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The esports industry is set to rake in almost $1.38 billion in revenues worldwide by the end of this year, according to Newzoo. It is estimated that around 8% of the esports global market is accounted for by the UK, according to Ukie. Based on that report from late 2020, the UK esports sector contributes more than £111.5 million to UK GDP each year.
While the UK doesn’t have a big esports market like China and the US do, there’s still a solid local industry. This can easily be seen in how esports is also present on trusted bookmakers in the UK. Esports betting is on the rise in the country, with bookies like Midnite growing, and people are either playing games, watching tournaments, or betting on them.
So, what games are most popular for UK players and punters? Let’s take a look at them in this article.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
When it comes to FPS games, nothing beats the popularity of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This game was released in 2012 and recently celebrated its tenth birthday, with the first CS releasing in 2000.
CSGO has won numerous awards and is nominated for Esports Game of the Year at the 2022 Esports Awards. Some of the best CSGO teams in the UK are Endpoint, Into the Breach and Temperate.
Dota 2
Dota 2 still holds the heart of many pro gamers. It helped increase the popularity of the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre which stemmed from a Warcraft 3 mod. This is published by Valve as a sequel to Defense of the Ancients. Some of the best esports team organisations with headquarters in the UK participating in Dota 2 include Fnatic and Tundra Esports.
League of Legends
Another MOBA battle arena game on this list is League of Legends by Riot Games (pictured), which was initially released in 2009 and became hugely popular through esports and has expanded into several spin-off titles and animation series. It’s still one of the most popular games in the esports scene and even on mobile it’s been doing well with Wild Rift. Some of the popular UK LoL teams (orgs with headquarters in the UK) include Fnatic, Excel Esports and MNM Gaming, with the former two in the LEC and the latter in NLC Division 1.
Overwatch
Overwatch is a shooter game that is also published by Blizzard Entertainment. Its vibrant fast-paced style was a hit with many players when it launched. The art style, characters, and gameplay make it a unique shooting game worthy of being played in the esports scene, even if the Overwatch League has dropped in popularity in recent years. London Spitfire is a followed team in the UK, as it’s the UK’s only Overwatch League franchise team, and is run by Cloud9.
Fortnite
Many might easily dismiss Fortnite as a kid’s game, but really, like any other competitive title it takes skill to be able to play this in the pro scene. Fortnite is published by Epic Games and was released in 2017. It didn’t take long before it became popular as an esport game. Some of the recently well-performing UK orgs in this game include Guild Esports, Tundra Esports and Lionscreed.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
Brendan Greene’s PUBG is a popular battle royale game released in 2017. Initially, this was mainly popular in Asia, but it eventually made it a mainstream game in the UK and the US. This game has an interesting take on the action-adventure shooting genre. Some of the popular players in the UK include Alex ‘vard’ Gouge, Christopher ‘Fexx’ Wheddon, Luke ‘TeaBone’ Crafer and Michael ‘mykLe’ Wake, who formed Team UK, winners of the PUBG Nations Cup 2022.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Among all the Call of Duty games released, Black Ops is the most successful in terms of game sales. This game was released in 2010 and the latest edition is Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Black Ops has sold over 30 million units worldwide altogether. The most renowned CoD team representing the UK is the London Royal Ravens, who play in the Call of Duty League, the pinnacle of CoD esports.
Other games
There are other games that are popular in the UK and should be mentioned, including FIFA, Apex Legends, Valorant and Rocket League, among others. All of these are popular in terms of game sales and they all have their own esports scenes.
Conclusion
With esports on the rise, more games will likely be popularly played in tournaments. We’ll also most likely see more mobile games penetrate the professional scene.
Right now, some of the popular mobile games played in competitions are Call of Duty: Mobile, Clash Royale, PUBG: Mobile, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Garena Free Fire, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. With that, more people are likely to show interest in esports since tournaments are no longer exclusive to PC and console gamers.
We are already in the mobile era and almost gone are the days when mobile gaming was questioned by PC and console gamers. Mobile esports have already proven how serious the sector is with tournaments with huge prize pools. Whether it can stand the test of time will remain to be seen.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
