eSports has seen an exponential rise in the last few years. The popularity and growth of the industry has also had a significant impact on the amount of prize money that is now being offered to players.
Take the popular League of Legends World Championships and one can clearly see how the growth of the industry has impacted the prize money on offer. The first edition of the tournament saw the winner take home $50,000.
The next season of the tournament the prize money went up to $1 million and now the prize pool for the championships is expected to be well over $3 million.
eSports Game Developers
Blizzard Entertainment is one of the biggest developers of eSports games and has been responsible for developing some of the most popular and well liked games such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. Starcraft II is another popular game developed by the company.
Riot Games is another big name when it comes to eSports creators. The company was established in 2006 and is based out of Santa Monica, California. Riot was responsible for developing the popular League of Legends game that currently has 67 million players participating all over the world. Riot Games has grown at a rapid pace and now has 15 offices all over the world.
Valve Corporation is yet another major eSports creator with titles including Dota 2 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Dota 2 set a new eSports record when it announced a prize pool of over $18 million in the Internationals tournament.
Hi-Rez Studios is the creator of the immensely popular game called Smite. The company based out of Atlanta, Georgia was founded in 2005. The company also has offices in Brighton, UK and Shenzen, China. Some of the other popular games that the company has developed include Paladins, Tribes and Jetpack Fighter.
eSports: The Rise In Online Betting
Betting on eSports has become immensely popular over the last couple of years. Some gaming analysts have predicted that betting on the eSports industry will surpass $20 billion within the next few years. Some of the biggest betting companies are now allowing bets on eSports. Some of the biggest betting companies that are now encouraging eSports games include:
Pinnacle Sports: eSports has found its ways into Pinnacle Sports, one of the world’s largest, licensed online betting companies. The company was founded in 1998 and started taking in eSports bets since 2010. The move appeared to be a flash of brilliance in retrospect as the eSports industry became the company’s fastest growing market. Soon more companies followed Pinnacle and started allowing bets on the eSports industry.
bet365: This UK based gambling company is one of the largest gambling groups in the world with over 19 million customers in almost two hundred countries. The company employs more than 3000 people and offers betting on poker, casino and bingo as well as the eSports industry.
Betway Group: The company offers gambling services through multiple brands including Betway Sportsbook, Betway Casino, Betway Vegas and others. The group holds licenses in multiple European countries including the UK and Germany.
Some other betting companies that allow bets on eSports include 888sport, William Hill, Unibet, 188Bet and BetVictor
eSports Games and Betting Odds
Dota 2, is one of the most popular eSports games in the world. At its peak, there are more than 900,000 players playing the game every single day. Dota 2 tournaments are held throughout the year and draw large number of participants due to the global popularity of the game. Some of the most popular tournaments are the International, Dota 2 Asia Championship and the World Cyber Arena which are usually held at the time each year. Most of the betting websites mentioned above allow bets to be placed on Dota 2. There are different types of bets that can be placed on this game including:
Different Types of Bets For eSports Games
Match Winner: This is the most common type of bet placed in the eSports industry and is a bet that is placed on the team that gamblers believes is likely to win.
Handicap Betting: In this type of betting, a handicap is assigned to the match winner, which increases the odds of victory but also comes with added risks.
Double Chance: There are possibly three outcomes that can occur in a game, a win, a draw or a loss. The double chance allows bets to be placed on the two outcomes most likely to occur.
Correct Score: Bets are placed on the end score of the match which needs to go over at least two games for it to be applicable.
Map X Winner: Bets are placed on who will win a specific map or a subset of the game.
Win at least 1 Map: Bets are placed on a team winning at least one map.
The League of Legends
This is also one of the most popular games in terms of the number of hours the game is played in Europe and North America. The game has also seen a rise in its popularity in Asia during the past few years.
The biggest tournament is the League of World Championships hosted by Riot Games where players from all parts of the world fly in to play. Like Dota 2, bets can be placed on this game through websites like Pinnacle Sports, betWay and bet365.
The most common bets placed on this game are match bets i.e. bets on the outcome of a single match. Outright bets can also be placed in which bets are placed on the outcome of the whole tournament. This increases the odds because variables increase.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Global Offensive is one of the oldest eSports games and has a very large and diverse fan following. This game is dominated by players from Sweden.
Betting for this game includes outright betting on the outcome of a match or tournament.
In events where groups play before the knockout championships, bets can be place on the winner of individual groups. Bets can also be made on nations which are competing in the tournament.
Most of the companies including Pinnacle, betWay and bet365 allow betting on this game.
Starcraft II
This is a sequel to the very famous Starcraft game and is very popular in South Korea.
Like betting on other games, bets in Starcraft II also center on outright outcomes on games and tournaments, and betting on who will reach the semi-finals and quarterfinals.
Bets also can be placed on the nationality of the winner. And if there is a favourite to win the tournament, then bets can be placed on the chances of a non-favourite to win the tournament.
Most of the betting companies mentioned above offer betting services for Starcraft II.
Hearthstone:
Released in 2014, this game has gained a rapid fan following during the course of the last 36 months.
Within a year of release it had accumulated 30 million registered users across the world and proved to be a big hit with online poker players.
One of the bets that can be placed on Hearthstone is the outright winner bet.
Since the game attracts many players who all want to contend for the top prize, odds, even on the favourites, can be quite high. Bets can also be placed on individual matches but odds are shorter in these bets especially if one of the contenders has a strong possibility to win.
Bets can also be placed on how far certain players will advance in the tournament, on whether they will make it to the semi-final, quarterfinal or finals. Some of the popular betting sites that allow betting on this game are betWay, Pinnacle and 188Bet.
Heroes of the Storm:
This game was released in 2015 and is a conglomeration of previous games developed by Blizzard including Starcraft and World of Warcraft.
The most popular bet on this game is the outright team winner of the tournament bet.
Bets can also be placed on which player within a team will perform the best.
Some of the other bets that can be placed are which team will progress how far into the tournament and how many players from a certain country will progress in a tournament and to what level they will progress to.
Some of the top betting websites that allow betting on this game are betWay, Pinnacle, bet365 and 188Bet.
Call of Duty:
This game had its origins in the early PC era but subsequent versions have gained widespread popularity. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is by far the most popular game in this series. Apart from single player games, the main attraction is multiplayer battles. Bets placed in this game are mostly single match bets where the winner of a single match is selected. Another bet that can be placed is the winner of the tournament bet. Bets can also be placed on how far a certain team will advance in the tournament. Two betting websites that allow betting for this game are betWay and 188Bet.
