Whats The Biggest Esports Game?
Esports games have taken the world by storm. But which ones are the biggest and most popular? We take a look at the top 5.
League of Legends
League of Legends is a five-player online battle arena video game based on the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne mod Defense of the Ancients. Designed by developer Riot Games, LoL was unofficially released in October 2009. The game is a free-to-play title supported by microtransactions. LoL is one of the most popular Internet games. According to Riot Games, it is played by 650 million people.
The game consists of three current running game modes: Summoner’s Rift, Twisted Treeline, and Howling Abyss. Players compete in matches, lasting anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes on average. In each game mode teams work together to accomplish a specific goal, usually destroying the opposing team’s main structure or nexus.
Dota 2
Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character, known as a “hero”, who all have unique abilities and different styles of play. During a match, players collect experience points and items for their heroes to successfully battle the opposing team’s heroes in player versus player combat. A team wins by being the first to destroy the other team’s “Ancient”, an important structure located in their base.
Developed exclusively for Microsoft Windows, Dota 2 was released as a free-to-play title in July 2013, following an extended beta phase that began in 2011. The game initially used the original Source game engine until it was ported over to Valve’s proprietary Source 2 engine in 2015, making it the first game to use Source 2. In addition to playing offline against simulated artificial intelligence, users can connect online in order to play against other users in both casual and ranked matchmaking. Just like its predecessor, Dota 2 has also been Welcomed by the competitive gaming community as one of the premier live e-sports tournaments, with numerous tournaments being held each year which offer high prize pool amounts for teams to compete for.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
With over 20 million players worldwide, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular games in the world. It’s also one of the biggest esports games, with prize pools worth millions of dollars.
Global Offensive is a first-person shooter game that pits two teams against each other: the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists. The aim of the game is to eliminate the other team, and there are a variety of ways to do this. Players can choose to purchase different weapons and equipment in order to gain an advantage over their opponents.
The game is extremely competitive, and professional players are often signed to teams that compete in tournaments all over the world. These tournaments typically have huge prize pools, and the best players can earn millions of dollars in prize money.
Overwatch
Overwatch is a team-based first-person shooter video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released in May 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game is a sequel to the massively popular Diablo III, and features a cast of new heroes fighting against the evil forces of the Burning Hells.
Overwatch is one of the most popular esports games, with a large competitive scene and tournaments hosted around the world. The game Developer Blizzard Entertainment also supports the competitive scene by hosting its own Overwatch League. The Overwatch League is a professional esports league for Overwatch, consisting of 20 teams from across the globe.
