Overview Of Four Major Esports Titles: LoL, Dota2, CS:GO, and CoD
Four Major esports titles stand out from the rest, with the leading names being League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2 and Call of Duty.
The best thing about sports is that there’s something for everyone and the sheer amount of different sports makes it very easy for everyone to find something they enjoy.
In this decade, we saw the birth of new sports. joined the likes of basketball, soccer, hockey, football and baseball. One very notable addition to the list is esports.
Whether esports is actually a sport, or whether it belongs in a separate category is debatable. However, esports have come a long way since the first video game competitions were contested. Nowadays, they offer something for everyone.
The sheer amount of different esports titles is quite astonishing, and the fact that very few esports titles are similar to one another makes for a very diverse scene.
The Undisputed Most Popular Esports In the World
League of Legends is undeniably the most popular esports title in the world. At the same time, its premier tournament, the LoL World Championship, is also the most-watched esports tournament.
Put into perspective, the 2019 LoL Worlds boasted over 100 million viewers, while the Super Bowl that same season had 100.7 million viewers.
LoL’s popularity isn’t that shocking, since it’s a globally-played game, from South America to Europe and all the way to Asia and Australia. With a dozen leagues running across the world, and each with lower-division competitions, LoL is firmly seated atop of the esports food chain.
Tactical First-Person Shooter That Refuses To Die
Counter-Strike might not have as large viewership numbers as League of Legends, but it’s just as respected on the esports scene. Making its debut in 1999, Counter-Strike has quickly become one of the most popular video games in the world, retaining that tag even though it’s gone through several iterations of the game.
While most of its previous titles appealed to gamers, the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012 truly put CS on the map, helping it become one of the most-watched and most -played titles globally.
Over a decade later, CS:GO is a big hit in the esports world, fostering one of the largest player bases in the industry. However, unfortunately, CS:GO is not as popular in Asia, which is also the main reason why its player base can’t compare to that of LoL and its estimated 180 million-plus active users.
LoL’s Cousin And The King Of Tournament Prize Pools
As with League of Legends, Dota 2 is a multiplayer on-line battle arena (MOBA) game, meaning it shares some similarities, albeit a different game. For years, gamers have been arguing which of the two is more challenging, However, no matter the answer, you either play LoL or Dota 2.
First released in 2013, Dota 2 quickly became one of the most-played on-line games in the world and has remained that way to date. However, while the size of its player base is impressive, it’s the Dota 2 esports tournaments that differentiate it from other titles.
Dota 2’s season-culminating event, The International, is by far the best-paid esports tournament in history, with a prize pool reaching over $40 million. In comparison, the best-paid LoL and CS:GO tournaments hardly pay more than $2 million.
So even though Dota 2 might not be the most popular esports game, it indeed pays to be a Dota 2 pro player.
The Iconic Name That Is Here To Stay
Call of Duty has a long history in the video game competitive scene, and is an iconic name that’s forever be associated with the nascence of esports. What started as a campaign focused on FPS soon transformed into one of the most popular multiplayer games, ever.
Even though CoD has a long and rich esports history, it took a huge leap in 2019 with the introduction of the Call of Duty League (CDL). It’s a franchised esports league for professional teams. While the popularity of the CDL is still nowhere near to LoL, Dota 2 and CS:GO, it’s never going to reach that status.
