The year 2025 was extremely eventful for Esports tournaments. Competitive games led by CS2, Valorant, LoL, and Dota 2 dominated the industry. In particular, CS2 Major tournaments reached millions of viewers and featured highly enjoyable moments to watch. Looking at the report prepared by Esports Insider, the final of the League of Legends Worlds championship reached 6.7 million viewers.
Overall, there are more than 300 million viewers across the entire Esports industry. Some experts say this number could reach up to 600 million in 2025 and 2026. Similarly, 1xBet esports betting is rapidly becoming widespread among young people. So what awaits Esports fans in 2026? Which competitive online games will leave their mark on tournaments? Let’s take a quick look.
League of Legends Worlds 2026
Worlds 2026 is a large-scale esports tournament planned to be held in the United States. Teams from 7 different regions of the world will participate in the tournament. Teams can earn the right to participate in Worlds by becoming champions in local leagues or by achieving significant successes.
The tournament was held in China in 2025 and had a $5 million prize pool. It also made its mark recently by breaking a record in terms of viewership. In particular, it was exciting to watch teams such as T1, Invictus Gaming, and KT Rolster live. The excitement of the matches was also reflected in 1xBet esports betting. A large portion of the audience made the match experience profitable by placing bets to amplify the excitement.
Dota 2 The International 2026
Here we are again with one of the Esports tournaments with the biggest prize pool in the world, organized by Valve and PGL. TI is held regularly every year and has an average prize pool of $2.8 million.
The next tournament is planned to be held in Shanghai, China. Also, August 2026 has been determined as the date. Due to the structure of the tournament, teams that are successful in local leagues can participate.
Local tournaments presented under the name Dota Pro Circuit have a league made up of each region’s own teams. In each period, the team that plays for the top spot in the league earns the right to participate in TI directly. Here are the popular Dota 2 teams:
- Team Spirit
- Team Falcons
- Xtreme Gaming
- Tundra Esports
- BB Team
If you haven’t watched Dota 2 tournaments before, it can be enjoyable to take a look at past events. We would like to point out that you can truly find final matches with very high viewing pleasure.
VALORANT Champions
Released in 2021, Valorant is an FPS game developed by Riot Games. By going beyond classic FPS games and offering a more tactical gameplay experience, Valorant quickly managed to become popular.
Naturally, this popularity made it possible for global Esports tournaments to begin. VCT 2025 was broadcast with dozens of sponsors and hundreds of thousands of viewers. The latest tournament was held in September 2025 and distributed more than $2 million in prizes.
As in CS2, teams that have achieved success in different regional leagues can be included in VCT. Each time, 2 teams are selected from the Americas, China, EMEA, and Pacific leagues. In total, the number of teams participating in the tournament is 10.
In addition, the tournament’s sub-sections, the Kickoff and Masters series, are important events for Esports excitement. You can follow the players who take the stage in front of enthusiastic fans and you can experience that excitement together with the players as well.
Counter-Strike 2: PGL Singapore Major 2026
We cannot forget the Counter-Strike series, which is one of the starting points in esports history. CS2, the latest game in this series, hosts dozens of different tournaments of various sizes every year. IEM, Major, and ESL Pro League have prize pools worth millions of dollars.
Also, match broadcasts on platforms such as Twitch and Kick are followed in real time by hundreds of thousands of people. The prize pools in the tournaments are high enough to fuel competition. For example, a starting prize of $1,250,000 has been planned for the PGL Major Singapore 2026 tournament.
There are some main CS2 teams that you can enjoy watching. These teams are as follows:
- FURIA
- Team Vitality
- MOUZ
- The MongolZ
- Team Falcons
- G2 Esports
- FaZe Clan
- Fnatic
Esports World Cup 2026 (Riyadh)
The Esports World Cup event planned to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia covers many competitive games. Throughout the entire event, there is a massive total prize pool of $70 million.
Tournament series that can be watched either by traveling to the venue or via live broadcast on TV are quite enjoyable. Moreover, everyone can choose a game according to their personal taste and follow the matches. The event is planned to be held in July 2026.
The events are planned to last for approximately 1 week. The games whose tournaments you can watch during this one week are as follows:
- Apex Legends
- Counter Strike 2
- COD Warzone – Black ops 7
- Dota 2
- FC 26
- Mobile Legends
- Rainbow Six Siege
- PUBG
- Valorant
- Overwatch 2
- Team Fight Tactics
We included the most popular games in the list as much as possible. For more, you can take a look at the official Esports World Cup website.
