The 8 Best Esports Games Worldwide

Esports, the competitive arm of the gaming industry, continues to garner massive audiences, incredible prize pools, and massive sponsorships that allow elite players to turn their passions into careers. Esports is predicted to be an industry worth $1.87 billion a year by 2025.

Esports includes many games in many different genres. We can see games such as Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat or Rocket League in this sector, where tournaments are mainly held for battle royale, shooter and MOBA games. In this article, we have listed the best esports games with the largest prize pools and tournaments worldwide.

Dota 2

Expressed as “easy to learn, difficult to master” in the gaming industry, Dota 2 is one of the most played MOBA games in the world. This free-to-play MOBA features over 100 characters accompanying players on the battlefield. Each character has different abilities and a play style that changes according to the player.

Although the MOBA genre is enigmatic for viewers unfamiliar with the game’s mechanics, Dota 2’s prize pool of more than $30 million makes Dota 2 International an esports game worth watching.

Also Read: The Best MOBA Games for Android

League of Legends

League of Legends, Riot Games’ free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena, is one of the best MOBA games you can play on the market. The gameplay of League of Legends includes fun elements such as tower defense, real-time strategy, and team battles. Accessibility is one of League of Legends standout features, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of complex core gameplay elements. Skill shots, cooldowns, unique abilities, and teamwork make League of Legends the face of MOBA games, outpacing the likes of Dota 2 and Heroes of the Storm.

In terms of esports, Riot Games supports this title through the League of Legends Championship Series. League of Legends’ tournament has a prize pool of over $2 million.

Also Read: The best multiplayer iPhone games to play with friends

Overwatch

It offers cartoon fun even in the gun-filled universe of Overwatch, one of the first games to prove that FPS games don’t always have to be dark or realistic. Originally, it was Valve’s Team Fortress 2 game that presented this proof to players, but Overwatch brought this title to a much more detailed place.

Overwatch is a thoroughly enjoyable first-person shooter with a variety of heroes, classes, and mechanics. As expected, such a successful game has also developed a very successful esports scene. Blizzard is promoting the Overwatch competitive landscape with various esports initiatives, including the Overwatch World Cup. Overwatch World Cup 2019 had a prize pool of $205,000.

Call of Duty

Next in the list of the best esports games is Call of Duty, a fast-paced first-person shooter developed by Activision as part of Blizzard. Call of Duty, one of the most popular game series ever created, is a game that every player has played at least once. 

The first World Championship of the Call of Duty series, which was first released in 2003 and presented to players with a new version every year, was held in 2013 and had a prize pool of 1 million dollars. The prize pool of the series, which has almost the same number of views as Overwatch, is larger than Overwatch. This is a symbol of Call of Duty’s strong commitment to the league in the longer term.

Also Read: The Best Free Survival Games

Hearthstone

Hearthstone is a free-to-play collectible card game developed by Blizzard, first released in 2014. The game consists of two players with a deck of 30 cards and a hero. The object of the game is to destroy the other person’s cards and destroy their heroes to ultimately win the game. Hearthstone is one of the most popular games in the entire world, with a player base reaching 100 million players in 2018. The cards and characters in Hearthstone are based on Blizzard’s video game series World of Warcraft.

The competitive part of Hearthstone started right after its release in 2014, and in its first year the game had a $250,000 prize pool. The rivalry was limited to Asia and Europe, but quickly rose to an international level due to the popularity of the game. In 2019, the average viewership for a Hearthstone tournament ranged from 50,000 to 150,000, with 276,000 viewers peaking at the 2019 Hearthstone World Championship. In 2020, only a small tournament was held for Hearthstone due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Also Read: The Best Free Mobile Games

PUBG: Battlegrounds

Like many other games in the open-world survival or first-person shooter genres, PUBG’s primary goal is to be the last player standing. Taking some of the best aspects of open world games and combining it with the mechanics of a good first-person shooter, PUBG: Battlegrounds has a loyal player base.

PUBG: Battlegrounds also has a very good balance. Everyone jumps into the map at the same time, everyone starts unarmed, and all players try not to stay outside the blue area, trying to be the last survivor.

Also Read: The Best Battle Royale Games Like PUBG

Fortnite

Fortnite is the battle royale game to beat. In early 2020, Epic Games confirmed that Fortnite was home to an incredible 12.3 million concurrent players in a record-breaking session, thanks to an in-game Travis Scott concert. Fortnite’s popularity is off the charts.

Fortnite does a lot, including approachable game modes, bright and crazy graphics, and an excellent construction system. The presence of minor fights and microtransactions detracts from the experience, but fans of the genre should still give it a shot, as it’s a free-to-play game. Fortnite can be played on any platform where video games are played.

The inaugural Fortnite World Cup of 2019 had a prize pool of $30 million.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Last in the list of the best esports games is CS:GO, Valve’s legendary multiplayer FPS game, which has been at the forefront of shooter games with its strong legacy since its release in 2012. Years after its release, it’s still able to keep up with modern games thanks to an established core community.

However, although it is still played a lot, it unfortunately cannot keep up with the graphics quality of new games. Still, many people enjoy the understated experience of CS:GO and its highly competitive esports, including the $1M prize-winning Eleague Major.