{"id":182083,"date":"2022-12-07T14:46:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/?p=182083"},"modified":"2022-12-07T14:46:46","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:46:46","slug":"most-popular-esports-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/2022\/12\/07\/most-popular-esports-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Popular Esports of 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Esports is often thought of as a single concern, like a particular sport \u2013 say, rowing, or baseball, but this is inaccurate. As anyone with more than a passing familiarity with the subject would know, esports is literally \u2013 electronic sports. Competitive video gaming is a diverse sector, and a fan of Rocket League is no more likely to watch a CS:GO tournament than a basketball fan would be to watch the PGA Tour.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Esports can be split into genres. Some \u2013 such as those belonging to the MOBA category&nbsp;\u2013 command significant interest and sponsorship, like association football, or the NFL stateside. Others, like Beat \u2018Em Ups, are a more niche concern that enjoy more insular communities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We tend to think that the popularity of different sports and leagues is relatively static, but this is far from the truth. Take the MLS for example, which is the increasingly popular focus of free bet offers used by sports fans via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oddschecker.com\/us\/free-bets\">OddsChecker<\/a> to back their favorite sides. As a result of long-term structural investment, the MLS is now the fourth most popular sports league in North America, and has knocked the NHL out of its traditional position as one of the \u2018big four\u2019 American sporting organizations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, If we look at the world of esports, we can see similar stories unfolding. Traditional mainstays like Dota 2 and Fortnite are increasingly coming under fire from the contention of rising stars, many of which are coming from the mobile esports sector.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we\u2019re going to take a look at the top esports of 2022 by peak viewers. In it, we can see shifting trends as new players and spectators flood into the market and vote with their clicks and wallets, guiding the sector into a more expansive vision of what electronic sports will mean in the 2020s and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Two pro PC game commentators, one man and one woman\" class=\"wp-image-182085\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?resize=150%2C84&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/stem-list-mU-C52Ieoeo-unsplash.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>#6 Free Fire<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year\u2019s surprise number one \u2013 many still think of Garena\u2019s Free Fire as little more than a clone of more popular battle royales such as Fortnite. But Free Fire\u2019s commitment to its mobile platform made it a shock hit that culminated in it taking the world record for the most peak concurrent viewers during the game&#8217;s 2021 World Cup final. This year sees some of that hype dissipate, and Free Fire comes in at a still impressive sixth place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>#5 Valorant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Riot Games\u2019 take on the hero-shooter has been praised for addressing many of the issues with rival titles such as Overwatch by centering the action on precision gunplay and tactics. This year sees <a href=\"https:\/\/playvalorant.com\/en-gb\/\">Valorant<\/a> climb two places, up from seventh, sitting well clear of Apex Legends back in eighth, and Overwatch, which only managed 13th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>#4 Dota 2<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>League of Legends\u2019 long running rival Dota 2 may command the highest prize-pools, with this year\u2019s The International awarding a record-breaking $31 million, but League\u2019s simpler gameplay mechanics and deeper competitive circuit ensured that Dota 2 remained the &#8216;also-ran&#8217; in the MOBA space for another year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>#3 Counter Strike: Global Offensive<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The world\u2019s favorite tactical FPS, CS:GO enjoys another year at the top of its category, with the likes of Call of Duty and Rainbow Six: Siege languishing in 17th and 18th place, respectively. CS:GO\u2019s frenetic twitch-based gunplay and expertly balanced maps are backed up by an extremely rich global tournament circuit. This all came together in 2022 to see Counter Strike climb two places up from fifth to third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>#2 Mobile Legends Bang Bang<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Climbing the rankings from fourth last year to second this year, Mobile Legends Bang Bang proves beyond a doubt that there exists a strong interest in, and appetite for, its unique brand of high-speed mobile battle arena action. While the likes of League and Dota favor slower, more considered gameplay, Mobile Legends Bang Bang rewards aggression and initiative, making it a compelling spectator esport that is winning more fans by the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>#1 League of Legends<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Reclaiming its top spot for yet another year following the surprise popularity of Free Fire, Riot Games\u2019 League of Legends has taken the MOBA formula conceived by Dota and made it more approachable, accessible and engaging for players and viewers alike. This has resulted in League becoming the de-facto ambassador for modern esports, and this is unlikely to change any time soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re going to take a look at the top esports of 2022 by peak viewers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18661,"featured_media":182086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Most Popular Esports of 2022 #esports","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[1404],"class_list":["post-182083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial","tag-esports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Most Popular Esports of 2022 - Armchair Arcade<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019re going to take a look at the top esports of 2022 by peak viewers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/2022\/12\/07\/most-popular-esports-2022\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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