Do you know that the primary online game match was held in 1972? Now, over 5 a long time later, now we have lots of of tournaments in every massive recreation yearly, and people video games deserve some recognition. So, right here is the listing of the hottest esports in 2024, ranked by their mixed viewership, prize swimming pools, and match numbers.
15. Road Fighter 6
When Road Fighter 6 got here out in 2023, followers cheered it as the perfect recreation this franchise yielded since SF3, proper when it began to look that the times of huge combating recreation tournaments have been gone.
The upcoming Capcom X Cup can have a $1,000,000 prize pool, which is totally huge for a combating recreation match in 2024. That’s thrice greater than it was for Capcom IX.
One other good indicator that the legendary Road Fighter franchise is, properly, nonetheless combating is that it held probably the most tournaments, drew probably the most viewers and stored elevating the match rewards far above what was customary 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 recreation on our listing, 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 listing, StarCraft has recorded probably the most tournaments and amassed one of many largest prize swimming pools at $40.6 million, although it has, in fact, been round for an extended time frame.
What’s most telling is that usually, 50% or extra of the full hours of Twitch streaming have been spectators watching esports competitions, which is a far greater proportion than different video games listed right here.
Despite its age and barely waning curiosity, StarCraft II competitions nonetheless draw match 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 international locations, common previous PUBG continues to be faring properly on the esports scene and is certainly value noting as some of the widespread video games at present.
It’s vastly widespread in China, amassing over 320 million lively month-to-month gamers. It’s additionally the one recreation moreover Dota 2 and CS2 that often exhibits up within the prime 3 on Steam charts.
Nevertheless, it has fallen in numbers steadily since 2021, partially as a result of a variety of its gamers transitioned to PUBG: Cellular and partly as a result of Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant began placing out an increasing number of high quality content material, stealing their very own share of the participant base, while PUBG was targeted on rolling out extra regurgitated cosmetics.
12. Crossfire
For those who aren’t aware of it, Crossfire is principally the Chinese language model of CS 1.6. It’s vastly widespread there, and despite the fact that many declare it is stuffed with cheaters, it nonetheless manages to garner thousands and thousands of {dollars} in funding for its tournaments, particularly in the previous couple of years.
One other factor to bolster the truth that this recreation shouldn’t be almost as competitively profitable as it’s proper now’s that it’s massively P2W. Who is aware of, possibly that’s precisely what aggressive FPS video games must be profitable.
11. Apex Legends
The third greatest non-mobile battle royale on the planet, Apex Legends, takes the eleventh spot on our listing of hottest esports video games in 2024.
Since its launch in 2019, it proved to be some of the modern and genre-defining video games on the market. Every day, we see an increasing number of come into the sport, a lot sooner than Fortnite or PUBG ever did.
Additionally, regardless of being one of many youngest on this listing, it has racked up over $21 million in prizes over 5 years of its existence; not too shabby for a recreation dominated by gamepad abusers should 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 method 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 likely one of the hottest esports video games within the West, rewarding its professional gamers with very massive prize swimming pools, particularly at its manually held Six Invitational Tournaments.
Its Twitch viewership peaks when there are tournaments, however luckily, 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 listing, it grew organically, little by little.
Finally, Rocket League is only a enjoyable recreation that held onto followers who finally requested for a extra aggressive scene to observe. This can be 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 properly for itself in 2023 and isn’t exhibiting indicators of slowing down in 2024. It has set data for watch time and the variety of tournaments held and even got here near its 2022 complete match prize pool.
What bodes properly for the sport in 2024 is that Rocket League continues to have a really robust 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
One of the crucial latest releases on this listing, 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 reminiscent of Shroud, automated, and Scream swap over to it.
Since then, it steadily rose in reputation, particularly after CS2 form of flopped on launch. It’s nonetheless going robust with no indicators of ever slowing down. The numbers communicate for themselves. In just some 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 relating to reputation.
Its strongest level is the prize swimming pools. Final yr’s FNCS International Championship had a prize pool of $4,000,000 (nonetheless a protracted shot from 2019’s 30 million) and managed to collect over 700k viewers in some unspecified time in the future. These are all the very best numbers it had shortly.
Relating to its Twitch reputation, it typically hovers at round 50 million watch hours monthly. That’s a tad bit worse than what CS2 and League of Legends have, nevertheless it nonetheless makes it some of the widespread, if not the most well-liked, esport within the West.
6. Cellular Legends: Bang Bang
The primary League of Legends ripo… *cough*, I imply cell MOBA we’ll be mentioning on this listing is Cellular Legends: Bang Bang. Its resemblance to League is really uncanny. Riot Video games and Tencent even went so far as to sue it thrice over copyright points.
Nevertheless, Cellular Legends continues to be round and stronger than ever (it needed to change its title, although). It’s principally performed within the Philippines and Indonesia, the place over 20 million folks log into it every day.
Nevertheless, probably the most shocking reality about it’s its viewership. Final yr’s MLBB M5 World Championship was watched by 5 million folks at one level, rivaling the report League of Legends set simply 4 days prior. Mighty spectacular for a cell recreation.
5. PUBG: Cellular
PUBG: Cellular is the foremost battle royale recreation 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 reminiscent of 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 recreation outperforming its PC model is as uncommon as a hen’s tooth and positively value credit score.
4. Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike is as previous because the hills. The net squad-based shooter first gained traction method 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 have been in full movement.
Later, Supply tried to replace the format, powered by Half-Life 2’s extra fashionable engine, nevertheless 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 adjustments 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.
Nevertheless, a few months later, CS2 is lastly beginning to take form as a superb aggressive recreation, with its first main match occurring in March.
Time will inform whether or not it’ll break any earlier Counter-Strike data, however for now, it nonetheless stays the most-played recreation 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 certainly springs to thoughts first. It’s the godfather of the style that’s chargeable for kickstarting all the battle area scene.
Beginning life as a modification of Warcraft III, Dota shortly rose in reputation. Its successor, Dota 2, refined the bundle, which has since emerged as probably the most profitable and some of the 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 report $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 match and already making more cash than 99.99% of all esports gamers ever will.
Nevertheless, by way of novice participant numbers and complete views of live-streamed Twitch video games total, Dota 2 doesn’t peak at fairly the identical data as League of Legends. The place it does trump LoL, although, is within the common quantity of these tuning in solely to look at skilled recreation tournaments, which exhibits that it has a extra die-hard fanbase.
2. Honor of Kings
For those who like cell MOBAs and haven’t but heard of Honor of Kings, it’s most likely as a result of most of its participant base is from Asia. For now, know that it’s popping out with a world launch quickly, and you’ll pre-register proper now.
Honor of Kings is a recreation extraordinarily much like League of Legends. I imply, it began off as an LoL ripoff, the identical as Cellular Legends. The map, the champions, the sport modes, you title it. All of it seems and seems like taking part in League (solely on cell, although). It even has League’s reputation, hovering round 100 million each day gamers in the intervening 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 might need been the primary to blueprint the acquainted MOBA components, however League of Legends has been chargeable for its complete explosion into the mainstream. The sport is an entire 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 look at the finals, making it by far the most well-liked 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 only $2.25 million, which is method under the requirements that different prime esports have set. We are able to solely hope that can change sooner or later.
That does it for our listing of the world’s hottest esports! Keep tuned to Twinfinite for all the most recent gaming information and guides, and make sure you take a look at the associated articles we listed under.