The eSports community is growing larger every year, with more games and players getting in on the fun. But what exactly is eSports and which games are the most popular?
If you want to learn more about eSports, including how popular it is and which games are most commonly played, then make sure you keep reading.
What is eSports?
eSports are electronic sports which come in the form of organised video game competitions. There are various leagues and tournaments, in the same manner as traditional sports, with the aim of finding the top player or team in a category.
These tournaments can take place with individuals or teams – this will be dependent on the game itself – and feature participants who can be classed as professional gamers. Major tournaments will have cash prizes, with some of the best players having contracts wherein they receive a salary every month, making it a viable career path for those who are talented enough to compete.
How popular is eSports?
eSports is incredibly popular, with more people getting involved every year. In 2022, there were 532 million eSports viewers worldwide, and that number is expected to grow over the next few years.
The rise of eSports can be attributed to many factors, with the main one being how accessible it can be. Playing a physical sport can require organising people and having access to physical spaces that enables you to play the sport, which is not the case in eSports. While the hardware required to play certain games can be expensive, you can game with people from all over the world from the comfort of your own home, with the added benefit of being able to try out multiple games with the same hardware.
Furthermore, as eSports has become more popular the prizes for winning some of the major tournaments can be life-changing amounts of money. For example, the Dota 2 tournament in 2022 had a cumulative prize pool valued at 32.85 million dollars, which proves how popular, and costly, it has become.
What eSports games are there?
Essentially, any game can be an eSport if enough people are playing it competitively. There are too many eSports titles to list here, with some having popularity regionally or globally, but there are a few that are very well known within the eSports community.
One of the most popular eSports games is Dota 2, which is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) in which two teams of five players battle against each other. Fortnite is another well-known eSport which has gained massive popularity within the last few years.
League of Legends, PUBG and Overwatch are some other titles. As you can see from the games mentioned, eSports titles can vary massively with various genres included.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
