The global eSports market was valued at $906 million in 2018, and it is predicted to reach $1.65 billion by 2020. How crazy is that? Remember when gaming wasn’t considered lucrative? Now it is one of the most profitable industries. eSports is no longer an activity that is just done for fun, people make millions of dollars by competing is eSports tournament, and if not competing that streaming their gameplay and performances across YouTube and Twitch.
Several video game developers and huge industries host global eSports tournaments with their respective games. It is like a dream come true for video game nerds. Gamers have started getting more and more worldwide recognition. You know it is big when events have sponsors like Microsoft and Red Bull. With the growing opportunity that this industry presents with its growth, many people are taking up eSports professionally.
Here are three big events that will occur later in the year that are worth watching out for.
1. Overwatch
The Overwatch League is the biggest Overwatch tournament in the world. In this tournament, 20 teams compete to be the world champion. Overwatch has become a mainstream game which is played by several professional players worldwide. These 20 teams represent different cities around the world.
The Overwatch League is organized by the company that developed the game, Blizzard Entertainment. The tournament has already started on February 14th but will continue till August 25th. There are four stages to the tournament, and each stage lasts for five weeks. The prize is something to be desired; this year’s prize is $5 million.
2. PUBG Global Championships
PUBG is everywhere, and everyone is playing the game. This is the biggest PUBG event that is open worldwide. It is organized by the developers, PUBG Corp.
The game will have nine pro teams that will represent nine different regions. The tournaments begin with a regional competition; this phase will give us the nine teams that will compete for the world championship. The matches will go on throughout the year. The final event is scheduled to be in November. The prize isn’t as much as Overwatch, but it is still huge. The prize for the world championship is said to be at least $2 million.
3. The International – DOTA 2 championships
‘The International’ is the annual world tournament for DOTA 2 players. DOTA 2 is a very popular game and has an enormous fan and player base worldwide. It is considered to be one of the biggest eSports events scheduled in 2019, primarily because of the popularity of DOTA 2 in the worldwide gaming community.
Like the other two games, this tournament is also organized by the game’s developer, Valve Corporation. The tournament will be held in the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai. The tournament dates even though not announced, will happen later in the year, around August. In 2018, the prize was $25 million. If it is anything like that in 2019, it will be one of the biggest events of 2019.
These games and tournaments have huge prizes and also huge fanbases. It will be fun to keep an eye on the proceedings.
