The Biggest Esports Tournaments in the World
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From the Overwatch World Cup to the Fortnite World Cup, check out the biggest esports tournaments in the world that you won’t want to miss.
The International
The International is an annual Dota 2 tournament organized by Valve Corporation. It is the largest and most prestigious tournament in the Dota 2 world, with the winning team taking home a massive cash prize. The 2019 edition of The International featured a prize pool of over $34 million, making it the largest ever for an esports tournament.
The League of Legends World Championship
The League of Legends World Championship is the annual professional League of Legends world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games and is the culmination of each season. Teams compete for the champion title, the 70-pound (32-kilogram) Summoner’s Cup, and a US$1 million championship prize.
The Overwatch World Cup
The Overwatch World Cup is a global tournament where teams from all over the world compete in Blizzard’s FPS game Overwatch. The 2020 edition of the tournament will take place entirely online due to the coronavirus pandemic, with matches being played between August 1st and August 30th. The top 16 teams in the world will compete for a share of the $500,000 USD prize pool.
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, commonly known as Majors, are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) esports tournaments sponsored by Valve, the game’s developer. The Majors were first introduced in 2013 with a prize pool of US$250,000. The company has since increased the amount of money offered at their Majors, with the prize pool hitting $1 million at the ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta in January 2017. While offline events still make up the vast majority of tournaments, online events have also begun to receive large prize pools.
One such event is ECS Season 3, which had a prize pool of $1.5 million. Other notable tournaments include Dreamhack Winter 2013, StarLadder StarSeries XIV, and ESL One Cologne 2014. The most recent Major was ESL One Cologne 2016, and featured a record-high prize pool of $1 million. The next Major is set to take place in Boston in January 2018.
The Dota 2 International
The Dota 2 International is an annual esports tournament hosted by Valve Corporation, the game’s developer. It is the biggest and most prestigous event in the Dota 2 calendar, with this year’s prize pool surpassing $34 million. The tournament features teams from around the world competing in a multi-stage event, with matches taking place in front of a live audience.
