Prize pools for well-established games have risen exponentially in recent years, however, it is first important to note that this doesn’t apply to every esport. Top prize money in esports is determined by a game’s popularity, which can fluctuate for a myriad of reasons – from a lack of developer support in the game, to a lack of funding from brands surrounding the game itself.

Working with a dedicated esports marketing agency in Europe can smooth many of the difficulties in “predicting the future”, but also ensure budgets are spent as effectively as possible. 

In many games, after the initial buzz, many fans have simply moved on to the next big thing. Whatever the reason may be, it’s important that as a brand you can identify which esports are either already well established, and not in danger of collapsing, or an esport which is on an upwards trajectory and promises nothing but growth.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

An example of a game you’d probably avoid would be Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch. In 2020 they had a prize pool of $6.5m, however, this dropped to a paltry $5.6m in 2021. 

The main reason for this was a lack of public support for the game itself, which meant the player base slowly started drifting off to other games. Fewer eyes lead to less money from sponsors and, subsequently, to less money for players and brands.

However, a game like Dota2, for example, saw its prize pool increase to a massive $48.5m in 2021, up from $9.5m in 2020. This showcases a game which has a huge amount of faith not only from the developers and community but from sponsors as well.

All of this shows the importance of viewing figures, as well as prize pools when determining whether or not a specific esport is growing. Sponsorships are a huge part of the esports world, and these are the metrics they’ll be looking at to decide whether they think they’ll be making a good investment and how much they want to put in.

Want to try mobile esports?

Now, what about mobile esports? Mobile is by far the most popular medium to game on worldwide, though it’s important to understand that a large percentage of this will be “casual” gamers, which, while important, are certainly less valuable than hardcore fans of any individual game. 

However, mobile esports have been growing rapidly in recent years, with some pretty impressive viewing figures and prize pools which are right up there with the more traditional games. It is predicted that in the next few years mobile esports could shoot well ahead in popularity. This growth is being fueled by the Asian market, however, it is gaining traction in the West month-on-month.

For example in prize pool terms, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile had a prize pool of $23M for 2021, which is insane – only towered by Dota2. However, this shows there is a huge demand for mobile esports, and it won’t be long until sponsors and brands outside of the Asian market start to understand the scope and potential of this space. 

Esports: Top prize money

We recommend brands never get into this space without an esports marketing and consulting partner, such as Rix.Digital, to help weigh the results versus the costs. Esports is a difficult niche to come to grips with and game bias is one of the quickest ways to go broke. 

Get in touch with an esports marketing agency like Rix.Digital to start your esports journey today.

Looking just at the traditional route of pc and console gaming, these are the top 10 esports in terms of prize money in 2021. 

1. Dota 2 – Prize pool: $48,669,200
2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Prize pool: $17,737,908 
3. PUBG: Battlegrounds – Prize pool: $14,908,249
4. League of Legends – Prize pool: $8,286,757 
5. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Prize pool: $8,214,695
6. Valorant – Prize pool: $7,276,136 
7. Call of Duty: Warzone – Prize pool: $6,362,744 
8. Fortnite – Prize pool: $5,750,359 
9. Overwatch – Prize pool: $5,605,364
10. Apex Legends – Prize pool: $5,311,683

Now let’s compare the same games to prize money from 2020

1. Dota 2 – Prize pool: $9,549,714
2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Prize pool: $13,899,691 
3. PUBG: Battlegrounds – Prize pool: $4,914,204 
4. League of Legends – Prize pool: $8,217,446 
5. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Prize pool: $6,367,149
6. Valorant – Prize pool: $2,684,450
7. Call of Duty: Warzone – Prize pool: $2,357,300
8. Fortnite – Prize pool: $5,247,063
9. Overwatch – Prize pool: $6,478,879
10. Apex Legends – Prize pool: $1,709,879