According to esportsearnings, Germany was among the most represented countries of origin of the active eSports scene in 2021 – albeit with a large gap to the leader USA. But how can the popularity of an e-sports game be measured? Some rely on Twitch viewer numbers, while others rely on the dimensions of the major tournaments or the prize money offered. We’ve taken all aspects into consideration and, based on the databases of the online platform GamerTransfer and esportsearnings, we’ll tell you about the most popular games in e-sports worldwide.

League of Legends on the eSports throne

With League of Legends (or LoL for short), developer Riot Games (Valorant) achieved a true global hit in 2009. After initial teething troubles, LoL has become one of the most played games ever and even in 2020 – more than 10 years after its release – it still has over 100 million regular players.

League of Legends is an MMOBA (“Multiplayer Online Battle Arena”). Typical for this genre, you and your team of usually five players have to destroy the enemy “Nexus”. This is defended to the utmost by the enemy team, and at the same time your own Nexus must be protected. The elimination of enemies or computer-controlled creatures brings experience, which in turn improves your characters. As a rule, these rounds last between 30 and 60 minutes.

But what makes the game so exciting for tens of millions of players even more than a decade after its release? The main reason is probably the enormous variety compared to other multiplayer titles. Almost no game round is the same as another, since your tactics are influenced by countless factors such as the choice of your characters, the nature of the map, or the actions of your opponents.

Over 150 characters (called “champions”) are available for you to choose from. These range from human warriors like Garen to animal representatives like the amphibian Fizz or mystical titans like Nautilus. Each one comes with special attacks, abilities and characteristics. They also have a background story that will keep fans guessing about the relationships between the champions.

With prize money in the millions and numerous active teams, LoL is undeniably one of the biggest e-sports phenomena of our time. Currently, there is no sign of the success flattening out – several tournaments are planned again for 2022. With prize money of 6.45 million US dollars, the 2018 World Championship is one of the most highly endowed tournaments in e-sports.

Rocket League

From mystical MMOBA battles to insane autoball: Stefan Raab demonstrated it years ago, but no real tournament (so far) comes close to the absurdity of Rocket League. After all, the characteristic feature here are the rockets with which your model cars not only race across the field, but also like to launch the oversized ball in the air into the desired path.

The basic premise of Rocket League seems simple: two teams, two goals, one ball. Whoever scores more goals wins. But just like in real-life soccer, it’s all about skill, tactical finesse and a certain amount of luck. So it’s no wonder that Rocket League can easily keep up with the real ball sport among e-sports fans – FIFA is clearly behind in this area.

Even though the Rocket League Championship Series doesn’t offer millions in prize money, the motorized ball kicking repeatedly proves itself as an e-sports great. A whopping 18 million fans watched the 2018 tournament live on Twitch, and Rocket League is also a perennial favorite on German TV on eSports1. With the move to a free-to-play model and a mobile spin-off in the works, the hype surrounding Rocket League is unlikely to die down anytime soon.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The undisputed king of LAN parties (or its successor) continues to hold its own in the e-sports scene. The tactical shooter from Valve has two teams of five players each compete with a supposedly simple premise: Place the bomb at the bomb sites or defend these sites to the utmost.

At the beginning of each round, both teams invest their hard-earned (virtual) money in their equipment and subsequently try to win the round for their team as tactically as possible. In the process, shooting safety is just as important as a cooperative approach.

It’s not without reason that Counter Strike: Global Offensive has remained in the top ranks of the Steam charts to this day. Even about 10 years after its release, hundreds of thousands of players still romp around on the servers every day – often even more than a million are online at the same time. So it’s no wonder that the professional tournaments remain popular as well. They also offer prize money in the millions – the winners of the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, Natus Vincere, recently took home an even million US dollars.

CSGO’s popularity continues at a high level. Even though titles like Valorant have already entered into direct competition with the tactical shooter, no comparable title seems to be able to take on the top dog so far. The move to a free-to-play model in 2018 is also likely to have contributed to CSGO’s durability – although “free players” were only recently excluded from the ranking system.

Fortnite

The current runner-up of the e-sports games with the highest prize money should be a familiar name even to non-gamers: Fortnite. Hardly any game has managed to penetrate pop culture as much as the Battle Royale king in recent years. Whether it’s the traditional dances or its skins and guest appearances, which are becoming increasingly absurd, Fortnite remains one of the biggest gaming phenomena of our time.

So it’s hardly surprising that tournaments are still being held diligently in the field of e-sports as well. Either alone or in a team, up to 100 players jump on an island, collect weapons and support items and try to be the last one left at the end of the round. The timeless gameplay that previously brought titles like PUBG to the e-sports scene is still popular today. Most recently, up to 2.3 million viewers were entertained by the skills of the participants at the same time for the World Cup 2019.

The Fortnite World Cup is one of the highest-paying tournaments in e-sports history. The 2019 finals most recently offered a whopping $30 million split between a solo and duo tournament. The respective winners, Bugha and Cooler Esport, went down in history with three million dollars in prize money each. The World Cups, along with the Fortnite Champion Series, should continue to provide plenty of excitement (and record-breaking prize money) in the future.

Dota 2

And here comes the absolute record holder among e-sports heavyweights: DOTA 2. The annual international tournament rolls over every year with its headline-friendly prize totals and currently occupies the top six spots among the highest-paying e-sports events of all time. The current highlight: the 2021 tournament, with total prize money of over $40 million. The winning team, Team Spirit, captured the lion’s share with $18.2 million.

But what is this e-sports heavyweight all about? Like LoL, DOTA 2 is a classic MMOBA. It was developed by Steam operator Valve and was released as a free-to-play title for the PC in 2013. Even today, an average of 500,000 players are still present on the servers every day.

In DOTA 2, you are also part of a five-man team – either on the side of the Dire or Radiant faction. The goal of the game is to destroy the enemy base while defending your own. Gold and experience, gained through various actions, upgrade your attacks and abilities or equip you with new items. Also, the fighters can learn various talents.

DOTA 2 offers a comprehensive selection of the so-called heroes. These differ in their attacks, abilities and characteristics, which classifies them into different complexity and attribute classes. As it stands, there are over 120 heroes to choose from. The variety ranges from the innocent-looking Marci to the powerful “Shadow Demon” to the dork duo “Techies”. As with LoL, this massive hero grid, among other things, allows for a high degree of variance among the different game rounds. Here, too, hardly any game is like the other.

Unsurprisingly, then, said tournaments are watched by over a million spectators each year. The venue changes annually after a temporary Seattle fixation – the first tournament even took place here in Germany in Cologne in 2011. At that time, however, the prize money was a ridiculous 1.6 million US dollars.