Ah, the competitive Esports scene, the biggest thing in sports to attract global attention since the Olympics first started. Why is Esports such a big deal? The real question is, why wouldn’t it be?

It’s one of the most intense and entertaining sports to watch, both in-person and online. Today, we will be taking a look at the top 5 most popular esports tournaments of all time. So, sit back, grab yourself a cup of joe, and see what the esports scene has accomplished in the past few years.

5. Honor of Kings World Champion Cup

Well, let’s start with the biggest in small hardware. Honor of Kings is a Mobile based MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that has garnered massive attention since its launch and today is one of the biggest mobile games out there with more than 100 million active players.

The game was made to target the Chinese mobile app market and since then has become an enormous success in the mobile MOBAs category. A western adaptation of the game was launched by the name of Arena of Valor with heroes changed to better suit the western market.

Arena of Valor runs on the same engine as Honor of Kings and is gradually increasing in popularity among MOBA players in the West

4. EVO Championship Series

There is a chance that if you’re a fighting games fan, you must have seen the epic clip where Ken, played by Diago, parries a whole super combo thrown at him by Chun-Li, played by Justin, and wins the game just in time.

Yup, that was one of the most epic moments in EVO history. Fighting games are the jist of what Esports actually meant. They were the first games to incorporate actual PVP splendidly with the use of two controllers. Hence some of the most popular video games in the world are fighting games.

EVO Championship Series has been the Olympus of all fighting games pros. Since 1996 they have transformed the culture of fighting random people in the arcade to creating a tournament where the best of the best can face each other off and be called the world champion of their respective fighting games.

It is the place where some of the best were born.

3. Fortnite World Championship

For the past few years, there is no question that if anyone in your household plays video games, you must have heard of Fortnite. Fortnite rose to popularity so fast that it was unbelievable. The Free-to-Play Battle Royale game took the video gaming industry by storm by introducing building mechanics into the game.

Now shooting was not the only skill you had to work on; this was a game that allowed you to be creative in many ways—outsmarting your enemy by building over them, editing and shooting them into oblivion, or just plain good at sniper shots. The game was versatile.

There was no question that a game that popular would not have one of the biggest Esports tournaments ever. The one held in 2019 was grabbed by 16-year-old Bugha, who received a 3 million dollar prize after a grueling ten-week placement period and finally the tournament in June 2019.

Unfortunately, the 2020 Fortnite World cup was delayed due to the pandemic, here’s hoping the world can soon get back to normal so we can once again see this amazing tournament take place.

2. League of Legends World Championship

Undoubtedly some of the biggest Esports tournaments have been hosted by MOBA games, and League of Legends is as big as they come. With viewers that reached about 4 million last year, the League of Legends Championship is one of the biggest things in Esports today.

What makes it big is not only the game and athletes but the sheer theatrical atmosphere provided to the viewer guarantees full entertainment and record-breaking views every year.

1. DOTA 2 “The International”

It’s time we talked about the OG of Esports Tournaments. That’s right; it’s The International, the tournament with the biggest prize pool of any game to date, the last reaching $34 million. That is a lot of cash.

The International boasts one of the biggest prize pools because it allows its players to directly contribute to the tournament through purchases of battle passes and other items, which not only involves the community directly but makes sure the game gives back to the players who have invested their lives into the game.

With the constantly increasing prize pool and the game itself being one of the oldest and best MOBAs out there, the popularity of the tournament keeps increasing every year, with people coming together to watch the champions of the game take the great prize. This is the power of Free to Play.

And that is the list of the 5 Biggest Esports tournaments that are going on out there. If you are someone who wants to maybe be a part of these one day, participating in smaller tournaments is an excellent way to build a rapport with other players, which may allow you to meet players who you can play better with. Who knows, maybe one day you will be among the roster announced for these great five.