300,000 viewers on opening day

The opening day of Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2025 has peaked at over 300,000 viewers.

According to esports data platform Esports Charts, the first day of the Play-Ins reached peak viewing figures of 306,061.

Data from the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournament reveals that the match between the Brazilian and Australian sides of FURIA and FlyQuest, respectively topped the viewing charts. However, viewership data only has this peak viewership at 275,559 as of this writing.

BIG versus FaZe Clan generated the second-highest peak with 225,309 people watching Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants‘ first match since returning to the North American organisation’s starting line-up.

Elsewhere, content creators co-streaming matches also generated impressive viewing figures across the opening day. Brazilian streamer Alexandre ‘Gaules’ Borba Chiqueta saw 65,434 viewers watching the first wave of Play-In matches.

The first day of the event has laid the foundations for the viewing figures to rise as the Play-Ins progress and attention turns to the Group Stage, where the likes of Team Vitality and Team Falcons enter the fray.

With the first day concluded, day two of the event will see six matches take place. Three will determine the first teams that advance to the Group Stage, while the others will decide the first teams that are eliminated from the tournament.

The winners of the lower bracket matches will advance to the second round, where the teams will compete for another chance to make it into the Group Stage, which takes place from July 26th to 29th.

Below are the matches taking place on July 24th, 2025:

Fans can tune into day two of IEM Cologne 2025 on ESL’s YouTube and Twitch channels.