More than 23 million Canadians now play video games on a regular basis, according to figures from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada. That represents 61% of the population, making it the most popular form of entertainment in the country. Many of them also enjoy watching esports, as it offers an exciting opportunity to watch the world’s best gamers in action.
You can dial up the excitement by placing bets on esports matchups and tournaments. Read on to discover the most popular esports titles to bet on.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS:GO is an extremely popular esport, as it offers thrilling gameplay, a great deal of strategy and a very high skill ceiling. The best teams and players regularly dazzle viewers with their collective and individual brilliance. There are major tournaments each year, but you will also find a huge volume of smaller events taking place around the globe on a daily basis. The sheer volume of matchups makes CS:GO the perfect esport for betting sites, so they focus heavily on this title. You will find a huge array of markets if you check out the hub for CS:GO betting at unikrn, including pre-match, live and outright options.
League of Legends
LoL remains the world’s most popular esport, attracting huge viewership figures on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. It launched all the way back in 2009, but the game is regularly updated, and it continues to delight fans to this day. There are four main leagues – in South Korea, China, North America and Europe – and the Worlds and Mid-Season Invitational are two of the biggest tournaments of the year. You will be offered a wide range of LoL betting options at the best sites, including the outright winner, handicaps, map winners, correct scores, over/under bets and specials.
Dota 2
Dota 2 is the most lucrative esport of all-time. It has awarded more than $315 million to around 4,700 pro players over the years, largely thanks to the enormous prize pools on offer at The International each year. Dota 2 is similar to LoL, as they are both multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games – a genre that is ideal for esports – so you tend to find the same betting markets for both titles.
Call of Duty
It is now 20 years since the original Call of Duty was launched for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows users. This is the bestselling first-person shooter series in history, with more than 400 million units sold. Whereas CS:GO is a single game that is regularly updated, new Call of Duty titles are released on a regular basis. That presents a challenge in the esports arena, but it has still carved out a large slice of the market, and you can bet on all the big tournaments at elite sportsbooks.
Valorant
Riot Games, the company that created LoL, branched out of its MOBA heartland when it unveiled this first-person shooter in 2020. It has proved highly popular, and it features prominently at the top esports betting sites. You can browse form guides, check out head-to-head stats and choose from more than 50 markets on individual matchups, including maps, rounds, specials and over/under lines.
Fortnite
Epic Games took the esports world by storm when it hosted the $30 million Fortnite World Cup in 2019. It turned players into overnight millionaires, generating a great deal of media coverage. The scene dwindled during the pandemic, but it is now enjoying a resurgence after a $10 million cash injection. You can bet on matchups and the number of kills each player in a duos event will secure, along with various other markets.
Arena of Valor
This mobile-friendly adaptation of LoL from parent company Tencent has also proved remarkably popular. It is already the fifth-most lucrative esport ever, after Dota 2, Fortnite, CS:GO and LoL, despite the scene only beginning in earnest a few years ago.
PUBG
This battle royale game is similar to Fortnite, but it is older and it offers more realistic graphics. Up to 100 players are dropped into a remote location for a winner-takes-all showdown, resulting in high-octane fun. The huge array of players can be challenging from an esports perspective, compared with traditional 5v5 games like LoL, Dota 2 and CS:GO, but the gameplay has been adapted somewhat and it has a reasonably strong following.
Rocket League
This wild mashup of soccer and motorsports has proved to be a cult classic. You will find a broad range of markets on the biggest Rocket League tournaments and matches if you sign up with a high-quality esports betting site.
Additional Games
Leading esports betting operators such as unirkn cover lots of additional esports. They include old-school games like StarCraft 2, Warcraft III, Smite, Quake and Smash Bros. You can also bet on sports games, such as Madden, FIFA, NBA 2K and UFC 4, plus fighting games like Street Fighter V and Tekken. Honourable mentions must also go to Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege, two very popular esports from a betting perspective.
