BIGGEST ESPORTS GAMES | WHAT ARE THE TOP 10 ESPORTS GAMES IN 2024?
With each passing day, the esports industry continues to grow at a phenomenal pace. It’s getting bigger, brighter, and bolder all the time, with more games and tournaments surfacing to accommodate the tens of thousands of professional competitors. For the biggest esports games, there are multi-million-dollar prize pools, groundbreaking sponsorships, and rockstar-grade pro players who are quickly becoming household names – but what are the top 10 esports games?
Once upon a time, esports was a quiet, rarely-seen thing – a mere idea in the minds of gamers worldwide with a higher-than-average skill level and a desire to compete against others. Today, the esports market is worth billions of dollars, and it’s fast rivalling traditional sports in many ways. With that in mind, we’re breaking down the biggest esports games, ranking the top 10 esports games in 2024 by their total prize money, tournaments, and pro players.
Enjoy!
AT A GLANCE…
Here are some high-level statistics that you can take away to impress your esports-focused friends:
- The biggest esports game by prize money is Dota 2, with a total of $348,666,595 in prize money having been awarded since it was released
- The biggest esports game by the number of competitors is Counter-Strike, with a total count of 16441 pro players
- The biggest esports game by the number of tournaments is also Counter-Strike, with a total count of 8297 tournaments
- The fastest-rising individual esports game is Counter-Strike 2, which has accrued $12,172,739 in prize money since being released in September 2023
- The most successful genre in esports is MOBA (League of Legends, Dota 2)
COUNTER-STRIKE (CS, CSGO, CS2)
Counter-Strike 2 was released in the second half of 2023 as a direct follow-on from CSGO (which came after CS). It proved to be a huge success, with millions of players getting on board. However, the game’s esports scene remained the same, and for the most part, teams, players, and tournaments all retained the same structure, pools, and mechanics. It’s easily one of the top 10 esports games in the world by numbers alone.
Not only does Counter-Strike boast a multi-billion-dollar peer-to-peer skin trading market, but tens of millions of dollars have changed hands during esports tournaments. It’s a dramatically powerful game that has spearheaded the growth of the esports industry. Here’s the data on Counter-Strike as the biggest esports game ever.
- $188,133,855 in prize money
- 16441 pro players
- 8297 esports tournaments
PUBG
PUBG pioneered the battle royale genre and popularised the concept, allowing others to follow and find their own levels of greatness. It’s one of the top 10 esports games ever made, boasting a valuable mobile scene as well as a PC-based ecosystem. Hundreds of millions of people play this free-to-play battle royale, and it has a dedicated and loving community driving the ongoing success of the game ever forward.
There are no signs that PUBG is going to slow down any time soon – it’s one of the best esports games for a reason. Here’s the data:
- $144,835,059 in prize money
- 8125 pro players
- 950 tournaments
DOTA 2
Dota 2 is a powerhouse of a game that boasts some of the most valuable tournaments in esports, including The International, an annual ‘mega tournament’ with an unbelievable prize pool. It has been around for more than ten years and is one of the most popular esports games without question. In terms of numbers, it’s the most valuable game in the esports industry, but it’s a complex one and difficult to learn, so newcomers are often put off.
Here’s the data for Dota 2:
- $348,666,595 in prize money
- 4896 pro players
- 1902 tournaments
FORTNITE
Fortnite is the world’s most popular battle royale game, boasting a fantastic and hugely successful free-to-play operating model that has attracted hundreds of millions of players. It’s a household name and loved by millions of people around the world, and it also has a vibrant esports scene. There are a lot of grassroots esports tournaments around the world related to Fortnite, but that smaller scale hasn’t stopped it from being a hugely valuable game.
This is the data for Fortnite, which is easily considered one of the top esports games:
- $181,395,668 in prize money
- 9314 pro players
- 2208 tournaments
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
League of Legends is one of the most vibrant and diverse esports titles on Earth. It’s immensely popular and hugely valuable, and every year, the League of Legends World Championship sets new viewership records with ease. It’s becoming more powerful over time, and there are no signs of League of Legends slowing down any time soon. In the MOBA space, League of Legends and Dota 2 rule the roost, even if smaller games like SMITE are also popular.
Here’s the information for League of Legends:
- $109,847,830 in prize money
- 9466 pro players
- 2958 tournaments
VALORANT
VALORANT is one of the newest games to make this list, having been released in 2020. It has gathered pace remarkably fast, rising to challenge the likes of Counter-Strike and Overwatch. It fuses hero shooter elements with tactical shooter gameplay, and it has been a hit with fans since the day it dropped. It has paved the way for a value esports ecosystem that is appreciated around the world, and as a diverse game, it has something for everyone. It’s still on the come up though, and that means that there’s plenty in store for VALORANT’s esports scene. It’s one of the top 10 esports games without any issue.
Here are the metrics for VALORANT:
- $26,930,141 in prize money
- 7172 pro players
- 1261 tournaments
ROCKET LEAGUE
Rocket League takes soccer and high-powered, jet-driven cars and puts them in the same game. In Rocket League, players must control a small, jet-powered car, attempting to ‘kick’ a massive ball into a net. It’s a game of skill, timing, and tactics, and it has a solid skill gap and a stiff learning curve. There’s no doubt it’s one of the best esports games, though. It has a vibrant community backing it up, and since going free-to-play, it has generated millions of players.
Here’s the info for Rocket League:
- $38,269,238 in prize money
- 5971 pro players
- 4163 tournaments
CALL OF DUTY
Call of Duty has a legendary competitive system that goes back more than ten years. It has never been the most popular esports game, but it’s one of the top 10 esports games when it comes to overall earnings. It has the potential to turn gamers into millions – and it has done several times. There’s a mobile scene, a battle royale game, and the core multiplayer experience, all of which make for a very valuable and lucrative esports scene. We’ve put the data below to represent the entire ecosystem of Call of Duty.
It’s one of the biggest esports games, but that’s helped by the fact that there are so many Call of Duty games.
Here’s the data:
- $96,834,720 in prize money
- 7790 pro players
- 386 tournaments
RAINBOW SIX SIEGE
Rainbow Six Siege is a multi-platform, long-form esports game with plenty of meat on the bones. It’s part of the legendary Rainbow Six series, which has roots in the 1990s. As an esports game, Rainbow Six Siege enjoys large prize pools and a monumental following. It’s also a brilliant game that many millions of players enjoy, even if it can be a little complex and daunting for newcomers. It was developed by Ubisoft and the firm has worked hard to support it for almost a decade.
Here’s the data for Rainbow Six Siege:
- $45,378,331 in prize money
- 3067 pro players
- 565 tournaments
APEX LEGENDS
Apex Legends is a battle royale with futuristic elements, serving as a spin-off to the Titanfall series that wowed players more than a decade ago. It’s a brilliant game with plenty to offer, including a vibrant and ever-popular esports ecosystem that often beats Call of Duty Warzone’s system. It’s a hugely popular game that many millions of people enjoy, and once you’ve got the hang of some of the hero characters, you’ll be flying around the map and snatching wins.
Here’s the data:
- $22,903,327 in prize money
- 2279 pro players
- 727 tournaments