The Most Popular ESports Games in the World

Let me speak frankly. The world has shifted to e-sports, an industry that grows at an astounding pace year after year. People like you and me are always engrossed in our favorite games—if we are not playing them, we enjoy watching our favorite teams and players. Although millions of players, hundreds of games, and numerous world championships are happening, certain games truly shine in the esports industry.

If we’re being honest, let’s face it: The online esports industry is filled with countless games catering to a very large and diverse audience. So, do you want to see the top 2024 games that constantly have enthusiasts from all around the globe on the edge of their seats? Yeah, we’ve got you covered in that. For expert insights and promotions tailored to the eSports community, visit Hellagood Marketing.

Counter-Strike 2: Global Offensive

Release Year: 2023
Total Prize Money Awarded: Over $10 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: IEM Cologne 2024, BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024, ESL Pro League
Top Players: Helvijs “broky” Saukants, Finn “karrigan” Andersen, and Håvard “rain” Nygaard

CS2 has many fans around the globe. Some even see this game as a career choice, participating in multiple tournaments and Majors broadcast globally. Thousands of loyal sports fans are crazy about pro teams and star players, and you’ll find many of them posting this team logo as stickers into the game. It is fair to say that CS2 is one of the most popular esports games in the world, and it has a great fan base.

Dota 2

Release Year: 2013
Total Prize Money Awarded: $18.5 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: The Internationa and Dota 2 Asian Championship
Top Players: Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka and Anathan “ana” Pham

If you don’t live under a rock, you must know about Dota 2 and would surely admit that it needs no introduction in the esports industry while it claims its place as one of the best multiplayer games, featuring a battle arena with teams of five players. It’s developed by Valve Corporation, the same developers of CS2, as a sequel to the Defence of the Ancients: Team All-Stars. With millions of players, hundreds of popular teams, and millions of prize pool money, the game is super duper popular in Europe and North America.

But it’s not something that you can win by yourself like any other FPS game. You need to induce a specific strategy into the game with your teammates so you can defend, attack, and heal at perfect times to win the game against your enemies.

League of Legends

Release Year: 2009
Total Prize Money Awarded: $100 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: League of Legends World Championship, League of Legends Pro League
Top Players: Lee “Faker” Sang-hook Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok, and Jian “Uzi” Zihao

The popularity of Lol is staggering, as it is one of the most played titles in the esports realm, and it shouldn’t be hard to admit for you. This game is quite similar to Dota 2, and it shows a good reason that you should try it out, too, if you are a Dota enthusiast. It features an arena-style battlefield with a tactical nature. Five-player teams try their best to build a strategy to defend and attack against their enemy team on a closed map.

Fortnite

Release Year: 2017
Total Prize Money Awarded: $180million
Noteworthy Tournaments: Fortnite World Cup, FNCS Grand Royale
Top Players: Ninja, Tfue, Kyle “Bugha”.

Since its release in 2017, Fortnite has been a favorite of teenagers and millennials. The main reason for its boom was the Battle Royale gaming mode and the unique gameplay that combines survival shooters with building mechanics.

The game provides a challenging environment for the players, who strive to reach the end of the circle while killing enemies and defending themselves. Due to the competitive and strategic nature of the game, it shouldn’t be a surprise why Fortnite is such a massive esports title.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Release Year: 2017
Total Prize Money Awarded: $60.6 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: PUBG Global Championship, PUBG Nations Cup
Top Players: Park “Loki” Jung Young and Cha “Pio” Seung Hoon

PUBG claimed its place as one of the first and most popular battle royale games, providing a thrilling experience to all players with realistic graphics and game mechanics. One hundred players dive into a battlefield and survive against the storm, killing each other to win a chicken dinner. The realistic survival dynamics, open-world map, and wide variety of weapons and vehicles make the PUBG championships all the more entertaining to play and watch.

Rust

Release Year: 2018
Total Prize Money Awarded: $5 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: Rust Championship Event
Top Players: Trausi, Surge, AquaFPS

Rust is another survival game that has garnered worldwide enthusiasm over the years. Its survival mechanics and open-world settings provide a fine blend of environments in which players interact.

Despite not aligning with traditional esports formats, like many regular FPS games or card games, many people still enjoy and watch the Rust championships. The engaging multiplayer experience, where players must manage hunger, health, and radiation levels, makes it different from typical FPS games in terms of structured competitions and tournaments.

StarCraft II

Release Year: 2010
Total Prize Money Awarded: $41 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: World Championship Series and Global Starcraft II League
Top Players: Joona “Serral” Sotala and Cho “Maru” Sung Choo

Whenever the name of real-time strategy games pops up, StarCraft II comes into the mind of every real esports enthusiast as it is considered the best real-time strategy sports game. You can play by competing against each other in a fast-paced and highly tactical gameplay that requires good strategy building and fast decision-making.

People from all over the globe love watching competitors manage resources, build armies, and use their superior strategy to win against their enemies. You should also try this; it might be a good new experience.

Overwatch

Release Year: 2016
Total Prize Money Awarded: $10 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: Overwatch League, Overwatch World Cup
Top Players: Sinatraa, JJoNak, and Gesture

Overwatch is a team-playing multiplayer FPS video game that is gaining success among its counterparts. The game’s story, which is already second to none, is set in a near-future Earth setting, which means that players are shown to be in a future Earth where they can choose their abilities and play various game modes.

This exquisite game features many characters with a turntable of special characters that you can choose from according to your playing style. But there is a crucial need to remember that these abilities greatly influence your playing style, so you might want to try some out before sticking to them.

Hearthstone

Release Year: 2014
Total Prize Money Awarded: $8 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: Hearthstone World Championship and Masters tour
Top Players: ThijsNL, Firebat, and Kripparrian

A little late to our list and a little different from other games, Hearthstone is a digital collectible card game that is superbly developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. This eccentric game has attracted millions of people worldwide.

It allows players to compete against one another in strategic card battles, through which players build decks against each other from a wide variety of cards with different creatures, spells, and abilities.

TF2

Release Year: 2007
Total Prize Money Awarded: $2 million
Noteworthy Tournaments: European Team Fortress 2League, ESEA League
Top Players: Habib, Kaidus, Shock.

Team Fortress 2 is a team-based multiplayer FPS game developed by the Valve Corporation, the producers of CS2 and Dota2. It introduces cartoony graphics, marking a departure from the realistic style of playing games. Players can choose from distinct classes with unique strengths and weaknesses and play various game modes against the enemy team.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, 2024 marks another revolutionary year in the esports industry, where millions continuously indulge in various games by watching competitions or playing them. These esports games allow players to be a part of the community and interact with each other while getting a chance to play in the biggest esports games and events. Players can also use Hellagood.marketing to gain several advantages in these games and enjoy an elevated gaming experience.