What Esports Games Are There?

Esports games are video games played competitively for spectators, usually by professional gamers. The most popular esports games are multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs), first-person shooters (FPS), real-time strategy (RTS), and battle royales.

Introduction

eSports, or electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Most commonly, eSports take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players. Although organized online and offline competitions have long been a part of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events saw a large surge in popularity.

The most common video games categories in eSports are real-time strategy (RTS), first-person shooter (FPS), fighting, and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). Tournaments such as The International, the League of Legends World Championship, the Evolution Championship Series and the Intel Extreme Masters provide both live broadcasts of competitions as well as prize money for participants, giving rise to a new generation of professional gamers.

What is esports?

Esports is a form of competitive sports using video games. The first esports competition took place in 1972 at Stanford University. Since then, it has grown into a multi-million dollar industry with professional teams, tournaments, and leagues. Some of the most popular esports games include League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

The history of esports

Competitive video gaming has existed for decades, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that it started to become known as “esports.” The term “esports” is short for “electronic sports,” which is fitting given that most esports take place online or at least involve electronic devices.

Esports first came to prominence in South Korea, where professional gamers started being televised playing multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games such as Starcraft and League of Legends. As esports became more popular, tournaments began popping up all over the world with ever-larger prize pools.

Today, esports is a multi-billion dollar industry with tournaments being held all over the globe. The most popular esport games are MOBAs, first-person shooters (FPS), and battle royales. Some of the most popular esport games include:
-League of Legends
-Dota 2
-Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)
-Fortnite
-Overwatch

The rise of esports

The term “esports” covers a wide range of video games played competitively for spectators, including first-person shooters, real-time strategy, and multiplayer online battle arena games. The industry is still young, but it has already eclipsed traditional sports in some respects. The global esports economy is expected to grow to $1.65 billion by 2021, according to market research firm Newzoo, and the best players can earn millions of dollars per year from prize money, sponsorships, and appearance fees.

While esports began as a niche pursuit, it has now captured the attention of the mainstream media and major corporations. ESPN has launched an esports vertical, Turner Broadcasting aired the ELEAGUE Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship on TBS, and Twitter has signed deals to stream games from both the Overwatch League and Call of Duty World League. Amazon paid $970 million for live-streaming platform Twitch in 2014, and its CEO Jeff Bezos has said he sees Twitch as a potential “third pillar” of Amazon’s business alongside Amazon.com and Amazon Web Services.

One of the reasons for esports’ rapid growth is that it is incredibly easy to access as both a spectator and a player. The barriers to entry are low — all you need is a decent internet connection and a computer or console — which has helped it grow exponentially in recent years. As broadband internet penetration increases around the world, so too does the potential audience for esports.

The other reason for its popularity is that there are now more ways than ever to make money from playing video games competitively. In addition to prize money from tournaments, many players also earn income from streaming their gameplay on platforms like Twitch or YouTube Gaming, or through sponsorships and endorsement deals with brands like Razer or Red Bull.

What esports games are there?

There are a variety of esports games available for spectators to watch and play. The most popular games tend to be first person shooters (FPS), real time strategy (RTS), multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), and fighting games. However, there are many other genres represented in the world of esports.

Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)

Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which each player controls a character with unique abilities that improves over the course of a match, and teams of players compete against each other. The objective is usually to destroy the other team’s main structure, but may vary depending on the game. Players aresplit into two or more teams, and each team must defend its base while trying to attack the other team’s base. In most MOBAs, players control characters call “heroes”, and each hero has a set of unique abilities. Heroes are further divided into classes, such as “tanks” (characters with high durability) , “support” (characters who help allies), and “assassins” (characters whose primary goal is to kill enemy heroes).

The genre began to achieve mainstream popularity in the 2010s with games such as Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne’s Defense of the Ancients mod and Riot Games’ League of Legends. MOBAs are typically played on personal computers. The genre is one of the most popular in gaming, particularly in Asia.

First-person shooter (FPS)

First-person shooter (FPS) games are characterized by an emphasis on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through a first-person perspective. The genre shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn makes it fall under the heading of action game. Since the genre’s inception, advanced 3D and pseudo-3D graphics have enhanced the player’s in-game experience. FPS games sometimes incorporate tactical shooting and stealth into the gameplay, and emphasize cooperative multiplayer gaming.

Real-time strategy (RTS)

Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which the game does not progress incrementally in turns. This genre of game is defined by its real-time gameplay where players are able to control units immediately as opposed to taking turns. The first RTS games began appearing in the early 1990s. Notable examples from this era include Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Command & Conquer. Early RTS games were turn-based, meaning players would take turns issuing commands to their units while their opponent did the same. Eventually, developers began experimenting with true real-time gameplay and the genre has largely stayed that way since.

Some well-known RTS games include Starcraft, Warcraft III, Age of Empires, and Command & Conquer. The RTS genre is one of the most popular genres in esports with multiple tournaments and leagues for each game. The Starcraft II World Championship Series is one of the biggest and most prestigious esports tournaments in the world with a prize pool of over $1 million USD.

Sports games

The most popular esports games in 2021 are:
-League of Legends
-Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
-Valorant
-Call of Duty
-Fortnite

Battle royale

Battle royale games are a subgenre of shooter games in which players compete against each other in a large arena, with the last player standing being declared the winner. The most popular battle royale game is Fortnite, which has drawn millions of players worldwide. Other popular battle royale games include PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone.

Conclusion

We’ve reached the end of our list of popular esports games. As you can see, there is a great deal of variety in both the types of games and the platforms on which they are played. This is one of the things that makes esports so interesting and accessible – there is sure to be a game and a playing environment that suits your particular preferences.

Whether you’re a fan of first-person shooters or real-time strategy games, there’s an esports title out there for you. So get out there and start watching or playing – the world of competitive gaming awaits!