The esports industry has grown tremendously over the years, in terms of both revenue and viewership. The growing viewership is one of the main factors to the scene’s revenue boom – and it’s not as simple as that because those viewers are generating revenue. Brands and personalities are now investing in esports, seeing the potential of a large and engaged audience.
Despite the pandemic, esports still managed to experience growth in several other aspects, most of which are interrelated one way or another. Companies now recognize the notable role of the live streaming market in esports and the gaming community. The increase in the number of viewership in streaming platforms has been a catalyst in putting esports to where it is now.
Because of the phenomenal growth of esports, more and more games are starting to launch their own competitive scene. Some esports games, however, are more dominant than the others. Here are the top esports according to prize pool awarded in tournaments.
1. DOTA 2
A game developed by Valve Corporation based on a modded map from Warcraft 3 called Defense of the Ancients: All-Stars. A team of 5 plays against another team with the goal of destroying the other team’s “Ancient”. This year’s international will be for 40 million USD!
- Genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 236,860,551 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 1539
- Major Leagues: The International, WePlay AniMajor, ONE Esports Singapore Major + more
2. Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)
Another game developed by Valve. A sequel to the FPS classic Counter Strike which is one of the pioneers of esports and is one of the esports games that has garnered the highest revenue in terms of tournament earnings in esports history.
- Genre: First Person Shooter (FPS)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 117,125,739 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held::5,670
- Major Leagues: DreamHack Masters, ESL One: Rio, PGL Major + more
3. Fortnite
One of the highest grossing video game of all time developed by Epic Games. It has different game modes in its casual play and is one of the most popular online games ever.
- Genre: Battle Royale
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 106,481,419 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 734
- Major Leagues: Fortnite World Cup, Fortnite Fall Skirmish Series, Fortnite Summer Skirmish Series
4. League of Legends
A game developed by Riot Games and is the game with the highest viewership count across streaming platforms whether in casual streams or pro play.
- Genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 84,189,144 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 2606
- Major Leagues: Worlds, LoL European Championship Series (LEC), LoL Championship Series (LCS), Tencent LoL Pro League (LPL), LoL Champions Korea (LCK)
5. StarCraft 2
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is a sequel to one of the first game that popularized esports, StarCraft. The game revolves around 3 races with different characteristics and playstyle: Zerg, Terran, and Protoss.
- Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 35,209,629 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held:6081
- Major Leagues: WCS Global Finals, DH SC Masters, Global SC II League, IEM
6. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
Developed by UBG Corporation, a battle royale that was popularized by streamers in Twitch.
- Genre: Battle Royale
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 33,572,921 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 334
- Major Leagues: PUBG Global Championship, PUBG Nations Cup
7. Overwatch
A game that offers a unique twist to first person shooter games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The game was hailed as game of the year on 24 May 2016.
- Genre: First Person Shooter (FPS)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 27,225,317.28 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 750
- Major Leagues: Overwatch League
8. Arena of Valor
A multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studios but was published by gaming and media conglomerate Tencent Games to raise its popularity.
- Genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 26,561,485 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 63
- Major Leagues: Honor of Kings World Champion Cup, King Pro League
9. Hearthstone
A free to play digital card game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is a turn-based game between two players with 30 unique deck of cards.
- Genre: Digital Collectible Card Game
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments:25,244,153 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 929
- Major Leagues: Hearthstone World Championship, GrandMasters, Masters Tour
10. Heroes of the Storm
Another game by Blizzard Entertainment. It takes characters and maps from Blizzard’s other games such as Overwatch, Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo to be used as playable characters in a multiplayer online battle arena. Heroes of the storm currently is not as popular in the esports space but still a top 10 game for overall prizes to date.
- Genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 18,193,482 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 476
- Major Leagues: Heroes of the Storm Global Championship
11. Rainbow Six Siege
A first person shooter game developed by Ubisoft. It offers game modes such as hostage rescue, bomb defusal, and more.
- Genre: First Person Shooter
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 17,378,920 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 278
- Major Leagues: Six Invitational, Six Major
12. PUBG (Mobile)
A mobile version of PUBG.
- Genre: Battle Royale
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 15,719,680 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 54
- Major Leagues: PUBG Mobile Pro League
13. Rocket League
The most unique game in this list, developed by Psyonix. Basically soccer with cars.
- Genre: Vehicular Soccer Video Game
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 14,684,631 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 1556
- Major Leagues: Rocket League Championship Series
14. SMITE
A multiplayer online battle arena developed by Hi-Rez Studio. The game takes characters from several different mythologies such as Egyptian, Norse, Mayan, and other mythologies. It offers a diverse selection of characters from gods and deities to mythical creatures.
- Genre: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 9,250,112 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 97
- Major Leagues: SMITE Pro League, MLG Pro League
15. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
COD:MW is a first person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. Call of Duty is one of the best-selling franchise of all time and is a known name to any gamer of different generations.
- Genre: First Person Shooter
- Total Cash Prize Awarded in Tournaments: 7,500,784 USD
- Number of Tournaments Held: 81
- Major Leagues: Call of Duty League
Special Mentions
1. Apex Legends – a battle royale hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts.
2. VALORANT – a first person hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games. It was only released a year ago yet its esports scene is already booming and is contending with deeply enrooted FPS games.
3. Magic: The Gathering Arena – a legendary strategy card game turned free-to-play digital card game developed and published by Wizards of the Coast.
These are the biggest esports games being played by the majority currently. Most of them are free to play and is accessible to almost everyone (if not everyone.)
According to Newzoo, the esports audience is set to grow exponentially over the coming years and is to reach more than 500 million in viewership count by the year 2024.
While the live streaming audience for gaming is set to reach more than 900 million by the same year.
The pandemic has shown that the growth of esports is not dependent on any trend and that it will continue to skyrocket as the market reaches newer audiences.
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