Esports World Cup: With $60 million at stake, which games offer the richest prize pools?

The nearly eight-week tournament kicked off earlier this month, with athletes competing across 22 games

The Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia runs for seven weeks and features 22 competitions across 21 titles. SPA

The nearly eight-week-long Esports World Cup is the richest esports tournament in history and has brought athletes from around the world to compete in Saudi Arabia across 21 different games in 22 competitions for a total prize pool of $60 million. But some prizes are bigger than others.

Players are competing on titles that include Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, Fortnite and Street Fighter 6 among others.

While many games are on offer, they don't each come with the same amount of prestige or competition level. As a result, prizes are not divided equally among the different game tournaments.

So which games at the Esports World Cup have the biggest prize pools? Let's break it down.

Dota 2

Dota 2 is an action multiplayer online battle arena game, a genre called Moba for short, developed by Valve. The game features two teams of five players each who select from over 124 unique avatars to destroy the opposing team’s Ancient.

Released in 2013, Dota 2 matches involve strategic gameplay, with players earning experience and items to enhance their avatars' abilities. The game is free-to-play, with monetisation through loot boxes and the Dota Plus battle pass.

The game thrives in the esports world, supported by the Dota Pro Circuit and The International tournaments, which has seen prize pools exceed $40 million, making it the most lucrative game in the space. Despite a steep learning curve, Dota 2 is celebrated for its rewarding gameplay and high production quality.

With a peak of over a million concurrent players, it remains one of Steam's most played games. The Dota 2 tournament at the Esports World Cup is named the Riyadh Masters and has a prize pool of $5 million.

PUBG Mobile

PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play battle royale game co-developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio and PUBG Studios, launched in 2018. This mobile adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds has achieved around 1.3 billion downloads and has grossed over $9 billion as of December 2022, making it the second most-played mobile game globally.

The game boasts a robust esports community, featuring major tournaments with 28 top teams competing over three stages within two weeks. Each region hosts a PUBG Mobile Club Open (PMCO), where teams vie for a chance to qualify for higher-level competitions, such as the PUBG Mobile Pro League (PMPL).

The PUBG Mobile tournament at the Esports World Cup will feature 28 teams, including Team Liquid and Boom Esports, competing against each other for a prize pool of $3 million.

Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings is a popular Moba game developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Tencent Games, where two teams of five players aim to destroy the enemy's base. Launched in China in 2015, it is currently the highest-grossing mobile game of all time, boasting over 100 million daily active players by November 2020. An international version, Arena of Valor, was released in October 2016 to cater to the Western market.

In June 2022, it was announced that Honor of Kings would launch globally by the end of 2022, with a worldwide release set for June 20, 2024. The game achieved $218.5 million in revenue in February 2021, with 95.6% coming from China. In 2018, Lionel Messi was contracted to create a special skin, a term for an in-game costume, highlighting the game's global cultural impact.

The Honor of Kings tournament at the Esports World Cup will be the largest one outside China for the game and will feature 12 top teams competing for a prize pool of $3 million.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, or MLBB, is a popular mobile Moba game where two teams of five players compete to destroy the enemy base. Launched in 2016 by Moonton, a subsidiary of ByteDance, the game has gained immense popularity, especially in Southeast Asia.

Gameplay involves real-time matches lasting 10 to 30 minutes, with players choosing heroes from six roles: Tank, Marksman, Assassin, Fighter, Mage, and Support. The game emphasises skill and strategy.

MLBB has an annual international esports tournament, called M-Series, where teams compete for the title of world champion. The inaugural event, M1, took place in November 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, featuring 16 teams and a $250,000 prize pool. M2 was postponed due to Covid-19 but successfully held in January 2021 in Singapore, with a $300,000 prize pool. The third championship, M3, also in Singapore, offered $800,000 and peaked at 3.18 million viewers.

The MLBB tournament at the Esports World Cup will see the best 23 teams from all around the world will compete over 13 days for a prize pool of $3 million.