Right now is the best time to get into e-Sports, with the industry expected to grow 14% in 2021. With so many options available, it can be quite confusing to pick the titles you want to get good at first.
So, which games are the most popular amongst pro gamers? You’ll find out what they are and several key details about them in this article.
Dota 2
Originally released in 2013 by Valve, Dota 2 remains one of the most popular games in the industry. The number of monthly players of this game exceeds 7.6 million worldwide, according to Statista.
Dota 2 is played by two teams, with five players on each team. The objective is to protect your team’s fortress while destroying the opposition’s. The characters start the game by fighting opponents to earn gold and get stronger, and then the fight between the armies begins.
You can consider this as a game of wizard chess, and it makes use of special abilities like magic and spells for the characters. The game is famous for its tournament, known as the International. This tournament has a prize pool of $30 million, which makes for a lucrative offer for all kinds of players across the world.
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Fortnite
Fortnite was launched in 2017 by Epic Games and has quickly become an extremely popular choice amongst gamers. The battle royal mode is the most impressive feature of this third-person shooter game and features several maps updated every month.
After the players are deployed from the ‘battle bus’, they scavenge for resources and have the ability to build defences with resources around them. The weapons, defences, and resources collected are used to defeat the other players on the same map.
Much like Dota 2, Fortnite also has a World Cup which is the biggest tournament in the community. The total prize money in this international tournament is $30 million. Click here to check out more work from our guest writer, Evelyn Balyton.
League of Legends
On average, 2 million players can be found playing League of Legends at any given point. The game originally came out in 2009 but continues to be one of the most popular choices amongst professionals in 2021. It was developed by Riot Games and has become very popular as a mobile game for smartphone gamers to enjoy.
Like other MOBA games, League of Legends is a 5v5 team game. The objective is to protect your Nexus and destroy that of your opponent’s. In this title, players take up the role of a summoner that controls a champion. The special abilities that you have access to vary with each character.
Several tournaments are conducted throughout the year, but the most prestigious one is the LOL World Championship. The winner gets the Summoner’s Cup and the prize pool is over $1 million. You can download LOL from the official website for free.
Rainbow Six: Siege
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege was released in 2015, and is a first-person shooter game that specializes in close-range combat between players.
The game is played between two 5v5 teams, where one team attacks and the other defends. Teams can win by total elimination or achieving objectives specific to the game mode. Gamers can choose from 20 different maps in the game. The various modes that you’ll have access to in this title are:
- Tactical Realism
- Terrorist hunt
- Situations
- Outbreak Bomb Threat
- Secure Area
The major tournaments for Siege include the Pro League and the Six Invitational tournaments that are held over five weeks. This title is one of the more underrated ones in the community and has huge potential to entertain and compete.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Since its release in 2012, CS:GO remains at the top of the list for many e-Sports players to this day. It is the focus of many competitive tournaments held at all kinds of levels, from amateur to professional all across the world.
The title is a first-person shooter game and pits Terrorists against Counterterrorists. Much like other shooting games, there are several game modes in CS:GO that change the objective of both teams.
If you’re looking for an FPS game, you can’t go wrong with CS:GO. In fact, it is a gateway game for several players to get introduced to other similar titles. CS:GO Majors is the biggest tournament conducted between 24 different teams worldwide and offers a prize pool worth over $1 million.
These five games are tried and tested over the years and remain the most popular choices amongst streamers, and competitive players alike. Regardless of your reason for entering e-Sports, these five titles are the safest bets and you can expect a varied community experience with each of them.