Following an outstanding finish to the EVO 2019 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Sunday evening, it has been revealed that the game also set a new EVO record for having the highest peak viewership online.

The numbers were a bit of a surprise, at least to some who saw that there was some backlash to the announcement that EVO 2019 would be closing out with Smash, as some do not consider the game as worthy as others at the event. Clearly, this had little impact on the die-hard fans of the franchise, as the finals brought in well over 200,000 viewers - with a peak of 279,000. This number represents the highest peak viewership ever in EVO history across all games. So much for the haters!

Smash Bros Ultimate has set the record for the highest peak viewership in EVO history for any game at over 279,000

Smash 4 lyfe #EVO19 pic.twitter.com/yTdc3PyrLu

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 5, 2019

There was some brief confusion, however, as some considered the statement of a record being broken to be inaccurate. But Rod “Slasher” Breslau came out to clarify, stating that while popular fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ holds the EVO stream record at 258,000, Smash holds the overall record for all streams.

note that DBFZ from last year still has the peak for EVO's main stream at 258,000, but Smash Ultimate at this EVO has the overall game peak with all streams combined

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 5, 2019

The high number of streams can also likely be attributed to the drama that unfolded during the grand finals match. The two players to face off were and Echo Fox’s Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez and TSM’s Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey. The format at EVO 2019 for Smash was that of double-elimination, and MkLeo looked to be the underdog as he crawled his way up from the losers bracket to the grand finals, only to lose the first two games.

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This put Tweek in the advantageous position of having a comfortable 2-0 lead. It was at that point MkLeo began pumping out decisive victory after decisive victory. In the end, he emerged victorious by performing a reverse sweep of the match, winning the next six games straight.

Four sweeps, a reverse sweep, and a sweep, and @MKLeoSB is YOUR inaugural EVO #SSBU champion here at #EVO2019! pic.twitter.com/FeJ1IOeH0Q

— EVO (@EVO) August 5, 2019

Even considering the outstanding performance by MkLeo throughout the tournament, the viewer numbers are still difficult to comprehend. Normally, the Street Fighter series of games closes out the end of EVO, while happened earlier in the day. One reason for the record-breaking numbers may be due to the elimination of Super Smash Bros. Melee from the lineup of games. This forced fans of the Smash series as a whole to only have one option in terms of where to watch competitive gameplay.

Via: youtube.com (sadece KAAN)

Smash is also considered niche in terms of competitive play, and receives little support from Nintendo in terms of fostering an inviting environment for eSports. Many professional players, MkLeo included, have criticized Nintendo for this hands-off approach. However, this has been how the company handled the game since the beginning of the series, generally speaking.

For now, we can clearly see that streaming of these kinds of competitive events is clearly popular. This is a great sign for the Fighting Game Community as a whole, and should help pump up attention for EVO 2020.

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