Discover how ER Champ Finals blend live audiences in Sofia with global livestreams, creating the ultimate hybrid escape room experience.

A Global Celebration of Escape Rooms

The Escape Room Championship (ER Champ) has always been about more than just puzzles. It is a celebration of creativity, teamwork, and the global community that surrounds escape rooms. As an international championship, ER Champ has a mission to bring players and fans from around the world together. To achieve this, several years ago the organizers made a key decision: to stream the Finals live online. Since then, livestreaming has become an essential part of the event, ensuring that the celebration of escape rooms reaches well beyond the physical venue.

Why Livestreaming Matters

The popularity of live broadcasts has grown dramatically in recent years. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch have made it possible for fans to experience competitions in real time, whether they involve gaming, esports, or creative events. In fact, Twitch alone draws over 35 million daily visitors, and the most-watched esports tournaments attract millions of concurrent viewers. While escape room championships represent a more specialized field, the growing popularity of live broadcasts shows the importance of this medium in creating access for international communities.

In 2023, the ER Champ Finals livestream on YouTube gathered over 34,000 viewers from multiple countries. This demonstrates that the event already has an active audience and potential for continued growth.

Livestreaming the 2025 Finals

This year’s Finals will continue that tradition, with broadcasts available on at least two major platforms: YouTube and Twitch. The use of two platforms allows broader accessibility for viewers who prefer one service over the other.

Crucially, ER Champ remains the only global escape room event that is streamed online, live, and free of charge. This distinguishes it within the industry, where most events are accessible only to participants and a limited audience.

Livestream 2025. Start: 20.10.2025 at 9:00 local time (EEST)

The On-Site Experience in Sofia

At the same time, the Finals are more than just a digital broadcast. In 2025, the Fan Zone in The Purgatory in Sofia will welcome a live audience, creating a hybrid experience that blends physical presence with digital reach. The venue can host several dozen spectators, with preparations in place to expand capacity to a few hundred.

The combination of an in-person audience and an online broadcast creates a hybrid format. It allows local spectators to observe the competition directly, while global viewers can follow the same event remotely.

Setting ER Champ Apart

Most escape room events are small, localized, and often limited to the participants themselves. ER Champ takes a different approach. By combining livestreaming with a live audience, it transforms a niche competition into an international spectacle. The hybrid format positions ER Champ as the largest and most visible escape room event in the world, bridging the gap between players, fans, and industry professionals.

It is this balance - between the local and the global, the physical and the digital - that sets ER Champ apart. This model demonstrates how puzzle-based events can expand their reach and presence without losing their competitive character.