Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament draws 144,848 concurrent viewers; Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament attracts 134,000.

This year's Evolution Championship Series tournament drew a record 1.7 million unique viewers on streaming site Twitch.

A lot of people really do love watching their fighting game tournaments live.

According to Twitch.tv vice president of marketing Matthew DiPietro (via Polygon), the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament attracted a maximum of 144,848 concurrent viewers, followed by the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament, which drew in 134,000 watchers. The Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition tournament amassed 125,000 concurrent users at its peak.

The numbers beat all previous records for fighting game tournaments streamed on Twitch, with the total unique numbers for this year's EVO 50 percent higher than last year's event.

Ahead of the tournament, Nintendo initially denied organisers permission to stream Super Smash Bros. Melee gameplay. The company quickly reversed its decision to allow the game to be included. Check out GameSpot for more coverage from EVO 2013.

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