10 Best eSports Games To Play Right Now 2021

We may earn compensation from the products mentioned in this post. Please see our Affiliate Disclaimer.

Geek out on the best eSports games right now

Best esports games
Our list of the best eSports games you should be playing right now has some well-known titles like LoL, but we also have a few that might surprise you.

Gaming is evolving before our very eyes and has moved from a hobby to an ultra-competitive industry in which the top professional gamers around the world are becoming cultural icons. With the popularity of eSports teams reaching rock stars levels in many cases, it is no surprise that interest in the actual games themselves has also risen dramatically. So what are the best eSports games out now?

We’ve made the following list of top 10 top eSports games that gamers are currently going insane over to help answer that exact question. Here is a short-list of the 10 hottest games on the eSports scene right now:

10) Super Smash Brothers
9) StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
8) Hearthstone
7) FIFA
6) Fortnite
5) Call of Duty
4) Dota 2
3) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
2) League of Legends
1) Overwatch

10. Super Smash Bros

best esports games includes Nintendo Super Smash Bros characters
Old classics are getting a reboot in a big way in the best eSports games.

Super Smash Bros Overview

The mega-hit Super Smash Bros was first introduced on the Nintendo 64 game console in 1999 and continues to hold a firm grasp on the many hearts of those who spent countless hours of their childhood in dark rooms gaming. No longer a just throwback memory or nostalgia, Super Smash Bros has now evolved into a high-end eSport, which is why it lands at #10 on our list. This mega-hit is a crossover fighting game that features some of the most beloved video game characters, like Mario, Kirby, and more. It was originally released by Nintendo way back in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 game console. The game is now on the fifth release, called Super Smash Bros Ultimate, which is available for the Nintendo Switch.

The earliest professional Super Smash Bros competitions date back to 2002, and they have been growing in popularity ever since. One particularly interesting facet of Super Smash Bros in eSports is that frequently gamers play the older versions of the game, like Melee (2001) and Brawl (2008) as opposed to newer versions of the game. There are various teams, leagues, tournaments that eSports gamers around the world participate in, including Major League Gaming. However, while Super Smash Bros is certainly present in eSports, it’s not as widespread or big as the other games on our list, which is why it’s ranked at #10. It simply does not have the same following as other top games.

Super Smash Bros Gameplay

Since its rise to fame in the early 2000s, gamers have been incredibly loyal to this title and now are dedicating their eSports lives to compete in professional Super Smash Bros tournaments. But don’t think for a second these are cupcake leagues because this game is classic, as competitors in Super Smash Bros regard themselves to be masters of the game, and with good reason too. The beauty of Super Smash Bros is that it is extremely simple to play. Players square off in a virtual battle and fight against each other. However, unlike traditional fighting games, players win by launching their opponents off the stage and out of the map. This is different from the usual task of depleting your opponent’s life bar. You first start off the game by choosing one character from the over 68 available, each with their own unique powers, abilities, moves, and strengths.

All characters have a damage percentage, which rises as they take damage from attacks. As the percentage goes up, it gets easier to knock the character out of the map and effectively win the game. If you get launched off the stage, you can attempt to recover by jumping your way back onto the main stage. Some characters do this with ease because of their unique moves and abilities. Also, all characters vary in weight, which matters when it comes to launching or being launched. Overall, it’s a thrilling, fast-paced, and competitive game that gets quite addicting!

Super Smash Bros Mastery

During an E3 convention, Super Smash Bros Ultimate was teased in Nintendo Direct and has created a massive burst of excitement in new and old fans alike, supercharging interest in Super Smash Bros related eSports tournaments. If you are thinking about one day attempting to become a Super Smash Bros Ultimate master, you might want to try gathering around your next door video game store any time after it’s Dec 2018 release date to purchase the title on the Nintendo Switch.

Like previous titles, Super Smash Bros Ultimate will without a doubt be mechanically astute with a high difficulty to master. Since you are only as good as the next best player, you may want to start practicing soon because traditionally the series has had a lot of good players. However, Super Smash Bros Ultimate will offer newbies a chance to level the playing field by introducing new fighters, new stages, and bringing back every single character ever featured in the series! With proper discipline and dedication, even a beginner in the game can still rise to the pantheon of greatest players in the world.

Conclusion

Overall, we still highly recommend trying out Super Smash Bros, as it’s highly addictive and super fun to play. If you’re interested, you can purchase the latest version, Super Smash Bros: Ultimate, on Amazon for the Nintendo Switch.

GAMING KEYBOARDS

QUICK REVIEW

SEE SPECS

Highly Acclaimed

Tough Build

Combo Meal

9: StarCraft II

best esports games include Starcraft
Building a strong base is critical to being successful in many top eSports games.

StarCraft II Overview

Starcraft has been at the pinnacle of PC based real-time strategy games since its original release on March 31, 1998, by Blizzard Entertainment. The game has come a long way to be where it is today and is globally known as one of the hardest and more challenging games to become a professional. In 2010, Blizzard released Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, the sequel to the original game, followed by titles: Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, Starcraft II: Nova Covert Ops, Starcraft Remastered, and most recently Starcraft II. Any PC game enthusiast will always have a soft spot for this revolutionary futuristic title. The rise of eSports has again taken a classic game and put it in the front row of online competition and tournaments play, which is why we placed Starcraft II at #9 on our list.

StarCraft II Gameplay

The gameplay of StarCraft is composed of three basic components including building a base, building an army, and finally engaging your forces to topple the competition. Before you start a game in Starcraft, you can pick from one of three species. The first is the Terran, who are human exiles from Earth. The second is the Zerg, a super-species alien life storm. Finally, the third is Protoss, an advanced species with strong mental powers. The main objective of the game is pretty easy: you’re tasked with destroying the opponent’s structures. You win by destroying all of their structures or when they surrender. Sounds simple right? Well, yes, it does sound simple, but it gets way more complicated.

StarCraft II Mastery

Starcraft II is the most complicated game on our list. You will need to understand the hit points of every individual unit type, what damage they do, your base upkeep, the speed your units move, the speed you can build more units, etc. are all pieces of information you will need to process while playing. When fighting against an opponent, you will need to scout their troops, build units to counter them, and control every single unit to counter and turn the tide of the game. It’s not an easy one to master.

Conclusion

Starcraft’s popularity in eSports has grown over the years, especially in Asia, where it has become a legitimate career to be a full-time Starcraft player. However, it’s complexity, and steep mastery curve is why it is at #9 on our list of top eSports games. Some new players are discouraged from playing, and thus it’s not as popular an eSports title as some of the other games on our list. However, if you are looking to go “all-in” and work your way through the ranks, then this is indeed a great game with a historical past and has tons of potential for any aspiring eSports pro.

Want to try it out? You can download Starcraft II for Windows or Mac on Blizzard’s official website here.

8. Hearthstone

Screenshot of HearthStone
Great eSports games are often inspired by other great games.

Hearthstone Overview

Our #8 pick on the list of top eSports games is Hearthstone, a trading card video game that was initially released in 2014 by Blizzard Entertainment. It’s based on the Warcraft series and uses the same characters, elements, relics, and more. It also happens to be one of the most unique games on our list.

Hearthstone Gameplay

Hearthstone is an online collectible card game between two players. Each player has a deck of cards, and the end goal is to reduce their opponent’s health to zero. Players take turns to play cards from their deck casting powerful spells, equipping their hero with weapons, or summoning powerful minions to do battle on their behalf. Before each match, you’ll need to create your card deck and choose the hero, or character for the deck. You can use the premade basic decks that come along with each hero or build your own custom deck. The hero you choose belongs to one of nine classes, each of which has special powers and abilities.

Once you choose your card deck and hero, it’s time to play! There are four different type of cards that you can play, all of which have various effects either on your own hero or your opponent’s hero. These card types are minions, spells, weapons, and hero cards. All of these cards cost a certain amount of mana crystals to play on a turn. You can only play a card that is equal to or less than the number of mana crystals you have for that turn. Your mana crystals budget starts off at one on your first turn, and increases by one each turn, for a maximum of ten. So if a card costs 3 mana crystals, you won’t be able to play this card until your third turn.

With each turn, you’ll choose a card to play, which gives your hero abilities or weapons, or summons minions to attack your opponent, with the goal of reducing your opponent’s health to zero. When you win a match or complete quests in Hearthstone, you’ll earn gold, new cards, and other prizes. With the gold from the game, you can buy new packs of cards to improve your card decks in the future, which will help you win more!

Hearthstone Mastery

Hearthstone is a game that any individual can begin playing today as it is free to play online. However, there is a bit of a learning curve. Overall, this game involves a bit of strategy as you must plan ahead, taking into account what cards can and cannot be played for a specific turn. Luckily, the game offers a wide range of tutorials where you can learn how the game works. You’ll eventually see that Hearthstone is more about building the right type of deck by collecting and trading cards between players. You can also pay real money to purchase card packs to unlock a more extensive range of cards to improve your deck further.

It is important to note that once you choose the 30 cards in your deck, they are shuffled at random, so you cannot select the order. This process is called card random number generation (RNG). So you don’t know what cards you get and when you’ll get them, which is a bit frustrating at times. However, your ability to be a good Hearthstone player comes from whether or not the deck that you have designed can survive in any possible scenario.

Hearthstone also happens to be quite popular in eSports, with tournaments that include prize pools of over $1 million. Players square off every day in eSports leagues around the world. It’s wildly popular in eSports because of the uniqueness of the game. There are no others games like it. Each year Blizzard holds the Hearthstone World Championship, an international competition for Hearthstone. The contest held in 2018 and had over 50,000 players who competed to be one of the 16 finalists. The final winner was from Taiwan, and he ended up taking home $250,000 in prize money.

Conclusion

Hearthstone is a great game that puts a heavy emphasis on strategy, planning, and execution. Hearthstone on can be downloaded and is playable on both Windows and Mac, and also on Android and iOS.

7. FIFA

Picture of two people playing a soccer video game
Sports video games are becoming more and more popular among eSports fans. Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

FIFA Overview

This pick on our list probably does not come as a surprise. Soccer, or football in most countries, is the world’s most popular sport. So it’s definitely not a shock that FIFA has become prominent on the eSports scene. EA Sports first launched the original game back in 1993 and had continued to introduce a new version of the game each year across all major gaming platforms. Every September, fans across the globe line up eager to try out the latest release.

FIFA Gameplay

The game can be played both online and offline, and the premise is pretty simple. You play soccer games against opponents, and your objective is to win those games. The best part about the game is that it contains many exclusively licensed tournaments, leagues, teams, and players from around the world. You can play with your favorite player, club team, or even an international team. So if you’re Real Madrid’s #1 fan, you can choose to play as the team, with all of the players. It’s as if you’re really playing at the game!

On FIFA, you can play one-off games against a friend, a random opponent or computer, or you can choose to play for an entire season as a player or team. So the beautiful part about FIFA is you can play it casually in one-off games, or if you’re more of a serious player, you can invest in playing for a full season.

FIFA Mastery

FIFA is a well-suited game for eSports, piggy-backing off the passionate global following of millions of fans for the real-world FIFA brand. 2018 marked the first-ever FIFA eWorld Cup, an eSports tournament in London. The tournament lasted three days and featured 32 elite players from across the world, all competing to win a prize worth $250,000. Over 20 million players tried out for a spot to compete in the finals.

The one thing to note is that this tournament is one player vs. one player instead of teams competing against each other. Unlike other top eSports games, the tournament format of one vs. one will require more individual player mastery of FIFA, instead of being able to leverage the strengths of an entire team, which ultimately could create a long road before you are ready to compete with the best in the world.

Conclusion

Overall, FIFA holds a lot of promise in eSports, especially with viewership. Because people across the world already love watching live soccer, it’s not a far stretch for the virtual version to have just as much popularity. Viewers already love following top FIFA video game matches on Twitch and YouTube. Over the next few years, we imagine this will only grow stronger.

GAMING LAPTOPS

QUICK REVIEW

SEE SPECS

High End Creator PC 

Strong Performance

Entry Level

6. Fortnite

Screenshot of Fortnite load screen
Some of the best eSports games are newbies and already causing a global phenomenon.

Fortnite Overview

If you’ve haven’t heard of the next game on our list, you’ve been missing out. Since its release in the summer of 2017 by Epic Games, it has absolutely taken the world by storm. If you guessed our next game is Fortnite, well, you’re correct! With over 125 million players in just over a year, Fortnite has been one of the world’s all-time fastest growing video game.

Fornite Gameplay

Fortnite currently has two modes: Save the World and Battle Royale. Save the World is a player vs. environment game where a team of four players works together to achieve common objectives. Battle Royale is the mode that has made this game blow up in such a short amount of time. So for this review, we’ll focus on it alone. Battle Royale reminds us of the Hunger Games, and Minecraft combined. It is a player vs. player battle game in which 100 players are pitted against each other each round. You can either play alone or in teams of two or four.

The round starts off with players jumping off of a flying bus into a vast mystery island. When players land, they must scramble to quickly find weapons, items, and resources before they are killed. Again, this game is player vs. player so the point is to kill any and every other player you encounter on the island and to avoid getting killed yourself. Over the course of the round, you also must avoid a shrinking storm (totally a scene out of the Hunger Games), which shrinks the map and your available area to play in.

Players can also use an ax to knock down existing buildings, trees, rocks, and more from around the island to collect building resources. With these resources, you can build forts and structures in Battle Royale. Once you accumulate enough resources, you can immediately construct a ramp to bridge to a higher elevation or build a fort to take cover. In either case, both help you outplay your opponents, in addition to having the ability to set traps and outmaneuvering by using launch pads. You win the Battle Royale by being the last one standing out of 100, or the final squad standing.

Fornite Mastery

Although the playing style of Fortnite is similar to many other third-person shooter games, even with the game being relatively new, the competition in this game is fierce, and it can take a while before beginners can start to find their way up the ranks. The best way to get better is to keep practicing and playing rounds. The one thing to note is that you also must have a bit of luck on your side, as where you land when you first begin, the weapons and other loot you find is random. Besides that, this game is addicting and has taken the world by storm, even with a huge celebrity following.

Fortnite is just catching on to the eSports world. In 2018, Epic Games, the creator of Fornite, announced they were giving away $100 million in competition prize pools over the next year. They also announced that they are creating a Fortnite World Cup starting in 2019. The tournaments for Fortnite are just beginning, but based on the popularity of this game, it won’t be long before they are a monster eSports hit. We expect Fortnite to creep up on the rankings of this list over the next year.

Conclusion

If you’re interested, you can download and play Fortnite for free on Windows, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

5. Call of Duty

Screenshot of Call of Duty IIII trailer
Explosions, med packs, and air-strikes are just all in a day’s work for eSports pros.

Call of Duty Overview

If you’ve played video games before, you’ve likely heard of our #5 pick, Call of Duty (CoD), the extremely popular first-person shooter game. The original version was released by Activision way back in 2003, and now the series has 15 sequels and spin-offs, with more coming soon. Since there are so many CoD games that have been released, we’ll focus on the overall series for our list of top eSports games.

Call of Duty Gameplay

Call of Duty is a high action intensive game that requires you to learn its maps and mechanics thoroughly, as well as practice your aim consistently to improve. In CoD, you’ll have to complete missions, which feature a series of objectives that a player must complete before moving on to the next mission. This first-person shooter game will surely get you addicted to its gun-slinging action within no time. If you’re a console player that wishes to commit to the console and dedicate your time to polish your skills on a competitive console game, then Call of Duty is without a doubt the best place for you.

CoD has a very similar vibe to our #3 game on this list, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). In our opinion, we think CoD but has a lot more fluidity and speed, and has a larger arsenal compared to CS:GO, both in mechanics and weapons. However, the reason why CS:GO is ranked higher on our list is because CoD allows for team play but is not truly a team-based game. Players are not incentivized to work in teams as most objectives can be completed solo. Also because killstreaks are so important in CoD, it’s way better to fight an enemy alone instead of a group of friends. We’ve found that a huge element of eSports is playing in teams, and thus CoD isn’t the best choice.

Call of Duty Mastery

But don’t think playing Call of Duty isn’t popular in eSports. CoD has been in the world of eSports since as early as 2006 with the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Over the years, the various CoD releases have been featured in eSports leagues and tournaments around the world, such as Major League Gaming. Gamers can compete alone (singles) or in pairs (doubles) or in teams (3 vs. 3 or 6 vs. 6). We’ve found that playing CoD competitively is most popular in Europe and North America, with many players participating in tournaments and ladder matches daily. Overall, CoD has one of the most exciting and intense competitive displays on the eSports scene.

Conclusion

The last CoD release is Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII, which you can get on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The previous release is Call of Duty: WWIII, which you can currently find on PS4 or Xbox One.

4. Dota 2

Screenshot of Dota 2 gameplay
Building a solid team strategy is crucial in many top eSports games.

Dota 2 Overview

Defense of the Ancients, also known as Dota, is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) that was originally released in 2003. The sequel, known as Dota 2, came out in 2013 and picked up right where the original left off.

Dota 2 Gameplay

Dota 2 is a team-based game, and each match features two teams of five players. The objective is for each team is to destroy the opposing team’s Ancient, which is a strongly fortified structure located in the enemy’s territory. At the same time, both sides must also simultaneously defend their own Ancient from attack. The two teams are made up of players who choose characters known as “heroes.” Each hero has a unique set of skills and style of play that will help them in combat. During a match, heroes can collect experience points and various items to help them play better against opponents. The first team who destroys their oppositions’ Ancient wins the match.

As you read on, you’ll probably notice that Dota 2 is quite similar to another game on our list, League of Legends. However, there are a few differences between the two. For example, in Dota, you can hit and kill your allies, while you cannot do this in League of Legends.

Dota 2 Mastery

Dota 2 is not the easiest game for beginners as it has a steep learning curve and a high complexity level. There is a lot one needs to learn about the game before starting the first match. Despite this, Dota 2 has a high production quality and it has even been widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. It’s been one of the most popular downloaded games on Steam, with 1.291 million players at its all-time peak in 2016. Overall, Dota 2 is a competitive game that one can quickly and easily lose themselves in.

Dota 2’s popularity has also brought a large and active scene in competitive play for the game. eSports teams from across the world play Dota 2 in various leagues and tournaments, often with prize pools totaling millions of dollars. The International is the largest Dota 2 tournament and is held every year in Seattle, and is one of the largest eSports tournaments across all games. In 2016, The International broke the world record for having the highest prize pool in history at over $20 million. After seeing this number, there’s no doubt that Dota 2 is a huge part of the eSports gaming world and is rightfully high up on our list of top eSports games.

Conclusion

Ready to try your hand at Dota 2? You can download it for free on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

3. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)

Screenshot of Counter Strike Global Offensive gameplay
Many top eSports games reward both team and individual play.

CS:GO Overview

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, also known as CS:GO, is the fourth installment in the Counter-Strike series. The original Counter-Strike came out in 1999 and has evolved into one of the most famous first-person shooter game in the world, outlasting big names such as Unreal Tournament and Quake. CS:GO came out in 2012.

CS:GO Gameplay

The game is extremely straightforward. You aim with your mouse, and whatever guns you have equipped will shoot the center of your screen which is indicated by a crosshair. Each round is played by two teams of vie. The premise of each round is that the two teams play against each other, both tasked with eliminating each other and completing objectives along the way. These two teams are referred to as terrorists and counter-terrorists. Terrorists are the instigators of the game. They are given tasks like planting a bomb or defending hostages. Counter-terrorists are the opposite. They typically are tasked with preventing a bomb from being planted, defusing a bomb, or rescuing hostages.

Even though teams win or lose together, individual players are evaluated and rewarded at the end of each round based on their individual performance. Individuals are given in-game currency to spend on weapons that they can use in future rounds. Things like winning a round, completing objectives, and killing opponents will earn you additional in-game money.

There are eight game modes in CS:GO, all of which have different features and objectives. For example, competitive mode is the traditional mode in which two teams play against each other for about 45 minutes at a time. The Weapons Course is a practice mode which will help newbies learn how to use weapons and also how to plant and defuse bombs. It’s a great crash course if you need practice. All game modes can be played either online or offline, except the Weapons Course, which can only be played offline.

CS:GO Mastery

While the objective of the game is simple, CS:GO requires extreme precision, timing and knowledge of the maps to become an expert. However, as the learning curve is quite small, it’s all about practice after you conquer the basics of the game. The game is fit for any age, and even for individuals who have never played a first person shooter before. As we mentioned, the game offers multiple game modes, and even custom maps other players have made to assist you in honing your skills to become a better player.

To further add to its popularity, there are large-scale Counter-Strike tournaments with grand prizes up to $1 million dollars. These competitions feature teams from all over the globe challenging aiming to climb to the top and become the best.

Conclusion

If you’re ready to try out this long-time first-person shooter stalwart, you can purchase Counter-Stike: Global Offensive on Steam for only $14.99 on Windows, Mac or Linux.

2. League of Legends (LoL)

Screenshot of League of Legends gameplay
Some games are simply iconic in the eSports industry.

LoL Overview

League of Legends is the #2 game on our list as it has been one of the most consistently popular eSports games in the world for a long time now. It was released way back in 2009 by Rich Games, and it’s only grown in popularity since then. With over 100 million monthly players, it’s quite clear that League of Legends is here to stay.

LoL Gameplay

The game is a multiplayer online battle arena and is a very team-oriented, strategy based game. Each match features two teams of five players. The main goal of League of Legends is to work together with your teammates to bring down the opposing team’s “nexus.” The “nexus” is located in the middle of the enemy base, protected by various structures and other defense towers. You’ll have to take down the opposing team’s “nexus” before they take down yours; otherwise, you’ll lose the match. League of Legends offers various game modes to assist new players to ease into the game and practice.

You start off by choosing or getting assigned a champion, which is the character who you will control during the match. Each of the 141 champions offered all have their own unique strengths and abilities. At the start of every match, champions will start off at a low level, and as you play more, they gain experience during the match (up to a maximum level of 18). At the beginning of each match, all championship levels are reset, meaning the experience you earn from a previous match will not carry over. This is a way to level the playing field as you truly start-over with each match you play.

LoL Mastery

League of Legends also has player levels, which is at your account level and spans across all of your matches. This is different from the champion level discussed above. All players start at level one when they create their account, and they can progress by playing more matches. For example, you can be a level 5 as a player (your entire account level), but every match you play, you’ll start off at character level 1. The account level player rankings are used automatically by the game when determining teams for matches. The game automatically creates teams with players of comparable skill levels so that the teams are fair and one does not easily dominate the other.

League of Legends has blown up the eSports world and has become a competitive phenomenon. Riot Games organizes the League of Legends World Championship each year. In this eSports tournament, 24 pro eSports teams from around the world compete against each other to win the title, the Summoner’s Cup, plus a $1 million championship prize. In 2017, the World Championship reached a record number 60 million unique viewers, and this number is only expected to grow over the next few years.

Conclusion

Overall, the game is extremely fun to play and it is free! You can find the free download for Windows and Macs on the official League of Legends website.

1. Overwatch

Screenshot of Overwatch trailer
The best eSports games find a way to combine exciting gameplay, awesome team dynamics, and keep fans wanting more.

Overwatch Overview

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Our top pick on the list is Overwatch, which was released on May 24, 2016, by Blizzard Entertainment. Since then, it has completely taken the gaming industry by storm. It was voted the best eSports game of the year in 2017, and it is a top contender to take the title once again. There have even been reports that Overwatch and a few other top games could be included in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. You’ll soon understand why it’s #1 on our list of top 10 eSports games.

Overwatch Gameplay

Overwatch is a team-based, first-person shooter game that is suitable for any level of gamer. The game has multiple competitive game modes, which brings loads of fun, but pushes teamwork to the limit. In the competitive ranked play, players are automatically assigned into two teams of six. One team is on the attack, and the other is on the defense, and each is given a task. The defending team must secure and defend control points on a map or escort a payload across the map in a limited amount of time. The attacking team must try and win over the control point or steal the payload from the defending team.

Overwatch rewards a team’s synergy as every competitive match revolves around the objective of that map. To simply put it, this game requires elite communication and coordination skills to succeed. A team will not win if they do not work well together and communicate with each other. The game also features a casual play mode, which includes solo and team deathmatch, capture-the-flag, and even unique modes that are seasonal. Blizzard also has special eSports competitions in their Overwatch League.

Overwatch currently offers 28 characters, which they refer to as heroes. You can choose only one of the 28 heroes to play during a match. Heroes are divided into three groups: damage heroes, offensive heroes, and support heroes. Each of the three groups of heroes has a special skills set. Damage heroes do most of the attacking or defending of control points. Tank heroes can withstand large amounts of damage (like tanks can) and protect the support heroes. Support heroes can heal their teammates. The three roles work together in a match to achieve the team’s common goal. Every competitive match is required to have at least one hero in each role. And when all six players work together on a team, the match results in a very satisfying victory.

Overwatch Mastery

Regardless if you win or lose, you’ll gain experience in the game, which can help you get to the next player level. So the more you play, the more experience you have, and the higher level you’ll be in the game. When you achieve a new level, you’ll earn a special loot box that will give you new items that you can customize your character’s appearance with. These items are purely cosmetic and they do not affect your gaming ability or play at all. They simply make you look cooler, which is not a bad thing.

Conclusion

The combination of teamwork and individual skills make Overwatch one of the biggest, if not the biggest eSports game currently. If you haven’t yet had the chance to play, you can purchase the game on Amazon for the PCXbox One, and PS4.

Summary

The eSports industry is growing rapidly and the time is now is to pick the game that best suits your gaming interest! It’s more popular than ever and is becoming a frequent topic of discussion and admiration for people all across the world. But, if you haven’t yet found a game that suits your interest on this list always remember that almost any video game with some element of competition could potentially become the next eSports mega-hit title. These are the best eSports games out right now, and the list is continually evolving as-is the industry itself. If you happen to plan on experimenting with different console eSports video games to find your favorite, definitely make sure to sign up for video game rewards programs by retailers to help you save money! 

A lot of the games on our list, like FIFA and CS:GO: have been around for quite some time, and so it’s no wonder that they’ve made this list. They’ve been widely popular and beloved for years, and so it only makes sense that they’ve also blown up in the eSports world. However, some other games were just released recently, like Fortnite and Overwatch. These games have taken the world by storm and have quickly become viral eSports go-to’s. If you’re looking to break into the professional gaming industry, you can’t go wrong with becoming an expert at any of the games on this list!

We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about all the games on our list and hope you get the chance to play them all soon! If you are looking for other great eSports articles check out our post on what is eSports and the 8 steps to becoming an eSports gamer.

2 thoughts on “10 Best eSports Games To Play Right Now 2021”

  1. With all due respect to the writer, putting LOL underneath Overwatch is absolutely absurd. Being a E-Sports enthusiast and reading this article I am very confused by the ranking system you had making your choices. Average views of Overwatch range in the 20k of avg viewers vs LOL which is over 140k. I am not agreeing in which is much more fun to play (which is subjective) because I would rather play Overwatch, but to have LOL be anything other than first place is just bad temperature taking of the what the state of E-Sports is rights now. Do better next time as this was a very half heated attempt at a top 10 list. You want to make an argument that there will be rising stars do to the release of Overwatch 2, the effort and money that Blizzard/Activision are putting into the Overwatch league have at it.

    But, your thesis for this article and I quote “Numerous games are played competitively by professional gamers in eSports leagues, but this article will cover the hottest and most popular games in the eSports scene right now. So which ones should you consider playing or focusing on the most?” is just bad.

    Again, all due respect. Thank you for taking the time to write about E-Sports. I only hope that more considerations are taken in the future as to the content of the article.

    Sources:
    https://www.twitchmetrics.net/games/popularity

    https://twitchtracker.com/games/488552

  2. Lol, where Rainbow Six Siege? Now 2020 year – Mario and HS still are more perspective than a tactical shooter with regular major and big tournament worth millions of dollars yearly… I’m not talking about the great opportunity due small number of very strong teams.

Leave a Comment