Video games can be very diverse in their appeal. Some tellepic stories; others push the medium to an exciting new level and some just allow parents to placate their toddlers while waiting to fill up fuel on the road trip.
Some games, though, also allow you to connect withfriends, family and acquaintances. They allow for rivalries, emergent stories and even entire esport championships, which allow for huge sums of money to be wonifyou’re good enough.
10 Best Esports Games
The biggest crowds, the most competitive games, and the greatest gamers. These are the best Esports games to watch and play.
Here are 10 esports games with the biggest cash prizes, from smallest to largest (individual prize pot):
Prize money information is fromEsports Earningsand is accurate as of the published date.
10Rocket League
$2,100,000.00
Rocket League
The car football/soccer game that allows you to bicycle kick a giant ball into the opponent’s goal from midair while driving a DeLorean (among othercar cameos),Rocket Leagueis a lot more consistent in its esports prize pot offerings than my win/loss ratio.
In 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, the game had two major tournaments each season, with Gamers8 and RLCS World Championship both giving out $2,100,000.00 for each tournament.
That is, except for the RLCS World Championship in 2021-22 which gave out the slightly smaller $2,085,000.00. So, you might have to settle with one less real-life car purchase if you were skilled enough to win that year.
9Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
$3,000,000.00
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Rainbow Six: Siegedidn’t have the best launch in the world. The tactical team-based shooter launched to middling reviews and a small but, it turns out, dedicated player base.
Thankfully, Ubisoft didn’t just cut their losses and close the game, but instead took the time and resources to make it what it is now.
And what it is now is an esports behemoth, with 10 years of updates and a consistent prize pot of $3,000,000.00 for the last 5 years with the Six Invitational.
8Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
$3,050,000.00
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, is a game I hadn’t personally heard of until I started researching for this article. Turns out it was just me, however, as it’s actually one of the biggest MOBA’s on the planet.
In the game, a player can choose from one of over 127 heroes (as of January 2025), to do battle with in two teams of 5.
Contrary to most of the games on this list, the mid-season championship for MLBB actually has a larger prize pot compared to the world championship, having $3,050,000.00 to split between 24 teams.
7Overwatch
$3,500,000.00
Overwatch 2
Overwatchis a hero-based team shooter series, whereby Pixar-like characters do battle. It was also the first series that Activision-Blizzard created a ‘pro-league’ for.
In the championships, two teams of five do battle with individually selected heroes. These heroes can be swapped out during the match, allowing for dynamic battles.
10 Game Franchises That Would Make Great Hero Shooters
All you need is a packed roster and you’ve got a winning formula.
The first game in the series currently holds the record for the largest prize pot with 2019’s Overwatch League Season 2 Playoffs having a $3,500,000.00 prize pot.
The league has since changed format to the ‘Overwatch Champions Series’ as of 2024, with a revenue share incorporated for the 9 teams in the series to also receive a portion of the proceeds from their teams’ cosmetic packs.
6Call of Duty
$4,600,000.00
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty, the behemoth of an FPS series that constantly confuses journalists with its reuse of the same subseries (looking at youModern Warfare) and random use of Roman Numerals (heyBlack Ops).
The current championships are relegated to just the US and Canada, with a set number of teams entering, one from each city, although players don’t need to originate from or live in the city they play for.
While this limits the underdog stories that have sometimes come out of different types of championships, it doesn’t stop the money rolling in. Players are even guaranteed a $55,225 dollar salary (as of 2023)!
The 2020 Championship, using Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) had a $4,600,000.00 prize pot. The 2021 Championship had the second-highest prize pot of $2,500,000.00.
5League of Legends
$6,450,000.00
League of Legends
TheLeague of Legendspro scene is no LOL’ing matter. Now, with the obligatory pun out of the way, League of Legends is MOBA with over 170 characters to choose from as of 2025.
Much like other MOBAs, LoL gives two teams of five an arena to battle it out in. The game has one of the world’s largest esport scenes, with some players commanding salaries of over $1 million.
This money extends to the prize pots, which, while nowhere near the level ofDota 2’scrowdfunded pots, still came in nicely at $6,450,000.00 for the 2018 World Championship, the highest prize pot for the game so far.
4PLAYERUNKNOWN’s BATTLEGROUNDS
$7,068,071.00
PUBG: Battlegrounds
The battle royale that popularized the genre,PUBGstill has millions of active players, especially when the mobile version of the game is taken into account.
The game has had at least one esports championship every year since 2017, with tournaments using the ‘Solo’, ‘Two-Player’, ‘Two-Player with First-Person Perspective’ and ‘Four-Player Squad’ formats.
2019’s ‘PGI.S 2021 Main Event’ was the ‘winner winner, chicken dinner’, with $7,068,071.00 in prize money.
Themobile version is just as successfuland also has separate championships, with the ‘Peacekeeper Elite League 2022 Spring’ leading the way with a $4,141,565.50 prize pot.
3Arena of Valor/Honor of Kings:
$10,000,000.00
Arena of Valor
Another entry, another MOBA. Arena of Valor is the international version of Honor of Kings, a Chinese MOBA made by the same company who graced Pokémon with Unite.
Now, there’s actually a third version of the game as well, as Honor of Kings has now been given a global release as a separate version.
You’d think all these versions would split the player base, but actually, the game is the highest-grossing mobile game in the world, so it just goes to show – build and they will come.
Now, the esports championships showcase a little bit of where that money goes as it has one of the highest prize pots, with a clean $10 million for the International Championship in 2022 – a number which has been pretty consistent in the years since.
$15,287,500.00
WhileFortniteis now a multimedia juggernaut, responsible forconcerts, LEGO survival, and the ability to see Thanos twerk while facing off against Ariana Grande, it should be noted that it was and still is a competitive esport.
Well, firstly, it was a PVE co-op multiplayer, but who wants to Save the World, when they can earn some of the $15,287,500.00 prize pot as in the ‘Solo’ classification of the 2019 Fortnite World Cup finals?
‘Duos’ comes in just behind, with $15,100,000.00 to share, and while it’s never hit the same height as in 2019, you’re still in with a chance to make some serious V-Bucks with this game.
$40,018,400.00
Dota 2 is the game that always springs to mind when I think of esports and money. Since 2013, the MOBA has supported its yearly ‘The International’ competition via a pretty nifty crowdfunding solution.
For every Battle Pass (also known as the Compendium) sold, ¼ of the revenue goes into the prize pot, allowing regular players to contribute to the prize pot and, if they’re good enough, win the lot.
This crowdfunding has allowed for the prize pot to grow to as large as $40,018,400.00 for the 2021 tournament, and while it has since decreased to $2,581,982.00 in 2024, this is still the 62nd biggest prize pot ever.
9 Low-Stress Competitive Multiplayer Games
You’re less likely to be banned from chat after a match with these.
