Top Esports Games of 2024

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2024 saw esports continue to captivate millions of fans with electrifying moments, million-dollar events, intense rivalries, and record-breaking viewership. The industry reached a new record concurrent viewership thanks to the League of Legends World Championship, and also brought new high-profile events in various top games. As part of our 2024 Esports Results series, which has covered both general results of the industry as well as more specific rankings, Esports Charts can proudly present the most-watched esports games of the year. 

Compared to 2023, the biggest change at the top end of the esports broadcasting industry was a shakeup in the standings. While the podium place finishers remained static compared to last year, a game that has rapidly gained prominence managed to overtake one of esports’ oldest titles for fourth place. The esports industry has been ablaze with change and new games in recent years, and 2024 marked a shift in the tides as this rising star moved ahead of a name known far and wide for a decade.

#1 - League of Legends

League of Legends continues to lead the esports industry as the most popular game, constantly generating millions of hours of watch time. The globally-beloved MOBA was not only the most-watched esports game of the year again, but also significantly increased its watch time compared to last year, thanks to a combination of growing audiences and the game’s everlasting general popularity. 

League of Legends increased its watch time by 27% throughout 2024, with a significant portion of it coming from the thriving Vietnamese and Brazilian audiences for the title. These regions featured some of the fastest-growing regional circuits in LoL esports last year, and fans from here were critical for the overall viewership of Worlds 2024: at the 2024 World Championship Vietnamese-speaking broadcasts reached 1,100,000 Peak Viewers (PV), a new esports record for the language. 

Read also: Most viewed esports events of 2024

League of Legends’ core Korean audience has also continued to contribute meaningfully to the game’s total viewership. The Korean fans have long been a crucial pillar for the game’s fanbase, and in 2024, millions of Koreans tuned in to the local LCK circuit. The LCK achieved some of its highest watch time ever last year, with the LCK Spring 2024 becoming the most popular iteration of the series yet, having recorded almost 2,660,000 PV.

Following Twitch’s decision to cease operations in South Korea, the country’s livestreaming industry was upheaved and mixed up significantly. New platforms like Naver’s CHZZK have brought some fresh viewership to the LCK in 2024, as well as more established platforms like SOOP Korea (formerly AfreecaTV). During the LCK’s Summer 2024 event, these two platforms accounted for almost 17% of the event’s peak viewership.

In 2025, League of Legends is bringing about a massive overhaul of the game’s esports landscape. Riot Games is establishing new streamlined competitive regions, such as the new pan-Americas circuit (League of Legends Championship of The Americas) and the comprehensive Asia-Pacific circuit (League of Legends Championship Pacific). These new competitive regions will hopefully combine the potential of various previously-isolated regions, hopefully creating a healthier and more stable overall viewership for the esports title in the future. 

#2 - Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

In second place is Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, the world's second-most-popular MOBA title. The game has rapidly ascended to the top of the esports industry in past years, and now, the game has solidified its spot as an industry leader. 

MLBB’s key audiences are those of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian nations. The game is internationally popular, but these regions have been key audiences for the MOBA since its debut, and they remain as the strongest contributors to viewership. While the recent M6 World Championship was not able to break the records set by previous championship, regional MPL events saw great success last year.

The MPL Indonesia is MLBB’s premiere circuit for Indonesian teams, and it now consistently ranks among the top esports events of the year. The most recent iteration of the seasonal league, the MPL Indonesia Season 14, was the most popular MLBB event ever outside the world championships, recording over 4,000,000 concurrent viewers at peak. Indonesian audiences continue to grow in esports, and MLBB is leading the esports industry into these exciting and quickly developing regions.

#3 - Counter-Strike 2

Finishing on the podium, Counter-Strike 2 secured its place as the third-most-watched game of the year. The shooter has consistently held this position since the explosive rise of MLBB, which propelled the mobile title to the top spot. Counter-Strike’s viewership saw a significant boost compared to last year, reaching an impressive 430,000,000 hours of watch time. The growth in 2024 was largely due to the year hosting an extra Major compared to 2023, which roughly accounts for the watch time differential between the years.

Counter-Strike hosted two Majors in 2024, firstly the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 and then the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. In terms of raw viewership results, neither event was record-breaking in comparison to previous Majors, but the Chinese event was a significant step forward for Counter-Strike in a new market. The franchise has traditionally been popular in Europe and the Americas, but it is gradually gaining traction in Asia, with Mongolian viewership setting a new esports record at the Chinese event.

Read also: Best Counter-Strike 2 tournaments of 2024

#4 - Valorant

Valorant esports enjoyed significant growth last year, enough to overtake Dota 2 as the fourth-most-watched esports title of the year. At the VCT 2024: Masters Madrid tournament, the Grand Finals of the event reached a record-breaking 1,687,848 Peak Viewers as fan-favourite squad Sentinels took home their first international LAN victory in years. The tournament became the most popular Valorant event ever, and was the second Valorant event of the year, besides the World Championship, to reach over 1,000,000 concurrent viewers.

While international Masters and Champions events have always been popular due to their high stakes, Valorant is shifting focus to its regional circuits, which are a more consistent source of viewership. Not only did Riot Games recently introduce a dedicated VCT circuit for China, but the game developers have also expanded regional leagues to be more comprehensive, with a longer schedule.

As part of these changes, Riot Games introduced the Kickoff events in 2024. These regional tournaments replaced the previous international Lock In event, which invited teams from all around the globe to compete in a season-starting tournament. The new Kickoff events were able to generate massive viewership due to emerging rivalries within the esports community: the VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff became the most popular regional VCT event as Americas’ rivals LOUD and Sentinels faced off in the finals.

2024 saw Valorant draw its viewership from a variety of sources. Masters Madrid’s peak reflected the global popularity and hype behind Sentinels, and the other 1,412,558 PV reached at the Valorant Champions 2024 reflected a more diverse viewership coming from various audiences around the globe, such as Japan, Spanish-speaking fans, and more. In the past, Brazilian (Portuguese-speaking) viewership has been crucial for the title, but this audience calmed down in 2024. If Valorant continues its growth in 2025 and beyond, it could soon begin contesting Counter-Strike’s podium spot in our ranking.

#5 - Dota 2

Last but not least, Dota 2 slipped down our rankings and now holds the fifth spot. 2024 was a challenging year for Dota 2 esports; the game’s developers, Valve, decided to discontinue the previous Dota Pro Circuit and instead rely more heavily on third-party event organizers, which have been part of Dota 2’s history for years. 

During this industry-wide rehaul within the title, viewership slipped slightly as the game adjusted to its new ecosystem. 2025 will be a true test for the Dota 2 esports scene, as it once again settles back to a scene fuelled by third-party events and a community feel.

Most watched esports games of 2024

In summary, League of Legends not only maintained its position as the most-watched esports game, but even expanded its lead ahead of other titles. MLBB is still mobile gaming’s favourite title, and proof of the raw potential of the previously untapped Southeast Asian markets for esports broadcasting. Counter-Strike is still the world’s leading shooter game, and Valve’s efforts to break into the Chinese market might secure a new audience for the game’s esports events. On the other side of the shooter scene, Valorant’s consistent growth meant it finally overtook Dota 2, which is still settling into its system following the closure of the DPC.