The opening week of OverwatchLeague attracted more than 10 million viewers, which had the adverse effect of causing a noticeable hit on porn traffic, YouPorn data shows.

SEE ALSO:Nintendo Switch has cut deep into porn traffic

YouPorn, one of the biggest porn sites on the internet, revealed that traffic fell as much as 9% below average during the inaugural matches of Blizzard's ambitious Overwatchesports league last week. The biggest traffic hit came during the first match between the San Francisco Shock and the Los Angeles Valiant.

Credit: youporn

It's important to note that this could just be a coincidence, but a 9% drop isn't insignificant. The following three days of OverwatchLeague matches saw similar traffic patterns, though, albeit with less significant drops (8% on day two, 5% on day three, 3% on day four).

Mashable Top StoriesStay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news.Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletterBy signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Thanks for signing up!

Another fact that makes it seem like less of a coincidence is that YouPorn users have shown their interest in Overwatchby searching for Overwatchrelated content on YouPorn. With OverwatchLeague on the mind in January, Overwatch-related searches actually increased way beyond their average.

Day one and day two of OverwatchLeague seemed to cause people to search for Overwatch-related porn 26% and 31% more than usual on YouPorn, showing a correlation between the two audiences.

Credit: YouPorn

Overwatchisn't the first video game to have an effect on porn traffic. When the Nintendo Switch launched in March with the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, YouPorn suffered a 17% drop in traffic.

Hopefully YouPorn can recover from these losses soon.

---

Featured Video For You

---

The art of talking trash in esports

---

TopicsEsportsGamingPorn