Learn about expensive games to pursue a career as a professional video gamer. Grab a controller and sign up for a tournament to play major esports games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and more.
Your parents are either a) out of touch or b) blind to the future if they ever criticised your passion for video games as a tremendous waste of time.
Although that may sound unnecessarily harsh, this point of view has some validity. The video game industry’s competitive gaming division, esports, has collected enormous audiences, enormous prize pools, and sponsorships that allow top players to turn their hobbies into successful jobs. In fact, according to research firm Newzoo, esports will bring in $1.79 billion annually by the end of 2022.
What’s a Great Esports Game?
Esports includes many popular and under-the-radar sports in numerous genres. Do you like to protect? You can pop some hats into an opponent playing a Counter-Strike: Global: Offensive. Like a combat Royal of epic proportions? The battlefield of PlayerUnknown has covered you. Do you like to play sports? In a combination of the two worlds, NBA and Take-Two Interactive — publishers of the most popular NBA 2K video game series – have teamed up to develop the NBA 2K eLeague. There are video games and relevant scenes for everyone in the sports world.
How we chose our favorite sports games
This guide has several sports-worthy titles that have been reviewed by PCMag staff and recommended playing with all your heart. Many of the titles we recommend are checked directly in our best PC games roundup, although we also toss a cord or two to comfort players.
To consider adding to this guide, a game is supported only by official tournaments from its publisher. Although we love a lot of small, community-backed efforts, such as the incredible Tecmo Super Bowl community, we had to make a cut-off point lest a kick is deemed worthy near every competitive game.
So that’s how it is. If there is a notable esports game that is not listed below, it means that we have either not reviewed it yet or scored enough points to make it a kit. However, you will find below some of the best sports games played by amateurs and professionals in 2022 — and possibly beyond. Dig. And, more importantly, have fun.
1.Apex Legends
Having created two of the best but overlooked Titanfall games, developer Respawn finally achieved what he deserved thanks to the successful battle Royale shooter Apex Legends.
In Apex Legends, set in the Titan Fall universe, you can control nimble mercenaries instead of giant robots. Fortunately, these colourful characters are endowed with many unique abilities. For example, you can travel between dimensions as a ghost or a wreath, creating a hologram as a mirage. In addition, intelligent communication tools ensure that teams stay connected.
The tremendous pace of Apex Legends continues, thanks to ongoing tournaments. Browse the schedule of upcoming events to see the very generous prize pools.
2.Tekken 7
Tekken 7, like the previous main Tekken games, is the story of fathers and sons trying to kill each other to free the Mishima tribe from the Devil Gene, a magical part of DNA that turns certain people into hell.
Although Tekken 7 is known for its single-player story, the game thrives due to its diverse fighting style, 3D movement (which creates new ways to attack and dodge), and slow-motion effects that kick both fighters when their life bars are low. High-level play leads to many kung fu theatre-like moments you won’t see in rival fighting games.
In the Tekken World Tour, the best professional athletes compete for prizes of around 200,000.
3.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Nintendo might otherwise pretend to have Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game with competitive value like any other.
The biggest and best example of a “platform fighter”, the mechanics of Super Smash Bruce Ultimate mixes combat and movement, unlike traditional fighting games. Ganondorf’s powerful attacks don’t count for much if he can’t return to the stage. Between the massive cast of various characters and the rapid pace of battles, maintaining all this becomes its challenge.
While the company still likes to keep the competitive community at a distance, Nintendo regularly sponsors Super Smash Bruce Ultimate tournaments. But even if this support dries up, the grassroots community will survive the scene for many more years. So, join them. Everyone is here!
4.Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
Despite its difficult start and DLC shenanigans, Street Fighter V may be the most accessible esports title for those who don’t identify as gamers.
The simple premise that two people are unconscious of each other is universal. The idea exists in several forms, including old gladiator fights, professional boxing and UFC — and can be immediately recognizable despite other funny attacks with Hopkins, sonic booms and superpowers.
As a result, Street Fighter V is one of the rarest sports games to get important mainstream airtime, with several high-profile tournaments broadcast on Disney XD, ESPN2, and TBS. It is supported by the Capcom Pro Tour, a series with a cash pool of over 6 600,000.
5.StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void
What is a real-time strategy (RTS) title in a game landscape full of MOBAs? If you are talking about StarCraft Il, the answer is simple: continue to offer the best gameplay and multi-million dollar cash rewards.
StarCraft II: Legacy Of The Void Expansion has a military strategy that inveterate people love. At the same time, the developers serve as a brilliant conclusion to the Blizzard story. This is indeed one of the most enjoyable strategy games. However, inexperienced RTS viewers will not be able to appreciate all the subtleties that can be seen at a high level during a game.
In 2020, Blizzard announced that its long-running World Championship series would replace ESL Pro Tour StarCraft II and DreamHack SC2 Masters.
6.Samurai Shodown
The original samurai shogun received an audience in the 1990s thanks to unique weapon-based battles, a feudal Japanese atmosphere and bloody fruits. After all, for some, it was a tough fighting game that they had to learn due to methodological fights and measurements of shocking damage. The characters are brutally hit hard so that a few simple mistakes can cost you a match and your quarters.
Although there have been no new series entries for over a decade, developer SNK has re-launched Samurai Shodown while maintaining many classic game mechanics that have made the original games memorable.
The Samurai shogun became an Evo game in the first year (2019) and was supported by the SNK World Championship Series.
7.Rocket League
The out-of-nowhere hit of 2015 is one of the few sports games not associated with a real league gaining massive sports love.
Rocket League is a wild thrill with its fast, car-based gameplay, explosive hits and exciting goal shots, especially when played by professionals. If you think your score is impressive at the last second, wait until you see someone with high abilities running a brick wall, turning it over and scoring from midfield.
In the Rocket League Championship Series, you will find the best players in the world who use great tactics. The prize pool of $ 1 million was presented in the last competition.
8.PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Like many other games in the open-world survival or first-person shooter genre, PUBG aims to bring the last player to life. However, PUBG does not follow the rules of the genre. It takes some of the best aspects of open-world games, combines them with the mechanics of a good first-person shooter and hosts the typical player base of MMOs.
There is also a good balance of gameplay elements. For example, where can you choose a parachute on a map? Everyone starts without a weapon, and a deadly and huge dome flashes in blue, periodically reducing the playable area. This is stressful but extremely entertaining.
The prize pool of the pub Global Invitational is over 2 2 million.
9.Overwatch 2
Sagittarians should not always be dark, enthusiastic or realistic. Cartoony Entertainment has its place, even in weapons-rich PC games. This place has been occupied by Valve’s Team Fortress 2 for almost a decade, but now Blizzard reigns with Overwatch. This team uses all the features of Fortress 2, such as colour levels, several game modes focused on attacking and defending teams, cool characters with many different playstyles, and some added rounds like MOBA.
Overwatch 2 completely replaces the original game that you can no longer play. Fortunately, thanks to the many heroes and classes of the game, it is a popular first-person shooter full of mechanical types. As can be expected, it has created a very successful sports scene. Blizzard Overwatch supports the Overwatch competitive scene with several sports initiatives, including the World Cup.
10.Dragon Ball FighterZ
Besides FistoftheNorthstar and Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure, few anime properties are as well suited for fighting game treatment as the Dragon Ball series. Akira Toriyama’s manga-turned-anime-turned-game series spans multiple series, movies and generations of characters and is all about monkey men, humans, aliens and androids dealing blows in earth-shattering battles.
The latest video game adaptation of the series, Dragon Ball FighterZ, leaves behind the arena-brawling model of the Xenoverse games in favour of 3v3 tag team battles on a 2D level. The postponement of the gameplay is just one of the many reasons Dragon Ball FighterZ is held up as one of the intriguing esports titles. Its beautiful design, intense combat and accessible control scheme make a game everyone can plunge into for Super Saiyan thrills.
In addition to the appearance on Evo, the anime fighter has an extended competition scene courtesy of Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour.
