Even if FIFA as a sports game is of course predestined for an important discipline in esports, there are far more important games with a larger audience and, above all, higher prize money. In the following, we will now go into five games and briefly present them, but we would like to point out that this list is not exhaustive and that there are other interesting games or disciplines besides FIFA.
Esports Games – StarCraft 2
StarCraft 2 is a real-time strategy game from 2010, which is distributed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the successor to StarCraft from 1998 and is thematically set in science fiction. Real-time strategy means that the actions of the players have to be taken in real time, which means that, in contrast to turn-based strategy games, a quick ability to act and react is required. StarCraft 2 can be played in 1 vs. 1 as well as in a match in which two teams compete against each other.
As is usual with all games, StarCraft 2 is also played at large events that host various disciplines. In principle, the events mentioned so far are the individual championships and in addition there are various Olympiads in which several video games are played. StarCraft 2, for example, can still be found at DreamHack or in the Intel Extreme Masters, which are held every season in different cities around the world.
Esports Games – Dota 2
Dota 2 is the successor to a modification of Warcraft 3. Warcraft 3 is an old real-time strategy game by Blizzard, which was very popular at the time, but is still very popular today. In 2003, a hobby developer programmed a modification for Warcraft 3 called Defense of the Ancients. For this mod, the original game Warcraft 3 was still needed, which changed with the release of Dota 2. The main developer of Defense of the Ancients is now under contract with the game publisher Valve Corporation and is mainly responsible for the development of Dota 2. All the essential elements of the first part were also adopted in Dota 2.
Good team play is the be-all and end-all in Dota 2 in order to achieve the game goal. The goal is to destroy the main building of the other team. The main buildings of the teams are diagonally opposite each other. In the lower left corner of the map is the base of team A, in the upper right corner the base of team B. Both bases are connected with 3 so-called lanes, which you have to run through to get to the opponent’s base.
Dota 2 is mainly played in the tournament “The International” besides the big events where many disciplines can be found. This is the biggest Dota 2 competition, which has been held annually since 2011. It was last held last August this year, the next big tournament follows in November in Frankfurt. The Festhalle will host one of three other major tournaments announced by publisher Valve for the first time in mid-November. The prize money will be at least 3 million dollars and we will report on it.
Esports Games – League of Legends
League of Legends, which is often abbreviated to LoL, is a MOBA like Dota 2. It is much older than Dota 2 and is distributed by the studio Riot Games. Although Riot Games has only one major game with LoL so far, it is the most played game in the world. Well over 70 million accounts are registered and it is played by around 27 million players every day.
But what makes it so successful and why is it the top dog compared to Dota 2? On the one hand, LoL has an advantage because it came onto the market about 4 years before Dota 2, which gave it an insane head start. On the other hand, there are some small differences in terms of gameplay, some of which can be considered better, some worse. As in other areas, there are sometimes heated discussions between the two camps of fans as to which is the better game. We would like to present only a few small objective differences here, but not go into depth.
Esports Games – Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Counter Strike is certainly one of the best-known computer games among non-gamers. However, the game is usually perceived negatively. It is always mentioned when tragic rampages occur, but then completely torn apart in the media. This is usually followed by entire “documentaries” that deal solely with this game, but in over 90% of cases several untruths, often even brazen and deliberate lies, are spread in order to generate headlines. Counter Strike is undoubtedly the most violent game among the disciplines mentioned here, which is naturally not everyone’s cup of tea, but one should nevertheless leave the church in the village when describing it and stick to the facts.
Esports Games – Overwatch
Overwatch is in! The newcomer from Blizzard is called Overwatch. Games like Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm are now a thing of the past. Although Hearthstone was a great success and very popular for a long time, the MOBA Heroes of the Storm was more of a flop. At the beginning of 2019, Blizzar stopped the esports division of HotS and is now focusing entirely on Overwatch. Blizzard introduced the Overwatch League early on and wants to push the esport of its game with it.