Top 5 Biggest Tournament Prize Pools: Rise of E-Sports Community
Technology is really evolving from appliances, gadgets, and things that technically make us convenient every day, and even in games. It happens to be so much fun to have games in applications or on gaming consoles. Not only do we enjoy playing games, but we can also earn from them. The best ones are playing virtually, playing with one another, and competing in tournaments. From local to global competition. It is surely entertaining and nerve-wracking to watch who will be the winner. Now we live in a modern era. We have esports.
Esports primarily involves teams competing against each other in tournaments for a cash prize. Functionally, it’s the same as traditional sports. Top-level athletes are constantly vying for the top spots in their sport, or game, of choice. Gamers love competition. They want to be the best. Traditional sports may necessitate gathering people in the same physical location, whereas gaming allows you to play with people from all over the world instantly via an internet connection from the comfort of your own home. Esports are popular not only for their entertainment value but also for the prize money. And now, here are the top five biggest prize pools in the esports community.
1. Dota 2
$290,499,590.89
4434 Players
1681 Tournaments
Dota 2 is an Action RTS game, developed by Valve Corporation. The title was formally announced on October 13, 2010; and was released as a Free to Play game on July 9th, 2013 for Windows, and July 18th, 2013 for Mac OS and Linux. It is the successor to the very popular Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of the Ancients, which was based on the Aeon of Strife map for StarCraft. A huge part of this boom in prize money is due to the popularity of crowdfunding. Developers have begun to offer unique in-game items to their vast player bases to increase the size of the overall prize pool that’s why it became the biggest gaming tournament and highest-earning in esports.
2. Fortnite
$141,050,556.05
5484 Players
857 Tournaments
Fortnite is a large and a diverse community game and can be span across wide range of regions and demographics. It is estimated of 125 million players worldwide and you can play it yourself, partner or your squad. Fortnite is also a survival game drop onto the island whereas 100 players need to compete to be the last player and it is also unmoderated chat functionality in which players can communicate to each other. It is currently available on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. In 2019, Fortnite brought in revenues of $1.8 billion. While most console releases make money from selling a hard copy or digital version of the game itself, Fortnite’s revenue comes entirely from microtransactions.
3. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
$138,962,527.06
15188 Players
6376 Tournaments
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a multiplayer first-person shooter game released in 2012. Despite being a decade old, the game still maintains a high relevance in the gaming community, particularly in the field of esports. As of January of 2022, it is the most popular game on Steam, and currently, the game is still being enjoyed thousands of players. The game also thrives on viewership as it also holds the title for the most viewed game on Twitch. All these attributes have led to the game being acclaimed as one of the most popular esports titles of all time. To explain things simply, a team’s economy is concerned with the amount of money that all players on the team have gathered collectively in order to buy new weapons and utilities. By this, CS:GO had their first $1 million tournament at the MLG Major Championship in Columbus, Ohio and continue to be one of the biggest and high earning game in the community.
4. League of Legends
$98,302,051.33
8600 Players
2752 Tournaments
It was one of the first big free-to-play games, and one of the first big multiplayer online battle arenas, or MOBAs. But going on five years later, League of Legends still holds firm as an example of excellence. With its amazing variety of Champions, rewarding progression systems, and fast but intensely strategic team play, it easily hooked me and refused to let go. That addictiveness and competitive spirit, combined with a generous free-to-play approach and frequent updates from developer Riot Games, has created one of the biggest and liveliest gaming communities anywhere. They also earn from their loyal fan base, as events typically result in an increase in skin sales and other revenue-generating activities. Additionally, livestreaming their events brings in advertising revenue from Twitch and YouTube.
5. Arena of Valor
$58,718,399.31
1429 Players
123 Tournaments
Arena of Valor is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) where teams of five heroes battle it out with the goal of destroying the other team’s base. While the game mostly resembles other popular MOBAs like Dota 2 and League of Legends, it was built from the ground up to support the mobile platform. Arena of Valor was published by Tencent Games, who also own League of Legends Developer Riot Games after acquiring the studio back in 2015. Arena of Valor is extremely popular in SEA countries, with Thailand and Vietnam being the most invested in the game. Even with the whole roster of heroes getting revamped to mainly appeal to western players (read: including figures from Western mythologies), SEA countries still rushed to the game. The game was first launched in 2015. All things considered, even after two and a half years, AoV is still one of the most popular MOBAs on the market.
Combining all the accumulated money from the games on the list, for sure, Esports is on another level of entertainment in the gaming community. Does your favorite game make on the list?
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References:
https://gamequitters.com/what-is-esports/
https://dotesports.com/general/news/biggest-prize-pools-esports-14605
https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/what-is-fortnite-beginners-guide
https://www.metabomb.net/csgo/gameplay-guides/csgo-economy-guide-2
https://heavy.com/games/2017/12/arena-of-valor-king-glory-honor/
