The days when gaming was considered to be just a hobby are long gone. There are thousands of people from all over the world that strive to become professional gamers. Besides fame and glory, most eSport players get the chance to compete in tournaments that have life-changing prize pools.
Sadly, 2020 was not the best year for sports. Due to the ongoing issues, many notable eSports events were cancelled or postponed for 2021. Nevertheless, we saw some fantastic competitions, so let’s take a look at a few intriguing facts about eSports in 2020.
The most viewed eSports games in 2020
One of the main reasons why some eSports titles are so popular in the first place is due to live streams. There are several noteworthy live streaming platforms where gamers and casual viewers can watch pro players or significant events.
Although some tournaments are played online, the most significant eSports events always take place in big venues, such as stadiums, halls, and so on. Sadly, the global pandemic didn’t have a positive effect on those types of competitions, so almost all of them were held in an online format.
The most viewed eSport game of 2020 is, no surprise, League of Legends. Despite being more than 11 years old, this MOBA title is still one of the world’s most loved computer games. Some sources claim that there are more than 100 million active players, which is impressive.
In terms of viewership, the 2020 World Championship (which was the tenth version of this fantastic tournament) had around 3,883,000 peak viewers. Many people thought that Worlds 2020 would break this year’s record (more than 3.9M), but sadly, it didn’t happen.
Another noteworthy eSport title that had a decent amount of viewers this year is CS: GO. This legendary first-person shooter continues to be one of the most popular games in its genre, and the viewership confirms it. The IEM Katowice 2020, which took place earlier this year, had just a little bit over 1,000,000 viewers, which is impressive.
Of course, we also have to mention the eSport with the highest prize pools in the industry. Dota 2 was one of the games that suffered the most from the pandemic because The International 10 was postponed. Nevertheless, there were loads of online events, such as ESL One LA Europe & CIS, where there were more than 500,000 peak viewers.
The most popular mobile eSports titles in 2020
Some people still can’t comprehend that you could potentially earn millions of dollars by playing computer games, so just imagine when they realize that you could do that on your smartphone as well.
Mobile eSports have been on the rise for several years now, especially in some Asian countries. Even though they are not as big as their desktop counterparts, most of these games definitely have a bright future ahead of them.
The first title that we have to mention here is Free Fire. Even though it was created in 2017, FF quickly became a massive success. In fact, it even received the “Best Popular Vote Game” reward by Google Play. According to some stats, this game has more than 100 million active users every single day.
For the second year in a row, Arena of Valor takes the crown for being one of the most popular mobile eSports titles. This global phenomenon was released around five years ago, and since then, it has millions of players. The Arena of Valor Premier League 2020 had around 670 000 peak viewers, which nearly broke last year’s AoV World Cup record.
Let’s also not forget about Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. 2020 was a good year for this amazing game because there were loads of cool tournaments. The most impressive one was the MPL ID Season 6, at least in terms of viewership. More than 1,387,000 people tuned in to watch this world-class competition.
eSports betting in 2020
Since the most popular eSports titles have millions of viewers, some of the leading online bookies, such as GG.bet, have decided to include them in their sportsbooks. Hence, bettors can find things like Dota 2, CS: GO, League of Legends, Overwatch, and more.
Unfortunately, the bookies that are not solely focused on eSports don’t have as many options as other operators, like Cyber.bet. Not only are there way more games to choose from, but these kinds of online bookmakers usually come along with exclusive betting markets and unique promos.
Besides betting for real money, some gamers prefer betting on different cosmetic items, known as “Skins”. They don’t provide any kind of in-game benefit. Instead, they simply change the appearance of individual items or characters. Some of those skins are so rare that they can reach thousands of dollars.
The best eSports teams in 2020
Even though there are some exceptions, the vast majority of eSports titles are team-based. Besides casual teams made up of players who compete in different tournaments, many professional eSports organizations have teams in multiple games, such as Virtus.Pro, Team Liquid, Team Secret, Fnatic, and so on.
Each game has a few teams that stand out, so we’ll just focus on the best ones from the most popular eSports titles, starting with Dota 2. Despite the numerous cancelled events, Team Secret dominated in every online tournament they took part in. Therefore, many fans consider them to be the biggest favourites for TI 10.
Another team that deserves to be on this list is Dallas Empire. Arguably the best Call of Duty team globally, Dallas Empire won nearly $1,800,000 in 2020, making it the most successful CoD team in terms of earnings. That’s probably not a surprise because the team won the Call of Duty League Championship 2020.
The last team that we want to include is San Francisco Shock. For those of you who don’t know, this squad is a part of the Overwatch League, alongside eleven more teams. SF Shocks played well throughout the entire year, but their most notable performance was during the Overwatch League 2020. The team managed to win the event after defeating Seoul Dynasty in the Grand Finals.
The most famous eSports players in 2020
Despite the fact most eSports games are team-based, there is always one player that stands out. That person is often the playmaker of the given squad and plays a vital role in its success.
The first name that we want to talk about is Faker. This is perhaps one of the most popular eSports players in the world, especially in Asia. Lee Sang-hyeok is an icon in the League of Legends community, and he’s been widely considered the best player in the world. He and his team SK Telecom have won three world titles. Despite not qualifying for Worlds 2020, Faker was the star for his team during the qualifiers, so he deserves to be on this list.
The next player we’d like to include is Lasse Aukustiu “MATUMBAMAN” Urlapalainen, one of Dota 2’s most unpredictable carries. Although the player became famous during his time in Team Liquid, once he departed the roster and joined Secret in late 2019, he quickly got under the spotlight, thanks to his flawless performance with heroes, such as Lone Druid, Lycan, and more. Needless to say, the talented carry player had a significant role in the team’s success.
There is one more player that we think deserves to be on this list, and that’s Matthew “super” DeLisi. This is San Francisco Shock’s main tank and is often thought to be one of the best Overwatch players in his country. Super’s signature hero is Reinhardt, but he is known for his Orisa, Roadhog, and Winston.
The hottest eSports titles of 2020
In addition to the eSports games that have been around for many years, several hot titles exploded in popularity in 2020. Perhaps the most notable one is Valorant.
This is Riot Game’s new multiplayer shooter that became an instant success. It’s similar to Overwatch, but each team consists of five players, where each one has to choose a certain hero.
Besides new players, Valorant also managed to “lure in” a few CS: GO and Overwatch professionals, which means that this game is here to stay.
The next game on our list is TrackMania. Even though it was released back in 2017, it became even more popular this year. What makes TrackMania stand out is the various customizable options, and the amazing gameplay, which allows you to do all kinds of stunts and tricks with your car.
One of the most significant events of the year for this game was the TrackMania Grand League Winter 2020, which included the world’s best players.
Finally, we have Call of Duty, a game that’s been around for many years now but has made serious progress in 2020. The primary reason why we’ve decided to include it as one of the hottest eSports titles of 2020 was the launch of the Call of Duty League.
This league has twelve teams from North America and Europe which compete in 5v5 matches. What’s impressive about it is the prize pool, which reached the jaw-dropping amount of $6,000,000.
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