The eSports community is growing, and there are no signs of it stopping. As people sought entertainment and interaction under strict travel restrictions and lockdowns, many have picked up gaming as a hobby.
The stage for competitive video gaming has since expanded as audiences grew and gaming became a profitable income stream, courtesy of best au online casinos. By 2024, the number of eSports enthusiasts is predicted to reach a total of 577.2 million.
There are now dozens of major eSports events around the world, often with substantial prize pools. However, these five have been rated as the best from machines a sous argent reel.
- The International
The International is the world’s largest endowed eSports event, with 25.5 million dollars in prize money at stake in the Dota2 tournament. The 1st place finishers Team OG received 11.2 million dollars and the two last place finishers received $63,580 dollars. Although the tournament was organised by the game’s developer Valve itself, most of the prize money came from the fans. Their combined in-game purchases made up the majority of the prize money. In 2018, the promoters paid only 1.6 million by themselves.
- League of Legends World Championship (Worlds)
Quite possibly the most watched esports event of all time, League of Legends blazes through all the other competitors. It may not be able to hold up its wallet to Dota’s TI or Fortnite’s World Cup, but with a substantial $6.7 million as its prize, LoL’s “Worlds” holds up adequately. Besides, given the number of viewers it has, Riot Games spends quite a lot on theatrical and atmospheric settings to ensure the event is always one of its kind. With over 4 million peak viewers and a staggering 174 million in collective hours watched, LoL’s “Worlds” stands as one of the titans in the esports scene.
- CSGO Major Championships
An actual veteran when it comes to esports tournaments, CSGO is the poster child for esports competition. From the revolutionary beginnings of the original Counter Strike all the way to Counter Strike: Global Offensive. This game has always been in tune with what esports is all about. And with 20 years of the biggest and most influential tournaments, CSGO Majors have it all. Most recently, the 2021 PGL Stockholm Major brought in terrific viewer counts with solid earnings. A decent prize pool of $2 million and an impressive peak viewership of 2.7 million, make it an all-around success.
- Fortnite World Cup
The first of its kind, and an incredibly popular start at that. Fortnite took the esports industry by storm in 2019, pitting 200 players against each other for $30 million in prizes. Epic Games set up the tournament with massive winnings in 2 separate events – solo and duo. And thus, created history when a single esports athlete, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, became champion and won $3 million in prize money. The winnings for the duo event was another $3 million split between the two winners. In other words, it’s safe to say the viewership was pretty good with about 2.3 million peak viewers.
- Honor of Kings Champion Cup
Arena of Valor is proof that even small hardware can make a huge difference – even in esports tournaments. It was originally developed for the Chinese market and was released as a competitor to the popular mobile MOBA, Vainglory. The game quickly caught on and soared above to new heights and accolades, including having around 100 million concurrent players. Now, the game has turned into an esports giant with the latest Champion Cup event boasting a $7.7 million prize purse and fairly decent viewership at around 700-800K.
