Do you know that the primary online game event was held in 1972? Now, over 5 a long time later, we’ve tons of of tournaments in every huge sport yearly, and people video games deserve some recognition. So, right here is the checklist of the hottest esports in 2024, ranked by their mixed viewership, prize swimming pools, and event numbers.
15. Road Fighter 6
When Road Fighter 6 got here out in 2023, followers cheered it as the most effective sport this franchise yielded since SF3, proper when it began to appear that the times of huge combating sport tournaments had been gone.
The upcoming Capcom X Cup could have a $1,000,000 prize pool, which is completely huge for a combating sport event in 2024. That’s 3 times greater than it was for Capcom IX.
One other good indicator that the legendary Road Fighter franchise is, effectively, nonetheless combating is that it held probably the most tournaments, drew probably the most viewers and saved elevating the event rewards far above what was normal for Road Fighter V. Hopefully, they proceed that development within the years to return.
14. Starcraft II
Starcraft II continues to make its presence felt within the esports group greater than a decade after its preliminary launch. The one real-time technique sport on our checklist, Starcraft II has its roots in the old-fashioned of aggressive gaming amid a scene dominated by MOBAs.
Of all of the video games on this checklist, StarCraft has recorded probably the most tournaments and amassed one of many largest prize swimming pools at $40.6 million, although it has, after all, been round for an extended time period.
What’s most telling is that usually, 50% or extra of the full hours of Twitch streaming had been spectators watching esports competitions, which is a far increased proportion than different video games listed right here.
Despite its age and barely waning curiosity, StarCraft II competitions nonetheless draw event prize swimming pools of $500,000. We simply couldn’t keep away from together with it among the many hottest esports on the planet proper now.
13. PUBG: Battlegrounds
Regardless of being banned from a few nations, common outdated PUBG remains to be faring effectively on the esports scene and is unquestionably value noting as one of the vital widespread video games at the moment.
It’s massively widespread in China, amassing over 320 million lively month-to-month gamers. It’s additionally the one sport moreover Dota 2 and CS2 that commonly reveals up within the high 3 on Steam charts.
Nonetheless, it has fallen in numbers steadily since 2021, partially as a result of quite a lot of its gamers transitioned to PUBG: Cell and partly as a result of Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant began placing out increasingly more high quality content material, stealing their very own share of the participant base, while PUBG was centered on rolling out extra regurgitated cosmetics.
12. Crossfire
Should you aren’t aware of it, Crossfire is principally the Chinese language model of CS 1.6. It’s massively widespread there, and although many declare it is filled with cheaters, it nonetheless manages to garner thousands and thousands of {dollars} in funding for its tournaments, particularly in the previous few years.
One other factor to bolster the truth that this sport shouldn’t be almost as competitively profitable as it’s proper now could be that it’s massively P2W. Who is aware of, possibly that’s precisely what aggressive FPS video games should be profitable.
11. Apex Legends
The third greatest non-mobile battle royale on the planet, Apex Legends, takes the eleventh spot on our checklist of hottest esports video games in 2024.
Since its launch in 2019, it proved to be one of the vital progressive and genre-defining video games on the market. Every day, we see increasingly more come into the sport, a lot sooner than Fortnite or PUBG ever did.
Additionally, regardless of being one of many youngest on this checklist, it has racked up over $21 million in prizes over 5 years of its existence; not too shabby for a sport dominated by gamepad abusers in case you ask me.
10. Rainbow Six Siege
Rainbow Six Siege has by far the sweatiest fanbase you’ll ever encounter. Simply turning on voice comms is a surefire means so that you can lose any psychological fortitude wanted to play a tactical first-person shooter you had left.
Nonetheless, it appears that evidently is precisely what produces nice gamers. These days, R6 is among the hottest esports video games within the West, rewarding its professional gamers with very huge prize swimming pools, particularly at its manually held Six Invitational Tournaments.
Its Twitch viewership peaks when there are tournaments, however happily, there are streamers like Jynxzi, for instance, to maintain the fanbase entertained even when there are none.
9. Rocket League
Rocket League’s esport took time to materialize, however its worldwide reputation has seen it emerge as an unlikely pressure. In contrast to a few of the different shock esports hits on this checklist, it grew organically, little by little.
In the end, Rocket League is only a enjoyable sport that held onto followers who finally requested for a extra aggressive scene to comply with. It is a stark distinction to some video games that pressure an esports scene onto its group and hope that it catches on.
Rocket League did extraordinarily effectively for itself in 2023 and isn’t displaying indicators of slowing down in 2024. It has set information for watch time and the variety of tournaments held and even got here near its 2022 complete event prize pool.
What bodes effectively for the sport in 2024 is that Rocket League continues to have a really sturdy informal following that performs the sport only for enjoyable. One thing that video games like Counter-Strike or StarCraft may solely dream of.
8. Valorant
Some of the latest releases on this checklist, Valorant is the best challenger Counter-Strike has within the squad-based FPS style.
It skyrocketed in reputation instantly after its launch again in 2020 and even had widespread FPS gamers and streamers similar to Shroud, automated, and Scream change over to it.
Since then, it steadily rose in reputation, particularly after CS2 type of flopped on launch. It’s nonetheless going sturdy with no indicators of ever slowing down. The numbers communicate for themselves. In only a few years, it managed to share over $30 million in prizes and maintain over 5,500 tournaments, making it one of many fastest-growing esports scenes ever.
7. Fortnite
Seven years after its launch, and regardless of its decline after 2019, Fortnite nonetheless stands close to the highest of the battle royale esports scene in terms of reputation.
Its strongest level is the prize swimming pools. Final yr’s FNCS International Championship had a prize pool of $4,000,000 (nonetheless an extended shot from 2019’s 30 million) and managed to assemble over 700k viewers in some unspecified time in the future. These are all the very best numbers it had shortly.
With regards to its Twitch reputation, it usually hovers at round 50 million watch hours per thirty days. That’s a tad bit worse than what CS2 and League of Legends have, however it nonetheless makes it one of the vital widespread, if not the preferred, esport within the West.
6. Cell Legends: Bang Bang
The primary League of Legends ripo… *cough*, I imply cell MOBA we’ll be mentioning on this checklist is Cell Legends: Bang Bang. Its resemblance to League is actually uncanny. Riot Video games and Tencent even went so far as to sue it 3 times over copyright points.
Nonetheless, Cell Legends remains to be round and stronger than ever (it needed to change its title, although). It’s largely performed within the Philippines and Indonesia, the place over 20 million folks log into it every day.
Nonetheless, probably the most shocking truth about it’s its viewership. Final yr’s MLBB M5 World Championship was watched by 5 million folks at one level, rivaling the document League of Legends set simply 4 days prior. Mighty spectacular for a cell sport.
5. PUBG: Cell
PUBG: Cell is the foremost battle royale sport on cell. It blew up as quickly because it was launched again in 2018 and hasn’t stopped rising since then, racking up over 500 million downloads on Google Play Retailer alone.
Its massively aggressive participant base additionally produced an esports scene that gave away over $21 million in prize swimming pools to its gamers final yr solely, topping different esports giants similar to League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Fortnite.
What’s extra, it outperforms the PC model each in participant numbers and in earnings, most of it coming from China, although. Regardless, a cell sport outperforming its PC model is as uncommon as a hen’s enamel and positively value credit score.
4. Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike is as outdated because the hills. The web squad-based shooter first gained traction means again within the late Nineteen Nineties as a modification working off Half-Life. It rose to fame as one of many pioneering esports again when the CPL and World Cyber Video games had been in full circulate.
Later, Supply tried to replace the format, powered by Half-Life 2’s extra fashionable engine, however it by no means fairly gathered the identical momentum. Then we had International Offensive, which proved a smashing success and has seen the franchise clamber again to the highest of the esports pile.
In late 2023, we had fairly an abrupt transition to CS2. The sport was very unpolished, forcing many modifications that gamers didn’t like. What extra to say than that the largest CS:GO legend, S1mple, determined to take a break due to how unhealthy the AWP was.
Nonetheless, a few months later, CS2 is lastly beginning to take form as a superb aggressive sport, with its first main event occurring in March.
Time will inform whether or not it’ll break any earlier Counter-Strike information, however for now, it nonetheless stays the most-played sport on Steam and one of many most-watched video games on Twitch.
3. Dota 2
When one thinks of OG MOBA video games, Protection of the Ancients absolutely springs to thoughts first. It’s the godfather of the style that’s liable for kickstarting your complete battle area scene.
Beginning life as a modification of Warcraft III, Dota shortly rose in reputation. Its successor, Dota 2, refined the package deal, which has since emerged as probably the most profitable and one of the vital widespread esports video games on the planet.
Certainly, the numbers communicate for themselves: a cumulative $300 million in prize cash throughout greater than a decade of its existence, peaking with the 2021 TI when the full prize pool was a document $40 million.
It shouldn’t shock you then that 48 out of fifty of probably the most paid esports gamers on the planet are all Dota 2 gamers. Think about successful one event and already making extra money than 99.99% of all esports gamers ever will.
Nonetheless, by way of beginner participant numbers and complete views of live-streamed Twitch video games total, Dota 2 doesn’t peak at fairly the identical information as League of Legends. The place it does trump LoL, although, is within the common quantity of these tuning in completely to observe skilled sport tournaments, which reveals that it has a extra die-hard fanbase.
2. Honor of Kings
Should you like cell MOBAs and haven’t but heard of Honor of Kings, it’s in all probability as a result of most of its participant base is from Asia. For now, know that it’s popping out with a worldwide launch quickly, and you’ll pre-register proper now.
Honor of Kings is a sport extraordinarily much like League of Legends. I imply, it began off as an LoL ripoff, the identical as Cell Legends. The map, the champions, the sport modes, you title it. All of it appears to be like and seems like enjoying League (solely on cell, although). It even has League’s reputation, hovering round 100 million each day gamers in the mean time.
What surprises me probably the most about it, although, is that it has one of many highest prize swimming pools of all esports video games on the planet. Final yr’s Worldwide Championship alone had round $10 million unfold amongst its individuals. That’s an enormous dub for the cell MOBA market in my e-book.
1. League of Legends
Dota may need been the primary to blueprint the acquainted MOBA system, however League of Legends has been liable for its complete explosion into the mainstream. The sport is a whole phenomenon, recording statistics that completely boggle the thoughts.
Final yr, through the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, over 6.4 million folks across the globe tuned in to observe the finals, making it by far the preferred esports occasion of all time.
The one factor LoL hasn’t managed to match Dota 2 with is prize cash. Since 2016, the Worlds prize pool has fallen to simply $2.25 million, which is means beneath the requirements that different high esports have set. We are able to solely hope that may change sooner or later.
That does it for our checklist of the world’s hottest esports! Keep tuned to Twinfinite for all the newest gaming information and guides, and you should definitely take a look at the associated articles we listed beneath.
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