2024 has been an amazing year for the world of esports, with countless jaw-dropping moments, groundbreaking events, and individual displays of skill across all genres in competitive gaming. From packed arenas resonating with fans’ cheers to millions of gamers tuning into online streams, the past year has been a testament to the global appeal of esports.
Whether you’re a fan of MOBAs, FPS titles, or battle royales, the 2024 esports calendar was filled with unforgettable tournaments that left an indelible mark on esports history. We saw the rise of fresh talent, the introduction of new and innovative tournament formats, TOs venturing into new games, and record-breaking viewerships that set new milestones for the industry.
As the year comes to a conclusion, we take a moment to reflect on the highlights and milestones of competitive gaming by checking out the best esports events of 2024.
The Biggest Esports Events in 2024
With the past year being packed with tons of exciting esports events, choosing a select few standout events can certainly be a challenging task. In this list, we’ll showcase some of the best esports events we’ve seen over the year, making sure to include a diverse range of games.
Note that the viewer data in most cases has been sourced from Esports Charts and may not reflect official numbers.
Valorant Champions 2024
Valorant continues to give Counter-Strike 2 a run for its money as one of the biggest competitive FPS titles, hosting some of the most high-profile events in the esports scene. Champions Seoul, the biggest Valorant tournament of 2024, became the most-watched VCT event of all time, breaking the record set by Masters Madrid earlier in the same year. As stated by Riot Games, Valorant Champions 2024 reached a peak concurrent viewership of 3.45 million during the grand finals.
M6 World Championship
The competitive scene of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang saw explosive growth this year with two back-to-back events, MPL Indonesia Season 14 and M6 World Championship, hitting peak viewer numbers of over 4 million. The latter recorded a whopping 4.13m peak viewers, which is roughly 120,000 more than that of the former. While it fell short of last year’s event in terms of peak viewers, the M6 World Championship 2024 saw a significant increase in average viewership.
Worlds 2024
In terms of viewer count, League of Legends Worlds 2024 is the biggest esports event of the year. The annual LoL event managed to hit a concurrent viewer peak of 6.91 million, setting a new milestone in esports history. Worlds 2024 also saw a viewership increase of approximately 500,000 compared to last year’s edition.
PGL Copenhagen Major
PGL Copenhagen 2024 was the first Major since the transition of Counter-Strike from CS:GO to CS2. The event drew widespread attention from FPS fans throughout the globe, with millions of gamers eager to find out how the pros are adapting to the massive changes in game mechanics and evolving meta. As a result, the PGL Copenhagen Major became the fourth-most watched Counter-Strike event in terms of concurrent viewer peak.
The International 2024
The International, the crown jewel of Dota 2 esports, has often been hailed as “the greatest esports event in the world,” a sentiment echoed even by Gabe Newell, the legendary co-founder of Valve Corporation. With a $2.5 million prize pool, The International 2024 remained one of the most prestigious esports events of the year, though it fell short of the record-setting prize pools seen in previous editions. The grand finals of TI13 witnessed an underdog story as Team Liquid finally had their revenge on Gaimin Gladiators with a 3-0 sweep after losing to them at DreamLeague S23 and twice in the Riyadh Masters playoffs.
This concludes our list of the biggest and best esports events of 2024. With each year, the world of esports continues to grow in scope and excitement, and 2024 has been no exception. As we head into 2025, gamers and esports enthusiasts worldwide will undoubtedly be looking forward to even greater moments of competition, innovation, and unforgettable experiences.
