E-sports implies a competitive video gaming in which either a single-player or a team competing against each other. The popularity of this type of sport has increased in recent years, so more competitions are held across the world now because more people are involved.
E-sports are a fast-growing industry with revenue expected to surpass $1.5 billion in the next two years. This article will discuss the annual gaming competitions to look forward to as a player or a fan.
Today’s post on the most anticipated e-sports events is by MightyTips’ Kate Richardson (you can view her profile here), an e-sports and gaming analyst.
League of Legends World Championship
This competition is sponsored by Riot Games and has more viewers than many other gaming contests. The 2019 edition, with 3.99 million peak viewers, was the most-watched e-sports event globally until 2021’s Free Fire World Series broke the record with 5.41 million peak viewers.
The League of legends competition tournament holds through the spring and summer months and concludes with the final League of Legends World Championship match. This championship includes the best teams from all parts of the world.
The next edition of the competition will take place in Shanghai, China. Although the price money for this competition is not the greatest one around when compared to others, it offers enormous exposure to players compared to other gaming tournaments.
Over watch World Cup
Here is another annual tournament every gaming enthusiast should look forward to in the coming months. Blizzard Entertainment hosts it for the Overwatch gaming league. The tournament is made up of 20 teams from every region of the world competing against each other for the World Championship.
The first edition of the competition was held in South Korea in 2016. Since its inception, South Korea has won three times, making the game popular in Asia and on south african betting sites. Prize money is paid to each team that qualifies and participates in the competition.
The 2019 edition had a prize pool of over $200,000, and viewers from all over the globe streamed the event. Viewers can watch each match and the final on Twitch. The Pandemic disrupted the 2020 edition of the tournament, and no announcement has been made about it being hosted online or getting cancelled.
However, fans should expect an announcement soon because the organizers said so.
Call of Duty World League Championship (CoD)
CoD World League Championship is a competition held for those who play the popular Call of Duty game. Activision, the makers of the game, hosts the competition yearly. The event was hosted for the first time in 2013.
Since then, 32 teams from all parts of the world compete for the Call of Duty World League Championship. The last edition was played on the new Call of Duty gaming platform, Call of Duty: Mobile. It is powered by Sony Mobile and is a free-to-play game.
The total prize money is $1 million and is sponsored by Sony Xperia. Qualification for the annual tournament is held online, and it starts in January every year.
Pro Evolution Soccer – football. Pro Finals
Previously known as PESLeague, this competition has been in existence since 2003. It began as a European-only event, but organizers changed the format to allow players across the globe in 2010. This tournament is an individual event, so every player will appear in the colors of their favorite football clubs, and compete against each other for the chance to be called the best E-sports football team.
Regular league season for the event holds between December and April, and the finals take place in July. The defending champion is Brazil.
The International (DOTA 2)
The International is an E-sport world championship tournament for DOTA 2. It has been in existence since 2011 and is hosted by the game’s producer, Valve. Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) is an online battle area video game played by a group (multiplayer).
The International is the flagship tournament for DOTA 2 and takes place in August of every year. This year’s edition was held in Ericson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The game’s community, through crowd funding, raised prize money of $34 million this year.
The last-placed participant took home $85,000, and the winner got $15 million at the event.
The Fortnite World Cup
The first Fortnite World Cup is an annual gaming event that began in July 2019. The inaugural edition was hosted at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York City. Fortnite was launched in 2017, and it has gained a huge fan base thanks to its free-to-play model.
Due to large viewership figures, the prize pool is one of the biggest among E-sport events. The latest edition has a prize pool of $30 million with a viewership of more than 2 million people worldwide. Also, 19,000 people attended the event, which is among the largest crowd recorded at an E-sports event in world history.
Capcom Cup
For fans of E-sports fighting games, this tournament is the highlight for most of them. It features some of the best players in the world, and it is based on the streets fighter series.
Before you can qualify for this event, you have to be ranked in the top 26 globally by participating in some of the other big E-sports competitions, such as Dream Hack Masters.
The prize pool for the last event was $250,000, which makes it one of the most rewarding events in the E-sports world. The tournament is held every year between April and June.
So we have come to the end of the list of annual e-sports tournaments to watch out for yearly. If you’re an e-sports bettor in the UK, you should check our list of bookmakers in UK for an improved experience. E-sports has really benefited from the lockdowns and movement restrictions put in place as a result of the pandemic.
