Hello to all you fans of everything exhilarating and competitive! Would you like some variety from traditional sports?
Or, maybe, you’re a video-game fan, but somehow you haven’t heard of esports? Look no further! Here’s our list of the 7 most popular Esports Games around!
You can find the calendar of all the upcoming matches and tournaments on esportsguide.com. But, firstly, what is esports?
What is Esports?
Esports (short for electronic-sports) involves tournaments using video-games, generally multiplayer video-games, between professional players, either individually or in teams.
Although video-game tournaments have been around since 1972, it wasn’t until the 2000s that esports became what we know today.
However, esports hasn’t ‘officially’ been recognised as a sport, and many are determined for its status as a sport to be established due to the necessity of skill and many hours of practice. Despite that, esports has proven to include some of the most exciting events in the world!
1. League of Legends
First on our list is one of the most well-known games in the world!
League of Legends is one of the most widely played and enjoyed games around, with millions playing every day! Because of this, it’s also one of the most popular games amongst viewers!
In fact, according to Newzoo, viewers spent 240 million hours on YouTube and Twitch watching League of Legends teams compete in 2018!
It also has some of the highest prize pools amongst esports, with a total prize pool of $14.12 million of all its tournaments combined in 2018!
Don’t Miss-
Learn Some Tricks in Subway Surfers Android Game
3 Retro Themed Games to Play Online
2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (commonly known as CS:GO) is another immensely popular game, so much so that an estimated 11,000,000 players play it every month!
Moreover, Newzoo calculated that viewers spent 212 million hours on YouTube and Twitch watching CS:GO in 2018! Also, Esports Earnings counted an astounding 370 CS:GO tournaments in 2018, amounting to a total prize pool of $22.47 million!
3. DOTA 2
Defense of the Ancients 2 (better known as Dota 2) is one other incredibly popular game, with over a million active players!
Furthermore, Newzoo calculates that fans spent 180 million hours on YouTube and Twitch watching Dota 2 live tournaments in 2018! If you think that’s impressive, their total prize pool for 2018 was an astonishing $41.26 million!
4. Overwatch
Overwatch is a relatively recent game that gained a massive following in its short lifetime: more than 40 million, to be precise!
Newzoo calculated that viewers spent 96 million hours on YouTube and Twitch in 2018 watching Overwatch teams compete live! And, with the launch of Overwatch League, the official Overwatch tournament, the prize pool for 2018 was a very lovely $6.3 million.
5. Hearthstone
Hearthstone is yet another extremely popular game with over 100 million active players!
Its popularity translated to viewers spending 43 million hours on YouTube and Twitch watching Hearthstone live in 2018, according to Newzoo!
Furthermore, its various tournaments in 2018 accumulated a wonderful total prize pool of $4.95 million!
6. Heroes of the Storm
Next on our list is Heroes of the Storm, another well-loved game that sees millions of players play it regularly! It’s so well-loved, in fact, that, according to Newzoo, fans spent 19.5 million hours watching Heroes of the Storm live on YouTube and Twitch in 2018!
The total prize pool from 2018 accumulated to a sizeable $6.52 million! However, 2018 was also the same year that the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC) was sadly discontinued, shocking fans and professional gamers alike.
In spite of that, Heroes of the Storm still proves to be an exciting esport to watch!
7. StarCraft II
Last, but definitely not least on our list is StarCraft II, which is the oldest game on our list, but no less popular!
In fact, Newzoo calculates that viewers spent 17.5 million hours on YouTube and Twitch watching StarCraft II live! Furthermore, its esports community is still going strong, as total prize pool of StarCraft II tournaments amounted to an impressive $4.53 million!
Excited about Esports?
Wow, that’s a lot of exciting games, and each one is extremely fun in its own right! Although the genres of the games differ, each game on our list requires significant skill, thorough knowledge of the game, and tonnes of practice to be even considered a professional, and much more to successfully compete in the tournaments.
Visit esportsguide.com to watch all the upcoming matches and tournaments.
Moreover, the absolutely jaw-dropping amount of money that’s waiting to be won at the tournaments of these games means that professional players will be playing at the absolute top of their game to win!
It really can’t get any more exhilarating than this!
