The Best Video Game Tournaments to Attend
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 30 January 2025
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
The Best Video Game Tournaments
While traditional sports leagues like the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL are fantastic in their own way, video game culture has never been more popular, specifically in the video game sphere.
The popularity of competitive esports has been a bit up and down, but for competitive games, there are video game tournaments scattered throughout the year that allow you to watch the best of the best gather and compete for prize pools.
Today, there are also esports online sportsbooks that you can visit to bet on who you think will win games and tournaments.
Below, I’ll examine the best gaming tournaments from a fan’s perspective and provide some background on each one.
- EVO Championship Series
- The International (TI)
- League of Legends World Championship (Worlds)
- DreamHack
EVO Championship Series
If you’re a fan of fighting games, there are no video game tournaments that can accomplish what the EVO Championship Series can do.
This tournament focuses on fighting games like Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and more.
This tournament was founded in 1996 by Tom Cannon, who was known for his contributions to the fighting gaming site Shoryuken.com.
At first, this tournament was known as “Battle of the Bay” with a 40-man tournament.
By 2009, it grew to over 1,000 participants.
The tournament has held several video game competitions in Japan and in their first visit over there, several media companies came together to raise about $1 million to help with the event.
The most recent event occurred from July 19 to 21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The games involved were Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat 1, The King of Fighters XV, GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Under Night In-Birth II [Sys: Celes], and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
The next event will be held from August 1 to 3, also in Vegas.
From a fan’s point of view, there are several things to look forward to:
- Free-to-play arcade: Enjoy various fighting games completely for free.
- BOYC (Bring Your Own Controller) Lounge: Bring a controller and compete in community tournaments.
- Fighting Game Art Gallery: Check out some art.
- Cosplay competition: A massive competition where you can compete against others.
- Arena Finals Experience: Watch all major tournament finals on the main stage.
- Buy merchandise.
- Meet and greet your favorite players.
Justin Wong, a renowned fighting game player, has the most gaming tournament wins at Evo with nine.
The International (TI)
The International is an annual tournament that is specifically dedicated to the five vs. five MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) video game DOTA 2.
This tournament is hosted by the developer of the game, Valve. The is an international contest, hence the name, consisting of 20 teams. Of those, 12 come from the DPC, six from North American, China, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and more.
As for the prize pool, it’s pooled via crowdfunding through a battle pass the game has offered since 2013.
The prize pool has been as high as $40 million.
This is among the top video game competitions to appear in multiple countries.
Attending the event, you’ll get a nice lanyard that shows you have entry into the tournament.
The stage where the games take place is sensational, with several enormous screens above it in all directions.
There are various booths throughout the arena for cosplay and photo ops, and you can examine old-school Dota merchandise.
This is a massive spectacle that sells out quickly that dedicated Dota 2 fans flock to yearly.
League of Legends World Championship (Worlds)
Founded in 2011, the League of Legends World Championship is one of the biggest video game tournaments in the world.
This gaming championship is put on by the game’s developer, Riot Games, and has happened 13 times.
The team T1 won in 2024 and has five titles all-time, which is the most at the tournament.
In 2025, there will be 17 teams, and the teams will be live in Chengdu, China.
While fans can watch it live on Twitch and YouTube, you can also attend.
The Fan Fest takes up an entire city. In 2024, it took over the Greenwich Peninsula in London from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.
On site, there were various activities, including the Champion’s Blade, where you attempt to pull Viego’s Worlds-themed blade for a prize.
There was also an inflatable Pro, which allowed for some photo opportunities.
There are also several meet-and-greet opportunities, a claw machine, the Riot Store, and a full day to Cosplay if you so choose.
Finally, several sponsor booths were open, including SecretLab, Red Bull, OMEN HyperX, and many more.
Atop the stage where the teams compete are screens circling in every direction.
DreamHack
None of the annual video game competitions listed thus far are older than DreamHack.
DreamHack recently announced it would be returning to Dallas after drawing 55,000 fans last year.
At the event, there are multiple things to look forward to, including the festival, digital arts competitions, concerts, the Expo, The Dreameries, and of course, the gaming competitions.
Each participant gets a table, chair, power socket, and LAN socket. The prize pool is equivalent to 3 million SEK.
The Dreameries is an award show with awards given for the best games, best characters, best eSports teams, content creators, and more.
DreamHack is more than just a gaming tournament. It’s a gaming event, but there are competitions on side that are always exciting to view. It provides a forum for some championships, including World Cup of Counter Strike, and, in the past, the League of Legends World Championship before it started doing its own event.
