The eSports industry has been growing exponentially in the last decade. Today, eSports tournaments and championships are so popular that they feature in sports betting. This article shares some of the biggest eSports tournaments and competitions in history based on the prize money.
Dota 2’s annual eSports world championship tournament, The International, has been the biggest eSports tournament for the last five years in a row. Even though last year’s event was cancelled because of the pandemic, The International still holds the record for the biggest pool prize ever in eSports history. The tournament is organised by Valve, Dota 2’s developer. The International’s prize pool is crowdfunded via an in-game battle pass system. So far, The International has splashed out more than $100 million in prize money.
Second in the list is Fortnite World Cup Finals, based on Epic Games’ battle royale game, Fortnite. Even though the tournament has only been held once, it boasts a fat prize pool for both the solo and duo competitions. The inaugural Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 attracted $30 million prize pool. The 2020 Fortnite World Cup was expected to have more significant prize money, but unfortunately, it had to be cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The third biggest eSports tournament is LoL World Championship which is based on League of Legends, a Warcraft III-like online battle arena developed by Riot Games. While it may not have a big kitty like Fortnite World Cup and The International, League of Legends World Championship is the most followed eSports tournament.
The above are the biggest eSports tournaments by prize pool. Other worthy mentions include Honor of Kings World Championship, Call of Duty League Championship, PUBG Global Championship, Overwatch League and Six Invitational just to mention a few.