Greatest Esports Games Ranked

League of Legends

Worlds is the closest thing esports has to a Super Bowl, and Faker's decade-long reign made him the sport's first true global icon. T1's 2023 championship run, watched by millions, cemented LoL as the genre-defining esport of its era.

Year Launched: 2009Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $2,400,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 6,400,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 10/10

added by IJRin 5 rankingsLeague of Legends

Dota 2

Valve crowdfunded The International's prize pool via community-purchased battle passes, briefly making it the richest prize pool in all of esports at roughly $40M in 2021. OG's back-to-back TI titles and Miracle-'s theatrics gave Dota its own mythology.

Year Launched: 2013Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $40,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 2,000,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 9.5/10

added by IJRin 5 rankingsDota 2

Counter-Strike (CS:GO/CS2)

From smoky LAN cafes running 1.6 to PGL Copenhagen 2024 smashing viewership records, Counter-Strike has run continuously as a top-tier esport longer than almost anything else. Its Major championship format, running since 2013, is the FPS gold standard.

Year Launched: 1999Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $2,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 1,900,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 9.8/10

added by IJR

StarCraft: Brood War

In Korea, Brood War wasn't a hobby, it was prime-time television, complete with cheerleaders and idol-status pro gamers like Boxer. It essentially invented the modern esports industry template a decade before the West caught up.

Year Launched: 1998Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $200,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: —Legacy Impact: 9/10

added by IJRStarCraft: Brood War

StarCraft II

GSL turned Korean apartment complexes into esports pilgrimage sites, and Flash's transition from Brood War god to SC2 contender bridged two eras. The Global StarCraft II League and WCS circuit proved RTS esports could survive the genre's decline elsewhere.

Year Launched: 2010Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $700,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 600,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 8.5/10

added by IJRin 5 rankingsStarCraft II

Warcraft III

A custom map called Defense of the Ancients quietly born inside Warcraft III's editor would go on to spawn the entire MOBA genre and, eventually, Dota 2 itself. Grubby and Sky's rivalry defined an era before that legacy even became clear.

Year Launched: 2002Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $250,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: —Legacy Impact: 7.8/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Street Fighter II / FGC

Daigo Umehara's 'Evo Moment 37' parry against Justin Wong in 2004 is arguably the single most replayed clip in esports history, and it happened at a tournament run on folding tables in a hotel ballroom. Street Fighter II built the fighting game community's grassroots, no-corporat

Year Launched: 1991Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $100,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 300,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 8.5/10

added by IJR

Quake

John Carmack literally handed Thresh the keys to his own Ferrari after the 1997 Red Annihilation tournament, an act often cited as the founding moment of professional gaming. Quake's deathmatch and duel formats still influence every arena shooter that followed.

Year Launched: 1996Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $100,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: —Legacy Impact: 7.5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Overwatch

The Overwatch League gambled everything on a city-based franchise model, complete with $20M buy-ins and a Boston Uprising home stadium, briefly looking like traditional sports' esports future. Its 2023 collapse became a cautionary tale about overexpansion just as fast as its laun

Year Launched: 2016Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $5,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 500,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 7/10

added by IJRin 4 rankings

Valorant

Riot Games leaned on its LoL esports playbook to build VCT into a legitimate CS rival within a few years, and Champions Los Angeles 2023 drew crowds that stunned skeptics of the tactical shooter's staying power. Its rapid global scaling is the fastest an esport has matured in the

Year Launched: 2020Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $2,250,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 1,500,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 8/10

added by IJRin 4 rankingsValorant

Fortnite

The 2019 Fortnite World Cup handed a 16-year-old named Bugha a $3M solo prize, the largest individual esports payout ever at the time, out of a jaw-dropping $30M total pool. It proved battle royale could headline a stadium spectacle, even if its competitive scene struggled to sus

Year Launched: 2017Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $30,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 2,300,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 7.5/10

added by IJRin 5 rankings

Call of Duty

From MLG LAN arenas in the 2000s to the modern Call of Duty League's city-franchise structure, COD has quietened run one of esports' longest unbroken competitive lineages. Its Champs tournaments remain a proving ground for FPS talent even as the format keeps reinventing itself ye

Year Launched: 2003Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $2,500,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 500,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 7/10

added by IJR

Super Smash Bros Melee

Nintendo actively ignored and sometimes opposed its competitive scene for years, yet Melee survived purely on grassroots community devotion, with Mang0's dominance and the Smash documentary series turning it into cult legend. Its 20-plus year tournament run without publisher supp

Year Launched: 2001Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $75,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 200,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 8/10

added by IJR

Rainbow Six Siege

The Six Invitational grew from a niche tactical shooter side event into one of the most technically demanding esports on the calendar, prized for its destructible-environment strategy depth. Ubisoft's steady, unglamorous investment kept it growing while flashier titles rose and f

Year Launched: 2015Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $3,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 500,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 6.8/10

added by IJR

PUBG

PUBG kicked off the battle royale esports wave before Fortnite ever existed, with the PUBG Global Invitational setting early templates for how hundred-player shooters could be broadcast competitively. It never quite escaped being outshined by faster, flashier rivals it inspired.

Year Launched: 2017Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $2,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 300,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 6/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Rocket League

Nobody expected rocket-powered cars playing soccer to become a legitimate esport, but the RLCS built a passionate crossover crowd blending traditional sports fans with gamers. Its highlight-reel aerial goals made it one of the most spectator-friendly esports to watch even for tot

Year Launched: 2015Biggest Tournament Prize Pool: $1,000,000Peak Concurrent Viewers: 300,000 viewersLegacy Impact: 6.5/10

added by IJRin 8 rankingsRocket League