10 Biggest Prize Pools in Esports
Esport, also otherwise known as electronic sport, e-sport or programming. It is a competitive competition between computer game players in tournaments and league competitions. Competitions are held in multiplayer games. These competitions and games have clearly defined rules. They are played via computer, Xbox, Playstation or mobile.
Popular esport games
- Counter-Strike
- Fortnite
- League of Legends
- Dota 2
- StarCraft
- FIFA
- WarCraft
- World of Tanks
As esports have gained worldwide popularity, many companies have started to sponsor tournaments in the esports industry. These sponsors invest huge amounts of money into the sport in order to advertise their products and promote sales. Japan has seen the most rapid growth in esports, despite its legal challenges. In fact, the Japanese market for esports is worth $2.2 million dollars per year, more than twice that of other countries.
Compared to traditional sports, esports have a wider audience than traditionally recognized. While a younger audience may shun traditional media in favor of esports, parents play casual games for fun. According to eMarketer, 83 per cent of men and eighty per cent of women play video games regularly. Similarly, seventy-one per cent of Americans in their late 50s and 60s are gamers.
10 Biggest Prize Pools in Esports
- The International (Dota 2) 2021 – $40,018,400.00
- The International (Dota 2) 2019 – $34,330,069.00
- The International (Dota 2) 2018 – $25,532,177.00
- The International (Dota 2) 2017 – $24,687,919.00
- The International (Dota 2) 2016 – $20,770,460.00
- The International (Dota 2) 2015 – $18,429,613.05
- Fortnite World Cup Finals (Fortnite) 2019 – $15,287,500.00
- Fortnite World Cup Finals (Fortnite) 2019 – $15,100,000.00
- The International (Dota 2) 2014 – $10,931,103.00
- Honor of Kings World Champion Cup (Arena of Valor) 2021 – $7,728,000.00
The International (Dota 2)
The International is an annual world championship for Dota 2 players hosted by Valve. The first edition was held in August 2014 at Gamescom and since then the championship has been held annually. In 2020, the tournament was not held due to the covid-19 pandemic. A total of 18 teams participate in the championship. 12 teams are invited directly from the Dota Pro Circuit tournament system and six teams advance to the championship after winning regional qualifiers in the playoffs, which are the North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Europe, and CIS regions. Since 2013, the prize money has been funded through revenue (25%) from the Battle Pass. On a global scale, this is the esport event with the most valuable prize money, which additionally increases every year.
Fortnite World Cup Finals (Fortnite)
The Fortnite World Cup is an annual esports competition based on the video game Fortnite, with the inaugural final events taking place July 26–28, 2019 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, United States. A total US$30 million prize pool was available across the various competitions.
Honor of Kings World Champion Cup (Arena of Valor)
The 2020 Honor of Kings World Champion Cup is a World Championship event for Honor of Kings, organized by Tencent and VSPN. The tournament will take place in China China across Shanghai and Bejing.
In Conclusion
The biggest prize pool for competitive games is undoubtedly Dota 2, but that doesn’t mean that other eSports games don’t have valuable competitions with prizes. CG:GO, FIFA, Starcraft II, Call of Duty, and Overwatch are just a few of the eSports games that also hold professional tournaments and competitions every year.
As you can see, prizes and tournaments in eSports are no joke. The simplicity of a standard video game and the compulsion to play in front of millions of viewers and fight for stunning prizes are factors that explain the significant growth of the online sports industry. The growth in the quantity and quality of professional esports tournaments and competitions is huge. It is also not surprising that many bitcoin casinos are beginning to embrace online sports and are starting to offer attractive markets and odds to bring fans even closer to the online sports industry.
