This year is already shaping up to be a huge year for the video game industry with the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 console and Grand Theft Auto 6 dominating the headlines. But there is even more than that to come, including a lot of brilliant competitive multiplayer games that have all the makings of being possibly excellent esports titles.
There is always room for a new game to make a big dent in the esports scene. While the old guard of League of Legends, DOTA, and Counter-Strike will likely always have a prescene, plenty of other games have broken through and established strong audiences for themselves like Valorant and Overwatch 2. And, of course, you sometimes get really niche and unexpected esports events like GeoGuessr and Farming Simulator.
With a huge variety of games releasing soon or currently in early access, here is a list of upcoming games with the biggest esports potential.
2XKO
There is a lot of anticipation and excitement around this title, which could revolutionise the fighting game esports scene.
The reactions from players during the early access tests have been extremely positive for the 2v2 fighter, which features a rich roster of characters taken from League of Legends, including Jinx of Arcane fame.
Riot Games have an excellent history in esports with huge support for the competitive scenes of both League of Legends and Valorant as well as a growing tournament scene for Teamfight Tactics. It’s expected that the fighter will be given the same treatment which could be a huge boom for the careers of many fighting game stars trying to go pro.
Rematch
Sports games and esports rarely ever click. It’s always difficult to suggest watching EA Sports FC tournaments when you could just watch actual football. Plus, the amount of variance that comes from all the AI players in sports games gets in the way of elite players showcasing their skills.
That’s where Rocket League got it right with individually controlled, physics-based gameplay and the upcoming sport game Rematch from Sloclap, the makers of Sifu, has been drawing a lot of comparisons. In fact, Rematch has lovingly been dubbed “Rocket League without cars” by many in the gaming community.
The online football game sees players take control of a single player from a third-person perspective in 5v5 matches with arcade-style gameplay. With no AI to worry about, there’s a lot of potential for this game to have a competitive scene. But that will depend on the developers and how many players decide to pick up the game.
Sloclap have taken the unexpected decision to forego the usual free-to-play route for a £21 up-front cost with no microtransactions instead. Typically, free-to-play has been a very successful model for online competitive games which want as high a player count as possible, but capitalising on the industry’s fatigue over battle passes and microtransactions could be a smart move.
Mario Kart World
Nintendo doesn’t have the greatest track record of supporting the esports events of their games but the Nintendo Switch 2 shows that they’re changing their ways and they will surely want to promote the new console’s flagship title as much as possible.
While Mario Kart competition is typically reserved for living rooms across the globe, there are some extremely skilled players who regularly push lap times of the game. And the newest entry appears to have a lot more skill expression with the addition of jumps and wall-riding adding massive potential for players to find new creative routes and shortcuts.
That, and the open-world nature of the game could lead to some pretty creative events. While it sounds more like a Games Done Quickly speedrun event, a race across the entire with players developing different routes and strategies could make for fascinating viewing.
Fornite Ballistic
Fortnite is already one of the biggest esports in the world which is no surprise considering it’s one of the most popular games on the planet.
Only DOTA 2 has handed out more in esports prize money than Fortnite’s absurd tally of over $193 million (£145m), that’s $30m more than Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and nearly $80m more than League of Legends.
However, Epic Games are looking to hone in on Fortnite’s more competitive audience with a new Counter-Strike-esque tactical shooter, Fortnite Ballistic. The game is in early access and recently added “shell maps” which the developers want to finalise the designs of with help from the community.
While the mode has had a mixed reception so far, Ballistic is still very early in development and could become a massive competitive title with a bit more polish.
Pokemon Champions
Another game from Nintendo, this game could be revolutionary for Pokemon’s competitive scene.
The game, which will be playable on mobile phone as well as both Switch consoles, focuses solely on PVP battles. The community finally has an official version of the fan-made Pokemon Showdown which was previously the only true competitive outlet for fans of the franchise.
While very few details are known about this game, the trailer showed both mega evolutions and terastallizing which would make this the title to feature multiple battle mechanics.
This could be the missing ingredient Nintendo needed to explode the popularity of Pokemon’s esports scene.
Supervive
Supervive is a fascinating title and the first game made by the indie developers TheoryCraft Games whose team feature a lot of former Riot Games employees including former LoL EVP, Joe Tung.
The game is a fascinating blend of MOBA-style gameplay in a battle royale format with very fast-paced and skill-intensive gameplay that is brilliant to watch. The game is still in early access but could be a dark horse that eventually has a large impact on the esports scene.
In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
