Over the last few years, eSports (Electronic Sports) have become increasingly popular and successful within the video game and gambling industries. For those unaware, eSports is a video game sports competition between professional players and teams. The competitions are now part of big-name tournaments and are based around several different video games. But what are the most popular eSports video games.Read out here:
Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO)
Counter-Strike Global Offensive is a 2012 first-person shooter video game and arguably one of the most popular games for eSports competitions. There are various leagues and tournaments based around CS:GO, but the most famous is Valve’s Major Championship which is known for having some of the largest prize pools for winners.
The game sees two teams, the Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, compete in games with different objectives, such as planting or defusing a bomb or rescuing and capturing hostages. At the end of each round, teams will be rewarded based on their performance, and, with this in mind, it’s easy to see why it’s become one of the most popular eSports games.
Dota
Dota (Defense Of The Ancients) is a series of strategy games and the second game in the franchise, Dota 2, has become a very popular eSport game. The multiplayer online battle arena game sees two teams of five players compete against each other to try and destroy the opposing team’s “Ancient” located within their base on the game’s map.
Like with CS:GO, there are numerous tournaments, but the most famous event is Valve’s Dota Pro Circuit which includes a series of small tournaments that can award participants qualification into The International, a highly prestigious annual Dota 2 tournament.
League Of Legends
Like Dota, League Of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game that is popular within the eSports industry. The game plays similarly to Dota 2 in that two teams of five players must infiltrate the opposing team’s base to destroy their “Nexus”.
As one of the biggest eSports, League Of Legends publisher Riot Games operates 13 leagues internationally, which feature over 100 teams and more than 500 professional players. The League Of Legends eSports events have become so popular that they’re broadcast live on ESPN!
Fortnite
Fortnite is one of the most popular battle royale and survival video games, and it is one of the biggest eSports games around. There are several modes to Fortnite, but the battle royale is the one most used in eSports competitions, where 100 players skydive onto an island and scavenge for gear to protect themselves from other players and defeat them.
ESports involving Fortnite have become so popular that game publisher Epic Games has organised several big-name events, such as the Fortnite World Cup tournament that featured a prize pool of US$30 million.
There are numerous other eSports games that are well-known within the gambling community, but these are arguably the most popular and successful. If you haven’t tried eSports yourself, it may be worth checking out the next competition!
