You might have noticed already, but eSports is becoming a big deal.
While a couple of years ago it was a cult hobby that only a small percentage of people engaged in, now there are global tournaments and world-famous eSports players with legions of fans.
This burgeoning industry is set to explode to a $900 million economy by 2020 if current trends continue. Let’s take a look at some of the top eSports games and the upcoming tournaments you might choose to play in, watch, or bet on.
The Five Biggest eSports Games
CS: GO
Counter Strike is a game even non-eSports fans will have heard of. However, there’s a specific game called Counter Strike Global Offensive which holds a special place in eSports.
This is a first-person shooter game based on counter terrorism. Two teams face off – one being the terrorists, and the other being the counter-terror team.
The objective here is clear – to take each other out. However, there are other tasks built within the game such as defending or liberating hostages, and planting or defusing bombs. It’s action-packed, to say the least.
Several huge tournaments take place each year, but one to keep your focus on in 2018 is the DreamHack Open in France between May 19th and 21st. The prize is a whopping $100,000.
LoL
Even eSports has it’s ‘OG’ games, meaning those which have an elevated status within the community and have stood the test of time. League of Legends is certainly one of them.
This game was an instant hit when it was released in 2009, and its popularity has hardly waned since. It has actually grown significantly.
LoL (as it’s popularly called) is a multiplayer battle arena game with players taking control of ‘champions’ and battling it out as teams. The objective is to destroy the other team’s ‘Nexus’ and so digitally conquer them.
One key LoL event is almost upon us – the mid-season invitational, which will run from May 11th until May 20th. Esport betting is very popular during those days, therefore esport betting websites, such as esportsbets24.com, are a useful tool to make educated bets.
Rocket League
Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from blowing people’s heads off, casting spells, and conquering territory. On these occasions, we can just play football using vehicles, which is something we can all have fun doing.
Rocket League was released in 2015 and has slowly grown to become hugely popular among eSports players, spectators, and bettors alike. That’s probably because lots of people like racing cars and playing football, so a combination of the two was bound to be a hit.
A good opportunity to make some money on eSports will arise on May 13th (unless you’re superstitious). There are several tournaments running on that day, including the ESL EU 3×3.
StarCraft II
Lots of gamers also like sci-fi, which explains the enduring popularity of StarCraft II – Wings of Liberty.
StarCraft II is a multiplayer real-time-strategy game, which for the non-gamers among you means the objective is to outmaneuver your opponents and take over their territory.
Basically, you gather resources, build bases, and push your opponents off the map, kind of like humans do in real life.
The biggest StarCraft II event on the 2018 calendar is the World Championship Series which takes place in Leipzig, Austin, Valencia, and Montreal.
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
If you think it isn’t possible to conduct full-scale warfare against your opponents with just a deck of cards, think again. Better still, play Hearthstone, and you’ll soon change your mind.
Magic, spells, and wiping people out seem to be popular themes among online gamers, and Hearthstone brings all three together in one epic game.
There are ongoing sit-and-go Hearthstone tournaments all year long. If you want to try your hand at making money by playing video games, this might be a good on-ramp.
You can also bet on the outcome of Hearthstone matches if you don’t want to play yourself. It really depends on how involved you want to be.
Summary
As you can see, the eSports annual calendar is busy. There are non-stop events and tournaments happening every month, and millions of people from around the world play in, bet on, and watch eSports showdowns.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck! If you make money at eSports, let us know about your success in the comments below.