Peaks, Pitfalls & Shifting Trends of Esports — Insights from Esports Map

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Esports Charts, with support from GG.BET, has released a detailed look at the current trends in esports around the world.

Honestly, it’s crazy how huge esports has become! What started as just us gamers hanging out has totally blown up into a massive global industry. It’s got everything now – teams buying and selling players, huge tournaments, and millions of people watching worldwide. I’ve seen the numbers, and over the last five years, the audience has grown by over 200 million viewers! Experts are saying we’ll hit over 640 million viewers by 2025, and the really surprising part is that most of those new viewers aren’t even regular esports fans yet. The money side is insane too – the market has been growing by at least 20% every year! They’re predicting almost $2.89 billion in revenue this year, and over $7 billion within the next five years. It’s a wild time to be a gamer!

The world of esports is massive and offers something for everyone – from casual enjoyment to professional growth and even business opportunities. To help people explore this world, Esports Charts and GG.BET have created the Esports Map. This interactive map shows the most popular esports tournaments in over 110 countries, ranked by peak viewership. Currently covering data from 2017 to 2025, the map not only displays viewer numbers but also provides details like winning teams, prize pools, and interesting historical moments – including surprising wins and upsets. The Esports Map will be continuously updated with new information, filters, and categories.

Esports Map isn’t just for those already working in esports – it’s a valuable tool for brands new to the industry, or even those completely unfamiliar with it. For esports professionals, the map helps with planning projects and events. For brands, it’s a great way to get started in esports, opening doors to sponsorships, reaching new audiences, expanding into new markets, and boosting brand awareness.

Let’s explore some worldwide trends and key takeaways from Esports Map. All viewership numbers and data presented here are sourced from Esports Charts.

Counter-Strike continues to dominate

Contrary to claims that Counter-Strike is declining in popularity, viewership numbers actually show it’s thriving. From 2017 to 2025, Counter-Strike tournaments consistently led in viewership across 25 different countries, and in 2025 alone, topped the charts in 15. (It’s worth noting this data focuses on tournaments with the highest peak viewership, not necessarily the most popular game overall in each country.) The game’s frequent and widespread tournament schedule gives it a strong advantage in maintaining its dominance in viewership numbers.

Counter-Strike is the most-watched esports title in many countries, consistently ranking alongside League of Legends and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. League of Legends was the second most popular game from 2017 to 2024, topping the charts in 14 countries, and remained strong in 2025, leading in 8 countries. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang held the third position from 2017-2024 (leading in 10 countries by peak viewership) and rose to second in 2025 (leading in 8 countries). While Counter-Strike is dominant, League of Legends and Valorant are gaining traction in several regions, even challenging its viewership in places like South Korea and Japan, where their competitive scenes are expanding. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, traditionally popular in Southeast Asia, is steadily growing its audience in new parts of the world.

According to Bogdan Holovnov, Head of Esports at DATA.BET, Counter-Strike is the most popular game for betting. He reports that over 51% of all bets placed with their service during the period were on Counter-Strike, which he attributes to the game hosting the most tournaments and events each month. While League of Legends and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang are more popular to watch, especially in Asia, Counter-Strike continues to dominate in terms of betting volume and is expected to remain at the top for the foreseeable future.

Does how popular a game is in a specific area affect whether an esports team is created for it? Evgeny Zolotarev, CEO of the highly successful NAVI organization, explains that popularity is definitely considered, but many factors go into the decision. Beyond how many people watch tournaments and matches, they look at the size and growth of the game’s player community, the financial aspects like player salaries and transfers, potential partnerships with the game publisher (including revenue sharing and in-game items), and whether the game will be part of the Esports World Cup.

League of Legends Worlds is the most popular esports tournament 

Between 2017 and 2025, the League of Legends World Championship has been hosted in three of the countries with the highest viewership: the UK (2024), South Korea (2023), and the USA (2022). These tournaments drew over 18.4 million peak viewers in total, with the 2023 championship reaching a record high of 6.86 million. This October’s championship in China is expected to break that record, as China currently leads in viewership numbers.

The massive success of the League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) is thanks to Riot Games’ dedication to the game. While Riot has faced criticism for keeping much of its esports ecosystem controlled internally – unlike some other game companies – they’ve recently embraced community-driven content like co-casting and alternative broadcasts, expanding their reach to more viewers and platforms. Despite some challenges, Riot has built a unique game universe that has become a benchmark for the industry. They actively promote the game through various cultural avenues like comics, TV shows, and music, and are always willing to try new things to boost viewership. Starting in 2014, each Worlds event has featured original music from well-known artists, culminating in live concerts at the finals. Riot also pioneered the creation of a virtual K-pop group featuring League of Legends characters, which has attracted millions of views and a new fanbase. Their collaborations with luxury brand Louis Vuitton – designing the World Championship trophy, creating exclusive in-game skins, and releasing game-inspired merchandise – were groundbreaking, blending high fashion with esports. These initiatives all contribute to building a strong and recognizable brand.

Mobile esports is catching up with the traditional sphere

As a gamer, I’ve seen mobile esports really take off over the last few years. Games like PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) jumped into the competitive scene and quickly grabbed a huge audience. It’s been amazing to watch! In fact, Free Fire actually beat out even League of Legends Worlds in viewership – their 2021 World Series peaked at over 5.4 million viewers! And recently, regional MLBB leagues have been pulling in more viewers than League’s main events. For example, MPL Indonesia Season 15 had over 4.1 million people tuning in, compared to around 3.4 million for the LoL Mid-Season Invitational. While mobile esports is still growing and hasn’t quite reached the explosive growth of traditional esports in terms of new fans and markets, it’s definitely catching up. Right now, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang seems to be leading the charge, with a really engaged and expanding global fanbase. It’s exciting to see where things go from here!

As a fan, it’s amazing to see some mobile esports events actually getting bigger audiences than the major traditional esports tournaments! It really shows how dedicated people are locally. But it’s also true that mobile esports, like a lot of traditional esports besides League of Legends, is mostly popular in a few places – Southeast Asia especially, where everyone loves mobile gaming. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really taken off as much in Europe and North America, and that’s a bit disappointing.

Mobile esports struggles because there aren’t many games that can support competitive play over the long run. PC and console esports, on the other hand, have a lot of popular and well-established games like CS, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant.

Interestingly, despite big spikes in popularity from some mobile games, it’s the long-term success of traditional esports titles that really fuels the overall growth of competitive gaming globally.

Artyom Odintsov, co-founder and CEO of Esports Charts

According to NAVI CEO Evgeny Zolotarev, the quick growth of mobile esports is largely due to how easy it is to get started – all you need is a smartphone. Because phones are much more affordable and widespread than gaming PCs, mobile esports have broad appeal. However, Zolotarev doesn’t believe mobile esports will replace traditional esports on PCs. He thinks both will continue to thrive, similar to how fighting and sports simulation games on consoles remain popular alongside other genres. They’re different but complementary, both driven by the desire for exciting competition.

Tournament series loyalty

Tournament organizers consistently refine their events each year. Because these series have established formats, happen regularly, and attract dedicated fans, they consistently rank highly in terms of viewership. During the first half of 2025, local League of Legends competitions, alongside major series like BLAST, MPL, Intel Extreme Masters, and the PUBG Mobile Super League, led the way in peak viewership within their respective host countries.

In 2024, GG.BET became the official partner of the entire CS2 BLAST tournament series. We created a comprehensive promotional campaign that has grown with each season. This included both online and in-person events for our users and CS fans worldwide, whether they were watching from home or attending the arenas. These efforts reached a massive audience, generating 184.8 million stream viewers. This long-term partnership between a global betting brand and a tournament organizer demonstrates how successful collaboration can benefit the industry, boost brand awareness, and inspire future partnerships.

GG.BET press office 

If you’re looking for fascinating esports stats and surprising insights, visit the Esports Map website. You can find the interactive map at https://escharts.com/esports-map.

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2025-10-21 08:13