Esports has been nothing short of spectacular in 2025, with various titles delivering record-breaking viewership, massive prize pools, and remarkable moments that propelled competitive gaming further into the global spotlight.
League of Legends and Counter-Strike stood tall as the year’s dominant forces, leading the esports ecosystem in both audience reach and total winnings. Close behind, Dota 2 and VALORANT continued to draw millions of fans and top-tier talent, while mobile esports cemented its global influence through powerhouses such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile, and Honor of Kings.
Here are the titles that shaped 2025 as a landmark year for esports at every level of competition, based on data released by Esports Charts.
Table of contents
Top 10 esports titles in 2025 by peak viewership
| Esports Title | Peak Viewers |
|---|---|
| League of Legends | 6,752,585 |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | 4,132,224 |
| Counter-Strike | 1,789,038 |
| Dota 2 | 1,785,132 |
| VALORANT | 1,473,642 |
| PUBG Mobile | 1,388,918 |
| Minecraft | 1,291,811 |
| Arena of Valor | 1,042,982 |
| Fortnite | 948,106 |
| PUBG: Battlegrounds | 817,769 |
League of Legends sustains viewership dominance in 2025
League of Legends once again ruled esports viewership in 2025, topping the peak viewership charts with more than 6.7 million concurrent viewers and extending its dominance for a fourth straight year. While slightly down from 2024, Riot Games’ flagship MOBA title remained firmly ahead of the competition.
The 2025 World Championship was the year’s most-watched esports event, peaking at 6.75 million viewers during the grand final showdown between T1 and KT Rolster. Although it fell short of breaking the all-time record set in 2024, the event still outpaced every other tournament held this year by a wide margin.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang held onto second place with a 4.1 million peak, driven by MPL Indonesia Season 16. MLBB also drew strong performances from the MLBB Midseason Cup (MSC) 2025, ESL Snapdragon Mobile Masters 2025, and MPL Philippines Season 15.
Counter-Strike followed in third again, with the CS2 BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 reaching 1.79 million peak viewers and setting a new benchmark as the most-watched CS tournament ever at 76.11 million hours watched.
Dota 2 climbed to fourth after narrowly edging out VALORANT, as The International 2025 peaked at 1.785 million viewers compared to VALORANT Champions 2025’s 1.4 million. PUBG Mobile ranked next with 1.3 million peak viewers from the PUBG Mobile World Cup 2025.
Minecraft delivered one of the year’s biggest surprises, breaking into the top 10 after the Twitch Rivals Squid Craft Games 4 (Survival Cup) drew 1.2 million peak viewers. Arena of Valor rose one spot to No. 8 after crossing the one-million mark during the Southeast Asian Games 2025 grand final between Thailand and Vietnam.
Fortnite slipped to ninth with 948K peak viewers, despite seeing the FNCS 2025 Global Championship emerge as its most popular tournament since 2019. Rounding out the top 10 is PUBG: Battlegrounds, which claimed tenth place and overtook Free Fire with a franchise record-breaking 817K peak viewers from the PUBG Nations Cup 2025.
Top 10 esports titles in 2025 by prize pool
| Esports Title | Total Prize Pool | Number of Tournaments |
|---|---|---|
| Counter-Strike | $32,279,855 | 502 |
| Dota 2 | $23,149,768 | 113 |
| Honor of Kings | $21,777,087 | 51 |
| Fortnite | $15,649,066 | 131 |
| PUBG Mobile | $15,308,988 | 171 |
| League of Legends | $14,923,025 | 189 |
| VALORANT | $11,259,422 | 230 |
| Rocket League | $9,783,302 | 79 |
| Rainbow Six Siege | $9,408,120 | 120 |
| PUBG: Battlegrounds | $7,825,308 | 116 |
CS2 dethrones Dota 2 as the most lucrative esport of 2025
CS2 tournaments paid out more than $32.2 million across the year—an impressive 41.5 percent increase from 2024—ending Dota 2’s four-year reign at the top, which started when The International 10 boasted the highest prize pool in esports history with over $40 million.
Esports prize pools surged past $270 million in 2025, up 15.5 percent year over year, with Counter-Strike emerging as the industry’s top-earning title. Most of the lucrative games are also some of the best esports betting titles this year.
CS2’s rise was fueled by a packed elite tournament calendar, highlighted by new PGL events, the debut of the BLAST Bounty series, and the continued importance of the Majors. A resurgence in China also played a key role, with major events such as IEM Chengdu, the Asian Champions League, and the CS Asia Championships driving prize growth.
Dota 2 slipped to second despite maintaining a stable prize pool of roughly $23.1 million. The International 2025 accounted for about 10 percent of that total, with the remainder spread across a deep lineup of million-dollar events including DreamLeague, BLAST Slam, PGL Wallachia, and FISSURE PLAYGROUND.
Honor of Kings once again secured a top-three finish, awarding $21.7 million in 2025. Nearly half came from the King Pro League Grand Finals 2025, which also stood out as the highest-paying single-title tournament of the year with over $9 million in prize pot.
Fortnite climbed to fourth with $15.6 million in prize money, up 14.6 percent from last year, driven by competitive format changes and the split of North America into NA West and NA Central. PUBG Mobile followed closely at $15.3 million, posting a slight seven percent decline largely due to currency fluctuations and prize pool redistribution across regions.
League of Legends led the second half of the rankings, with prize money jumping 59 percent to nearly $15 million. Growth was powered by significantly larger international events, including major prize pool increases at Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds, a doubled Esports World Cup payout, and the launch of the new First Stand international tournament.
VALORANT rose to seventh with $11.2 million, with the increase largely fueled by its inclusion in the larger Esports World Cup series. Rocket League posted one of the strongest year-over-year gains, climbing 45 percent to $9.7 million thanks to larger majors and a boosted Esports World Cup event.
Rainbow Six followed at $9.4 million, dipping slightly due to format tweaks, while PUBG Battlegrounds capped off the top 10 with $7.8 million, spearheaded by the PUBG Nations Cup.
2025 marked a clear shift in the esports economy, defined by CS2’s breakout year, resilient legacy titles like Dota 2 and League, and the growing investment across both PC and mobile ecosystems.
You may also want to check out the most-watched esports events of the year or take a closer look at the most-viewed VALORANT matches in 2025.
