The eSports championships and games with the biggest prize pools in 2026

The eSports championships and games with the biggest prize pools in 2026

The eSports market has been achieving significant growth due to the popularity and emergence of new competitive games. A 2025 study that considered more than 10,000 championships across more than a hundred games showed that nearly 300 million dollars were awarded in professional tournament prize money. These figures naturally encourage even more players to turn professional, generating a cycle of prosperity.

In addition to tournament prize money, eSports also generate revenue through equipment sales, sponsorships and betting activity on platforms such as https://om.1xbet.com/en, where major tournaments can attract interest across different markets. To give a broader view of the financial landscape of competitive gaming, the list below covers the eSports titles and championships with the largest prize pools worldwide based on data available so far in 2026. 

The highest-paying games

The eSports market already has several classics that, having been established for longer, offer higher prize pools. However, some games are managing to gain important positions on the list, with the rise of mobile games standing out.

1 - Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike has played a major role in popularising eSports. After all, the game has existed since the early part of the century and has always attracted many players. In addition to the professionals who compete, the game also stands out for its enormous audience. In 2026, the peak viewership for a single match exceeded 2,700,000 people. The fact that it typically has more tournaments than other eSports also contributes greatly to the high prize money total. So far in 2026, nearly 18 million dollars have already been distributed to professional players.

As one of the most popular eSports, Counter-Strike is also one of those that offers the most sports betting possibilities. Among the available markets are Total Maps, Total Maps Handicap, Winner, and Winner of Each Map. 

2 - DOTA 2

DOTA 2 is another great eSports classic. The game's mechanics are far more complex and it is extremely difficult for a casual viewer with no experience of the game to understand what is happening in a match. Even so, in 2026 the peak viewership reached nearly 1,800,000 people. 13 million dollars in prize money have already been distributed so far.

Due to the complexity of the game, DOTA 2 is one of those with the greatest variety of betting markets at bookmakers. Among the main ones are First Blood, Duration of the Map, Moneyline 1x2, Total heroes alive when the throne is destroyed in each map, Total frags, Team to take the next Roshan, Who will destroy the next tower, and Total towers destroyed. 

3 - Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings is the first mobile game on this list, and it is an emblematic case because the game is 100% for mobile devices and has never had PC or console versions. The fact that it only runs on one platform also explains a disparity between its position on the prize money list and on the simultaneous peak viewership list. The peak audience is considerably lower, at just under 800,000 people. On the other hand, the game has already awarded more than 7.8 million dollars in prizes in 2026.

4 - PUBG Mobile

PUBG Mobile is an interesting case that illustrates the trend of mobile eSports becoming more popular. This is explained by the fact that the investment cost of a gaming smartphone is considerably lower than that of a gaming PC or console, depending on the devices used. The case is even more useful for understanding this movement when considering that the PC and console version of PUBG sits only in tenth place on this list. So far, the game has already distributed more than 7.7 million dollars in prizes and had a peak viewership of nearly 2 million people watching an event simultaneously.

5 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

The competitive game from the Tom Clancy's franchise is nowhere near the popularity of other games on this list, but its tournaments are extremely prestigious and therefore award enormous prize money. The championships are held on PC and console and the broadcasts are far from matching the success of the other major eSports. The peak audience this year was just 264,000 simultaneous viewers. The prize money total, however, is close to 7.1 million dollars.

6 - League of Legends

League of Legends is another historic eSport that is among the pioneers of professional competitions. The game still attracts large crowds to its main championships today, and the peak viewership in 2026 exceeded 2.3 million people. The prize money paid is not far below the games between third and fifth place on this list, having surpassed 6.5 million dollars so far this year.

When betting on League of Legends matches, bookmaker users will also have several possibilities, such as Total maps handicap, Correct score, Team to win at least one map, and simple 1x2 bets. 

The championships with the biggest prize pools

The list of championships with the largest prize pools is also useful for understanding the current state of eSports. See the table below: