Some of the biggest eSports tournaments in the world generate more money and bring in a
bigger audience than some big tournaments in world-renowned, established professional sports
like tennis, boxing, and American football. Due to the fact this demand has soared over such a
short period, dozens of other games are trying to stake their claim among the biggest names in
eSports.
Since the beginning of professional video gaming and eSports leagues in their modern format,
games like Dota 2, Counter-Strike, League Of Legends, and Fortnite have put themselves into
their own bracket above other games, with these four dominating the highest prize pools and
viewing figures.
Second-Tier eSports Games
Other games, such as NFL Madden, FIFA, and Call Of Duty, also have millions of active players
across the globe. They don’t command the same popularity as the top four, but it is the goal of
many to try and break into this esteemed bracket to generate even larger prize pools for video
gamers who specialize in those games. Combat sports games like Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and
Street Fighter have introduced millions of people to video gaming. Decades before the internet,
Street Fighter was one of the first-ever tournaments where gamers would compete in arcade-
style gaming, and later Nintendo 64, to see who was the best Street Fighter player. Combat
sports dipped in popularity around the time the internet began to play such a pivotal role.
Team games like Fortnite, League Of Legends, and Counter-Strike brought in a bigger
audience, as the team nature of the game seemed to strike a chord with gamers. Although
Tekken and Mortal Kombat still sell exceptionally well, the designers were left wondering why
the tournaments don’t attract millions of viewers like the more prominent games. The rise of
eSports tournaments and other eSports-related content has endeared gamers to seek out
content on forums and social media about their favorite games and expand their knowledge
even further. So, while Tekken and Mortal Kombat fall into this category, the designers of these
games are continually looking for ways to create fresh and innovative content to try and appeal
to a more significant percentage of video gamers and break into this bracket.
Dota 2 & League Of Legends
Suppose Mortal Kombat or Tekken are going to break this quadropoly that has crystalized at the
top of the professional video gaming sector. In that case, they need to dissect the numbers and
find out how they can appeal to similar numbers of people. Dota 2 is the big game, as it
continues to break prize pool records, and some tournaments are bringing in over 2.5 million
viewers. It is a combination effort, given that the tournaments have the biggest prize pools; this
intrigues people anyway. It also results in more gamers wanting to get their hands on the most
significant amount of money, and all of these components converge into a highly successful
product. League Of Legends set the foundation for Dota 2 to become such a huge success, and
the pair of them often contest with each other to see which game can generate the most prize
money annually.
However, League Of Legends seems to have peaked in some regions of the world, particularly
in Asia, where Dota 2 viewing figures have surpassed them. It’s not all bad news, though, as
League Of Legends still draws in far higher numbers than Tekken and Mortal Kombat, but both
games’ designers will aim to take advantage of this dip and hoover up some of these viewers for
their games.
Conclusion
One of the biggest problems that designers of combat sports games face is that so long as Dota
2 and League of Legends operate at the pinnacle of professional video gaming, this results in
more designers trying to enter the field to get their hands on the vast sums of money available
within the world of RPG eSports tournaments. So not only does the prize pool and viewership
need to increase dramatically for Tekken and Mortal Kombat tournaments, but there also needs
to be a shift in designers looking to create similar games to stimulate competition throughout the
sector.
While it’s not the most unlikely scenario, there’s such a strong fanbase for RPG games and first-
person shooter games like Counter-Strike that either Tekken or Mortal Kombat would need to
bring out an installment that is their best for generations. Many fans believe the best Tekken
games predate a lot of eSports tournaments, and some gamers believe that the original Tekken
series for the PlayStation was the peak of the franchise. Given that it was over 20 years ago,
there needs to be a dynamic shift in the way the greater gaming public receives the games, and
if the designers can break through this, then the landscape could change over the next decade
or two, but there’s a long way to go.
