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The esports betting industry is growing and is looking to make itself a significant player in the global betting world, while not being quite as big – at least not yet – as the traditional sports betting scene.
This growth in betting on esports, including UK esports betting, mirrors the popularity of the competitive esports sector and as the most recent projections show, this is just the beginning. Every other year or so, the professional esports scene releases new games and some of these grab the interest of players and bettors.
Nowadays, a good number of esports games have a thriving competitive scene and a presence in the online betting industry. But with so many games available, you might be wondering which esports titles are the best to wager on? Generally, it is a good idea to focus on the most popular games as these will provide you with the biggest range of markets and betting options.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an FPS (first-person shooter) based around two teams competing across a variety of maps. One of the most well-known esports titles in the world and unquestionably a household name in the esports betting industry, CS:GO offers dramatic action, fast-paced playstyle and approachable gameplay that also make it fun to watch.
If you want to start betting on CS:GO, you won’t have any trouble finding esports betting services offering markets for it because it is one of the most popular esports and is fully covered by several sportsbooks. Betting on CS:GO is easy to learn, but as with all esports betting markets, if you’ve never tried it before, you may first want to look at a few betting tutorials and of course get familiar with the fundamentals of the game.
League of Legends
League of Legends is one of the most played online games in the world. First released in 2009 by Riot Games, it is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) and has developed into a worldwide sensation with a fiercely competitive esports culture that spans the globe from China to Europe to Brazil and more.
In addition to having over 150 million active players, League of Legends is a success in the esports betting industry and is one of the ‘Big Three’ betting esports.
Dota 2
Dota 2 and League of Legends are very similar. Both are in the MOBA genre and involve two teams defending and attacking key structures. One of the benefits of betting on League of Legends or Dota is that the betting skills and knowledge required are transferable from one to the other. But the teams, players, characters, items and more, are of course different.
As one of the Big Three esports, Dota 2 betting markets will be available on several esports betting sites, enabling you to easily wager on Valve’s masterpiec. Dota 2 also boasts one of the planet’s biggest esports tournaments: The International, which draws viewers and bettors from all over the world, and offers a prize fund of almost $20 million.
FIFA
FIFA is not quite as popular an esport as CS:GO, LoL, and Dota 2 are on a worldwide scale. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it is still among the most played games worldwide and a huge hit in the online esports betting market. It’s a particularly popular game franchise in the UK.
The fact that betting on FIFA is similar to betting on any football match is what sets it apart from other esports games. FIFA is a video game that simulates real football with the differences being that a team is controlled by one player and games of course don’t last 90 minutes.
For those who wish to try esports betting but have no prior experience and simply have a basic understanding of how traditional sports betting operates, FIFA may be one of the easiest esports games to wager on. If you would like to find a bookmaker that takes bets on FIFA, as well as other esports, you can browse Legalbet.UK, a platform that compiles lists of licensed bookmakers and analyses their operation, pros and cons.
Fortnite
The battle royale genre has developed a remarkable increase in popularity over the past decade. Games in this genre all have the same basic premise: a huge number of players engaging in combat on a single map until one team or one player is left standing.
A big part of the genre’s success is down to the fact that nearly all of these games are cross-platform and free to play. You can play with players on any other platform, including PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and occasionally even mobile, and each game is available for free, making it possible for tens of millions of gamers to access them. This makes for an ideal esports ecosystem.
Fortnite entered the esports world in 2017 and has since become a dominant title in the genre. Featuring cartoon visuals and quick amusing games, it combines some of the elements of Minecraft with the battle royale genre, as players can acquire resources to build structures to help them survive. The competitive Fortnite scene exploded in the summer of 2018 when Epic Games held the Summer and Fall Skirmish tournament series. A World Cup with open online qualifiers was then announced and organized by Epic Games in 2019, and 40 million people from around the world participated.
Valorant
Another FPS game, this title by Riot Games gained popularity quite soon after its release in 2020. The three levels of the Valorant Champions Tour: Valorant Challengers, Valorant Masters and Valorant Champions, have been among the most prominent competitions in Valorant esports betting. Riot Games is also bringing franchise-like leagues to Valorant around the world in 2023.
Call Of Duty
Any ranking of the most popular esports games for betting usually includes Call of Duty. Since its initial release approximately 20 years ago, this game has had enormous gaming success. Over 400 million copies of the game are currently in circulation and that depth of popularity has provided a solid base for the development of the Call of Duty competitive esports sector.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the spark for the development of the professional versions of the sport, and that interest is still growing today, while the 12-team Call of Duty League, introduced by Activision, the game’s developer, is a popular betting event.
