Professional eSports is a hit all over the world. People have started taking gaming as a career as opposed to a pastime activity. The following are the top eSports awards that a professional gamer can get their hands on.
Fortnite
Epic Games’ Fortnite was the biggest eSports prize that gamers were fighting for in the past year. The company further went ahead in may to say that they were pumping $100M in cash prizes for the game.
The prize money of $30M was promised by Epic as they hosted a four-day tournament in New York. 16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf popularly known as Bugha walked away with $3M by taking the solos event.
Moreover, Epic distributed millions for tournaments like the World Cup Qualifiers, many Skirmish Series, and Twitchcon events, the Fortnite Champion Series, and more. The company keeps on increasing price money and this will only get better for gamers.
Dota 2
Dota 2 reigns supreme for the biggest prize money for a solitary event, which was $34M. Moreover, the last of the big four on the list of Dota 2 produced the best viewership. TI9 was the most viewed affair in the history of Dota. After winning this tournament, all five gamers of the winning team went on to the apex of the all-time earnings list of eSports.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Although it started in 1999, the Counter-Strike series was taken over by Valve in 2012. It has not disappointed either and has evolved into one of the best eSports awards. It’s an eSports company with many tournaments under its belt. In 2018 and 2019, it held 832 and 612 tournaments respectively.
This tournament is so popular that it’s known as the Majors in the eSports world. It takes place twice a year and has prize money of over $1M.
PLAYER UNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS
In 2019, the PUBG Corporation which is part of South Korean Video gaming company Krafton Game Union set up a global championship. The prize pool was $5.9M.
32 of the finest teams across the globe came together to contest for the total prize money in Oakland, California. In 2020, they are planning to go a notch higher and add three major events that will be live as well as their Global Championship.
Overwatch
Overwatch League is a professional eSports event controlled by Blizzard Entertainment. It brings together 20 teams from three continents to fight for a slot in the grand finale and an all-star game.
Each team is sponsored by an eSports group. The first season saw the price pool of $3.5M. Blizzard also added $200k per stage in 2019. Moreover, the grand finals had an astonishing 22,000 spectators. The viewership exceeded 10.8 million having been broadcasted by Twitch, Disney XD, and ESPN.
Blizzard has moved to Overwatch 2, which is the next iteration of the title. Moreover, the prize money is expected to shoot up.
League of Legends
The League of Legends has a tournament every year and is one of the biggest eSports awards for pro players. A player has to make their way through a regional competition to get an invitation. As soon as they qualify, they are in the bracket to win $1M. It also comes with the 70-pound Summoner’s Cup trophy.
In 2019, the League of Legends World Championship broke a Twitch record with 1.7M viewers.
Magic: The Gathering
This eSport was only launched in 2019. It is a digital type of the 25-year old card game. Millions of dollars have been pumped into Magic to make it competitive. This has led to an Arena-focused league of the game.
With all the available cash, Arena has pushed Magic’s eSport viewership on Twitch. And with the addition of a huge toy company and a very viewer-friendly digital product, Magic’s future certainly looks bright.
Call of Duty
Call of Duty Championship is one of the most prestigious eSports awards a professional gamer can get his hands on. The game is popular worldwide. As a result, we have the Call of Duty World League and Call of Duty Pro League. This brings together pro players to square it out and gets to the Call of Duty Championship.
The big money from the CWL Championship and its pool of $2M and the CWL Pro League Finals. This also includes its $1.2M in cash distribution. Additionally, the franchise is planning on increasing its price pool to $6M.
Arena of Valor
Arena of Valor is a 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) that is headed by Tencent. The prize money for this mobile game has been lucrative for a few years now. This game is very popular in Southeast Asia compared to other parts of the world.
It’s King Pro League Spring Tournament brought a price pool of $1.3M. on the other hand, the Honor of Kings World Championship had over $2M in 2019.
Rainbow Six Siege
This shooting game Ubisoft is based on the Tom Clancy novels. In the last few years, its price money has doubled tremendously. In the professional league, the price ranges from $162K to $292K.
A tournament that took place in 2019 in Montreal had a prize pool of $2M. This has seen this game turn out into one of the biggest eSports awards for professional gamers.
eSports Awards Will Continue to Grow Over the Years
Nothing motivates gamers like a little competition. These events bring together gamers from across the world.
What’s more, most of these tournaments have high stakes, some fill up entire arenas, while the prize money can exceed six figures.
Moreover, many of the tournaments are pretty much open to anyone. You just part with a registration fee and you are in.
