Games We Regret Never Made It in Esports

How fortunate we are to live in a world where esports has become a massive industry, offering jobs to hundreds, even thousands, of people worldwide. From global hits like Counter-Strike and League of Legends to regional favorites like Trackmania and Age of Empires, dozens of titles are thriving and finding their audience in different corners of the world.

But not all games, even the great ones, were as lucky. Many couldn't survive in the cutthroat world of esports, and some never even had the chance to make it. With this in mind, the Esports Charts team decided to break away from our usual content format and take a sentimental look back at the games we wish had become esports titles, or those we wish hadn’t "died" as esports. Warning: some of you might feel a wave of nostalgia that's a little too strong.

Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 is by no means an underground game. It is still one of Steam’s top games by player count, and its reputation as the “funny hat game” is known across the world. However, only a small percentage of TF2 fans are aware of its esports activities, and an even smaller percent of this group actively follow it.

Disclaimer, I love TF2 as an esport. It is the game that the titles like Overwatch and Marvel Rivals stand on the shoulders of. Very few games find this perfect middle ground of simple yet complex gameplay that takes less than a minute to explain, but thousands of hours to master. Even after almost a decade of playing in competitive leagues myself, I know my understanding of the game could be deeper.

Insomnia 63 in 2018 was TF2’s final hurrah

So, why did TF2’s esports scene never really take off? Some point to its fractured competitive community, which is split between the more popular, Quake-flavoured 6v6 mode and the 9v9 one-of-each-class system known as Highlander. Others claim that because TF2 was developed as a casual game, it cannot become an esport (obviously they’ve never heard of Super Smash Bros). In my opinion, Valve’s singular attempt at supporting TF2’s competitive side is what killed it.

After years of community-ran events, players started hoping for a change in 2015, following rumours that Valve was developing an in-game competitive matchmaking system. Top players and community figures were even flown out to company’s headquarters that year, with many believing it was finally ready to support the esports scene. In 2016, Valve finally added the TF2 Competitive Mode. And it was a disaster.

The ranking system barely worked, there was no connection to the existing rulesets of the community, and barely any competitive players could actually play because Valve, for some reason, required default graphic settings to play. The Competitive Mode did mark a shift in TF2 esports, but not what fans were hoping for. Many players felt this was it, Valve had clearly not listened to the existing fan base and instead shipped a half-baked idea to launch. Since 2016, TF2’s top talent has either moved on to a more successful esport or just given up entirely, and the Competitive Mode sits forgotten about.

Last year, I played in the Premiership group of the propugs.com Fall Highlander Cup 2024 tournament, which boasted the highest prize pool of any European Highlander event in years: a couple hundred euros. But for me and many others, it was never about the money. TF2 is still to this day a unique esports game, and its scene survives as a niche community, where a LAN event is more like a community meetup. TF2’s community will keep supporting it as the original, dare I say best, hero shooter.

Iarfhlaith Dempsey, Esports Charts & Streams Charts Staff Writer / Editor

Classic Call of Duty

Choosing a game isn’t easy! I’m with Iarfhlaith on this one, as I’m a big fan of Team Fortress 2 myself. Hearthstone came to mind as well, but it’s far from being finished. So, I’ve decided to go with Call of Duty set during World War II.

The Call of Duty franchise is undoubtedly a massive success, both as a game and as an esports title. However, over the years, it’s moved far away from its roots. Even though Vanguard was set during the world's major military conflict, it didn’t have the same charm as the first two games in the series (MP-40 skins, really?).

Call me an old man yelling at clouds, but for me, Call of Duty 2 was the peak: it’s where I first got into trickshots, scripting, FPS manipulation and movement mastering. It’s also where my passion for competitive gaming truly began.

Back when S&D maps were significantly larger, and single-shot rifles were a viable weapon choice

Call of Duty 2 was the game that laid the foundation for future installments, both in terms of gameplay and esports. It also paved the way for future legends like Antonin "OZWALD" Grenier, who later became one of the greatest Call of Duty 4 players of all time, while the game itself marked the first truly major esports title in the series.

The game also played a key role in the history of teams like the Czech eSuba, which later grew into a prominent, moderately successful multi-gaming organization and became one of the most long-standing in Eastern Europe. The game also featured such renowned names like H2k Gaming and Reason Gaming. And surely, one can't forget Team Dignitas, the globally recognised esports brand: CoD 2 was one of their first titles.

Of course, Activision's shift away from the World War II theme makes sense: modern settings are more appealing to younger audiences and give developers more creative freedom. But sometimes you just crave the classics.

Alexey Borisov, Esports Charts & Streams Charts Lead Editor

Need for Speed

For a franchise that is littered with the varied types of games that fans know well, it is quite shocking that Need for Speed never made it into the competitive sphere. The franchise is almost as old as yours truly, yet it has not once made it past the millions of cafes and internet centres we see globally and into esports to join other racing games like iRacing, Gran Turismo, Asphalt, Formula 1, Rennsport and Forza Motorsport.

After all, the legendary series, better known as NFS to millions of racing game lovers globally, was initially developed by Electronic Arts and remains one of the oldest franchises not published under their EA Sports brand.

Let’s be honest, though. For a racing game to make it to the esports stage, it needs to have a certain level of realism to it, which is why sim racing games lead the industry today. And NFS boasted none of the factors that could help it challenge more established competitive titles like F1 or iRacing.

The last time Need for Speed had presence in esports was decades ago / Photo by Gamespot

But lord was it fun to play, especially the early offerings like Underground and Most Wanted. These games just seemed to get it, as in, the developer knew the market forces and demographics at play at the time, and what they put out was endless hours of fun gameplay.

Some titles even had a split-screen feature, allowing for two players to grab different ends of a keyboard or a keyboard and a joystick and race away for hours in search of bragging rights. For many of us 90s kids, this was the closest we perhaps got to competitive video game racing, and they remain etched in our minds as a few of the most endearing memories from our childhood and teenage years.

One notable exception was the early-2000s World Cyber Games (WCG), an international esports competition featuring multiple game titles, which included several installments from the Need for Speed series. Alongside a few community-organized events that never had official backing from EA, this tournament stands as one of the rare instances where the legendary franchise made a significant impact on the esports scene.

With the recent troubles that the franchise has witnessed and with so many other, more-suited, realistic racing simulators coming out, NFS as an esports offering could as well remain a pipedream. While that is pretty bleak, there is no taking away from what the franchise did for wiry, straw-haired, bespectacled pseudo-nerds like me. For that, it deserves a ten-gun salute, or rather, ten laps around the beautiful city of Rockport, equipped with unlimited nitrous boost.

Ravi Iyer, Esports Charts & Streams Charts Staff Writer / Editor

Quake

I’ve been following esports for over 20 years, and I’ve seen plenty of games rise and fall. That’s just how it goes, player preferences shift, and no one stays young forever. Of all the esports titles that have faded away, the one I miss the most is Quake.

Quake hooked me with its perfect blend of simplicity and hardcore gameplay. I picked up the basics in five minutes but spent years refining my aim and map control, only to still end up pretty average. For me, Quake was the ultimate 1v1 duel game, as it was all about individual skill and nothing else.

Shane "rapha" Hendrixson, one of the most long-standing and decorated players in all of esports / Photo by ESR

There was a time when Quake tournaments were everywhere, but those days feel long gone. The game set the bar too high for newcomers, and that’s part of why it faded. Quake was easily the toughest esports title I’ve ever seen, and it’s no surprise that newer players gravitated toward team-based shooters, where teammates could help cover their mistakes.

For an esports title to thrive, it needs more than just solid mechanics, and it has to be fun to watch. Modern games deliver flashy visuals and dynamic gameplay, making their tournaments more exciting for fans. Quake, with its simple maps and breakneck pace, couldn’t compete in terms of spectacle. Over time, many top Quake players, like Tim "DaHanG" Fogarty and Alexei "cYpheR" Yanushevsky, either left the scene or transitioned to other games, accelerating the decline.

Without fresh blood, Quake didn’t just lose popularity: it lost sponsors, tournament organizers, and viewers. The release of Quake Champions briefly reignited interest in duel-based shooters, but it didn’t last. Touché.