Impressive gamer activity numbers – over 6 million minutes viewed and 120,000 spectators

One of the most awaited events for computer game enthusiasts – the “Baltics Gaming Expo” – took place in Vilnius. During the largest pop culture festival in the Baltic States, “Comic Con Baltics 2024 powered by Samsung,” more than 120 thousand game enthusiasts from around the world watched the qualifying and final matches of the organized tournaments live and online. This equates to over 6 million minutes of viewing time.

The community grows every year

“Computer games have long been more than just a form of leisure or entertainment. With the rapid rise of e-sports and professional gaming culture, today gaming is not only one of the most visible but also one of the most promising activities. This is perfectly illustrated by the rapidly growing community of our event. Over the three days of ‘Baltics Gaming Expo,’ tens of thousands of visitors participated in the event’s activities, and over 120 thousand viewers from around the world watched the qualifying and final matches of the tournaments live and online”, says Šarūnas Tamulis, one of the organizers of “Baltics Gaming Expo.”

For the first time in Lithuanian history, a stage of the popular racing game “Trackmania” held at the event was included in the world championship standings. The best players from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries gathered to participate.

The qualifying matches took place before the event, and the finals could be watched over the weekend.

Over 6 million minutes watched

“We estimate that more than 75 thousand people watched the ‘Trackmania’ qualifying and final matches in total. This amounts to over 2 million minutes of viewing time. The engagement is record-breaking and incredible. Overall, the viewing time of all event tournaments exceeds 6 million minutes,” says the organizer.

The winner of the “Trackmania” tournament was the representative from the Netherlands, “Stufts”.

Other international tournaments were also held at the event: “Counter Strike,” won by the team “Grannys Knockers,” “Valorant,” won by “LANPACAN,” “Rocket League,” won by “Unathletico,” “League of Legends,” won by “Back2TheGame,” “Tekken,” won by the Lithuanian representative “Rafizas,” and other tournaments and exhibition matches. During the latter, the most famous Baltic players competed with popular content creators.

Are mobile phones replacing computers?

An interesting trend observed worldwide is that computers and consoles are giving up their positions to powerful, game-oriented phones. According to “Statista,” games on smartphones already account for more than 51% of the global gaming market revenue.

Lithuania is no exception. The first-time organized mobile game “Brawl Stars” tournament, held together with “Samsung Electronics Baltics” by one of the Lithuania’s most famous gamers, Karolis Jankauskas (“LTU Republic”), attracted twice as many participants as expected.

“We tried to organize the tournament so that everyone who wanted could test their skills. It doesn’t matter how you play – the most important thing is the opportunity to participate and try to compete with other players, to grow competitiveness. We did not expect such a large number of players – almost 5 thousand players registered for the tournament,” said K. Jankauskas.

The most famous gamers of the Baltic States

During the event, 16 teams competed in the final stages of the “Brawl Stars” tournament at the “Galaxy AI” stand. In the finals, other famous Baltic gamers helped the players: “Samsung” ambassadors “Svarbeuse dariti,” “Edvisss,” Carmsplays,” “Foxy Mandy,” “grianDs,” “krispoissyh.”

The game was played with the most powerful “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra” smartphone, which became the main prize of the tournament, won by player Kristupas Bitinas.

“Baltics Gaming Expo,” organized during the largest pop culture event in the Baltic States, “Comic Con Baltics 2024 powered by Samsung,” took place for the second year in a row. Visitors had the opportunity not only to participate in or watch the tournaments but also to try out the latest technologies and games, have fun in the retro arcade area, and engage in other interactive activities.

The next event bringing together the gaming community is planned for May 23-25, 2025, in Vilnius, “LITEXPO.”

The project is partially funded by the Vilnius City Municipality.