by SymphonieESports have been a part of human history for a surprisingly long period, and now, the famous Donkey Kong Tournament back in 1981 is long in the past. As of today, the global market for esports sits at a whopping $1.72 billion, and this is expected to exceed $6.75 billion by the year 2030. We also know that the market is growing because of the huge demand for online gaming, and the money that players can win by playing their favorite games. From streaming on Twitch to tournaments or eSports betting, playing video games now isn’t just for entertainment: it’s a career in its own right.
Esports brings a plethora of games to choose from, but they’re more often than not first-person shooter games, real-time strategy games, and multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA). MOBA is the industry’s most popular niche, as it has the highest viewership. It relies on teamwork, coordination, and strategic gameplay. We know we’re all about the RPG games around here, but let’s take a look at the ones making it big in esports, and what each game offers.
1) League of Legends
LoL raises the bar when it comes to MOBA games because it offers up a team-based strategy where you select avatars to compete against an opposing team. You start by choosing your “champion” out of 140 avatars, and you then begin your team’s fight to success by destroying the opponents’ base, known as the Nexus.
Published by Riot Games in 2009, League of Legends was created to be a successor to Defence of the Ancients, as the genre was doing so well. The ultra-defined graphics and constant updates put this game a step above the rest, and with Riot as the creator, we wouldn’t expect anything less.
There are over 150 million registered players globally, and LoL esports tournaments rake in huge prize pools compared to other games, as well as attracting a high number of bettors. The current highest prize pool in the LoL esports space is the 2018 League of Legends World Championship, where the prize was set at a huge $6.4 million. The tournaments run every year, with many other contests slotting in throughout the remainder of the year – therefore, heading over to Thunderpick, which is one of the best esports betting websites you can find, will help you try your luck and potentially win big. The next tournament you should be looking out for is the Sigma Cup 2023, as it runs from the end of November 2023.
2) CS:GO
Though we should be calling it CS:2 now, Counter-Strike is a game that has made esports what it is today. At 23 years old, the game has stood the test of time and is very easy for newbies to pick up. The multiplayer tactical first-person shooter game is a game where terrorists battle to create acts of terror, while counter-terrorists try to stop them. In September alone, the game had over 1.55 million concurrent players, and a tournament in 2021 called the PGL Major Stockholm saw a prize pool of $2 million. Now that Counter-Strike 2 has launched, there will be a new realm of tournaments coming for CS, and we will see this game growing more and more every year, with fans going wild about the new update.
3) Fortnite
A fairly new game that entered the world of esports, Fortnite has made its players and viewers a fortune. The game was launched by Epic Games in 2017, and it boasts over 220 million active users and over 400 million registered since its launch. The first-person shooter game can either be single-player or team-based, with over 100 players fighting till the end in a “victory royale.” Fortnite currently holds the second-highest prize pool in all of esports history, with the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals offering over $30 million to their final few teams.
From building boxes around you to protect yourself, chopping down trees, and using maps to hide yourself, Fortnite is one of the first of its kind to be easy to play, but hard to master. With this being said, you will want to come back every day and try to up your game.
Whether you’re a true RPG lover or want to divert your gameplay into the realm of MOBA games, these three offer exciting differences that you’ve probably never seen before. It doesn’t hurt that the tournaments are so great, and the prize pools are so big, either! Make sure you keep up to date with all the new maps, as these three games are renowned for installing big updates on a bi-weekly basis, so it never gets boring in the world of online battles.
