Best eSports tournaments to look out for in 2023
Fans can expect a heap of top eSports tournaments next year, including TI (The International) and the League of Legends World Championship.
Recent data shows that the eSports industry continues to grow profitably yearly, with over 532 million fans watching tournaments worldwide in 2022. Profits from eSports surpassed $1.38 billion this year. Because of its explosive growth, the number of significant competitions held worldwide has also increased. Here are some major tournaments to keep an eye on in 2023.
TI (The International)
The International (TI) is a yearly tournament hosted by Valve Corporation. The first TI took place during the trade show Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, Germany, to present Dota 2 to a worldwide audience. It drew attention due to its massive $1.6 million prize pool, the largest eSports tournament at the time.
The Dota 2 community has been able to make contributions to the prize pool since 2013 by purchasing the Battle Pass, with 25 percent of the sale going to the pool. In 2014, the prize pool exceeded $10 million, then $20 million in 2016, $30 million in 2019 and $40 million in 2021.
League of Legends World Championship
Riot Games established the World Championship in 2011. Every year, between October and November, the strongest LoL teams compete for the Summoner’s Cup. Despite having a smaller prize pool than TI, Worlds still gives the winner a good deal with a $6.7 million prize pool.
The 2022 World Championship, which featured 24 teams from around the world, was the only championship in the history of eSports, aside from the Free Fire World Series in 2021, which had more than five million peak viewers.
With 4.02 million peak viewers, the Worlds 2021 was the third most-watched eSports competition. It is followed by the Worlds 2019 and 2020, with peak viewers of 3.99 million and 3.88 million, respectively.
VALORANT Champions Tour Seoul 2023
Riot Games has confirmed that the VCT 2023 season will include three new international leagues in which only selected partner teams can compete.
VCT 2023’s system is similar to what Riot has applied for LoL, in which a fixed number of teams competed for a spot in the world championship.
CS: GO Major Championships
CS: GO Major Championships are Valve-sponsored tournaments with a minimum prize pool of $1,000,000 (previously $250,000). The Major is dedicated to an upper-tier few who battle their way through regional qualifiers before taking on the world’s toughest competition for prestige and prize money.
The PGL Stockholm Major produced substantial earnings and a massive viewer count in 2021, with a $2 million prize pool and 2.7 million viewers.
Fortnite World Cup
With 200 players competing, the Fortnite World Cup tournament became an instant success fro Epic Games three years ago, ranked among the top hottest eSports tournaments in 2019.
This tournament’s prize pool was a staggering $30 million, split between two separate events – duo and solo. The World Cup starts with weekly qualifiers, with the best 100 solo and 50 duo players progressing to the finals.
