So you want to make it in the bigtime huh? Playing video games for a living has been the dream of many, but if you are serious about pursuing that goal then these are the games you need to focus on. The following is a list of the most popular Esports games based two factors: Prize money and popularity. No matter how much you like GTA V, there is not a lot of money to be made from playing it.
10. World of Warcraft
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The PvP arena in World of Warcraft.
You might never have considered it before, but World of Warcraft hosts tournaments with some pretty decent prize money. The latest World of Warcraft Arena World Championship had 1st place prize winnings of $120,000 dollars. That’s not bad at all. That’s like 8000 months worth of game time subscription fees. If you play on a PvE server you’re out of luck though, there is only money to be made in PvP..
The competitive aspect of WoW takes place in the PvP arenas. There are 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 matches that can be played. Anyone that wants to can participate since the game has a ladder/ranking system. Only the top ranked players are able to compete for money though.
9. Halo 3
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Rocket launchers are the most OP fps weapon of all time.
Unfortunately for shooter fans, there aren't too many FPS’s on this list. Certainly there are tournaments that give away prize money for games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Counterstrike Source, but the serious money lies in elsewhere. Halo 3 is quickly declining as an esports game since it is now on an older console; however there are still several tournaments around with pretty decent payouts. The bright side is that you can play solo and you don’t need a team.
8. Smite
Smite is a moba with a new perspective. Unlike other MOBA's you don't have a top down perspective, you play in traditional 3rd person. Playing this way is new, fun, and refreshing. Unfortunately it is not all that popular and only comes in at number 8 on the list of top Esports games. The game’s website contains a long list of active tournaments that you can check out and participate in.
The best part about Smite is the fact that Agni, one of the playable gods, has a skin called Swagni. That way if you don’t win any real prize money, you can still make it rain with virtual cash.
7. World of Tanks
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World of Tanks. What more do you need?
Who would’ve thought that this game would grow so big? There is actually a lot of money to be made in World of Tanks. The game is exactly what it sounds like: An online multiplayer game in which you pick a tank and blow up other tanks. The grand finals for the game that was held towards the end of April 2015 received plenty of attention on Esports and was viewed by thousands over Twitch TV.
6. Warcraft III
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A classic! Join the humans, orcs, undead, or night elves and fight the Scourge.
Wait, people still play this game? Yes they do.
There are still plenty of tournaments with nice payouts for the traditional Warcraft fans. Warcraft III was the last installment of the traditional RTS warcraft series before moving on to the MMO stage. You can play as Undead, Orcs, Humans, Night Elves, and even as the Naga in the expansion. The purpose is to build a base and to destroy your opponents.
The move from an RTS to an MMO didn’t sit over well with everyone, and so there is still a big community of Warcraft III players. Other than private tournaments, look for events at Blizzcon.
5. Starcraft Broodwar
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This game will never die.
Now we are getting into the big winners. Starcraft Broodwar was the number one Esports game for years. It came out in 1998 and has been immensely popular ever since. The game is just like Warcraft only it takes place in outer space and features three playable races: the Terran, Protoss, and Zerg.
There are still plenty of tournaments that feature this older gem and the prize money can get as high as $125,000. With Broodwar you normally don’t have to split the prize money with any team members either so that’s nice. This game has been showcased in multiple world championship tournament finals. Starcraft Broodwar has one of the biggest and most loyal fanbases. This game won’t disappear soon.
4. Counterstrike
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Banana's are OP.
With prizes as high as $200,000, Counterstrike takes the spot for the most profitable Esports Game in the FPS genre.
It also takes the prize for the game with the most hacking Russians, but when you take some; you’ve got to give a little. Counterstrike has evolved over the years since it's original release in 2000 and has seen several improvements.
The game was first a port over from the Half-Life 2 engine into a first person shooter. The game received massive attention and has remained the FPS king for over a decade, and it’s not going away any time soon.
3. Starcraft II
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The most awesome Battle Cruiser there ever was.
The singleplayer king of Esports games is Starcraft II. Who knows how Blizzard did it, but almost all of their games have become massive staples across the gaming industry.
Starcraft II is the immensely improved version of Starcraft: Brood War. Again there are the three playable races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. This time there are more buildings and more units to choose from when building your base and waging war on your neighbors.
The 2015 Starcraft II World Series has a winning prize pool of $1.6 million dollars. That money becomes all yours without any sharing when you win the tournament.
Some of the most skilled gamers in the world spent all of their time practicing Starcraft II because they know that this is where the money lies. This is hands down the most popular singleplayer Esports game on the market.
DOTA 2
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A cast of awesome heroes, DOTA 2.
As the second most popular MOBA in the world, and probably the game that gave rise to the MOBA industry, Dota 2 comes in at number 2.
The original Dota came as a derivative from a Warcraft III battle.net map. The sequel was released in 2013 under the direction of Valve, the same company that created Half-Life and Counterstrike, but received much criticism for having too steep of a learning curve. You pick a hero and defend one of several lanes across a big map. The lanes all connect your base to the enemy's, and the purpose is to push through your lane and destroy the opponents base.
The Dota International Compendium is currently sitting on a prize pool of over $8 million dollars. That almost feels like too much money. You have to split it evenly throughout a team of 5, but that is still a million each. Dota’s prize pool is actually the biggest prize pool in professional gaming, but the number of people who play this game is on the decline unfortunately. The last game on our list may not give away as much money, but it is much more popular.
1. League of Legends
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The truly legendary League of Legends is the most popular game on the market.
If you did not know that this was coming, you haven’t been paying much attention. That or you live under a rock. League of Legends is currently not only the most popular MOBA game, but the most popular game overall in the world. During World of Warcrafts best days, the game had almost 13 million subscribers. That is a very impressive feat for one game. However, compare that to League of Legends 67 million players that log in monthly. It’s no Facebook, but having a daily log in count of 27 million people is insane! And people whine about Riot’s servers… They probably don’t realize how much pressure they are under.
Like in Dota, you pick a champion and defend one out of five lanes while trying to push the enemy back to their base. You win by destroying the opponents Nexus. The prize pool for the League of Legends world championship series for 2014 was just over $2 million dollars. Also, the event received more views than the NBA finals. Put that in perspective.
That concludes our list for the top Esports games to play if you actually want to make money. Let us know in the comments what your favorite Esport game is and if we missed any.
