The Biggest Esports Events in 2019 to Look Forward To

Top 10 Biggest Esports Events in 2019

2019 promises to be another year of huge growth for the esports industry. Let’s take a look at the biggest esports events in 2019 to look forward to.

The biggest esports events are getting ready for their respective tournaments this 2019. The best of the best will be competing in all sorts of games for a chance to claim titles and bring home those insane prize pools.

If you’ve missed it, be sure to check out the most popular esports of 2018.

1. Rainbow Six: Siege Pro League (Feb. 11)

Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Siege is holding its Pro League again this year down at the Place Bell in Montreal, Canada. 16 teams will be competing for the World Champion title along with the biggest prize pool in Siege history, which is expected to be around $1 million with crowdfunding. Competitors for the 2019 esports tournament include Fnatic, Mock-It, Nora Rengo, Immortals, G2 Esports, and Penta. There’s also an open qualifier with six available slots to the winners.

2. IEM Katowice – CS: Go (Feb. 13)

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is turning nine this year, but the game is still alive and kicking in the esports scene. The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice marks its 13^th season this 2019, featuring 24 teams with previous Majors. The event will take place at Spodek in Katowice, Poland. Some of the major participants include Astralis, MIBR, Team Liquid, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, G2 Esports, and Cloud9. Players will be competing for a $1 million USD prize pool, with the first place winners taking home half of that.

3. Overwatch League (Feb. 14)

Overwatch had a great start when it joined in the world of esports last year. Things are looking up this 2019, as this year’s Overwatch League is bringing back all of the intense fights and big plays while introducing eight new teams, including the Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Paris Eternal, Chengdu Hunters, Vancouver Titans, Atlanta Reign, Washington Justice, and Toronto Defiant. Blizzard has also tweaked the spectator mode, adding some interesting new changes that should make it easier to follow all of the action. They will be hosting the event in their arena down at Los Angeles, but you can also stream the esports event on Disney XD, ESPN, and ABC.

4. Evo 2019 (Aug. 2)

The biggest fighting game tournament, Evolution Championship Series (Evo), is returning to Mandalay Bay at Las Vegas this 2019. Evo will be uniting some of the best fighting game pros from around the world, pitting them against each other in some of the most popular fighting games. While they haven’t announced their official line-up for 2019, we can probably expect to see games such as Tekken 7, Street Fighter V, Soul Calibur, BlazBlue, and Super Smash Bros. Registrations will be opening later this year, so keep an eye out if you’ve always wanted to try your hand in this esports tournament.

6. The International (Aug. 20)

One of the most highly-anticipated esports event every year, The International is making a big comeback this 2019. This Dota 2 tournament will be moving to the Mercedes-Benz Arena down in Shanghai this year, marking the first time it’s left North America since seven years ago. 12 teams will be qualifying through the Dota Pro Circuit, while six other teams will qualify through the Regional Qualifiers. The International is known for having some of the biggest prize pools in the history of esports, so we can probably expect some big numbers for the winners this year.

7. Call of Duty World League Championship (Aug. 2019)

Call of Duty still has one of the most popular esports events with the World League Championship, which is slated to make a comeback later this year for seven consecutive years. Activision will be holding this tournament, which will also determine the World Champions for the Black Ops 4 season. 32 teams will be competing this time around, with 16 from the Amateur Circuit and another 16 from the CWL Pro League. You can check out the full 2019 schedule for the esports event here.

8. BlizzCon (Nov. 3)

BlizzCon is the go-to event for all things Blizzard-related, including esports events for their games. Their roster includes their heavy hitters, comprising of games such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, StarCraft II, and Hearthstone. While Blizzard hasn’t revealed all of their esports plans for this year, they had revealed their plans of canceling the Heroes Global Championship, among other events. That said, we can probably still expect to see events such as the Overwatch World Cup, StarCraft World Championship Series, and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship.

9. League of Legends World Championship (TBA)

League of Legends is another popular game in the esports scene thanks to its annual World Championship tournament. Hosted by Riot Games, teams will be competing for the Summoner’s Cup yet again later this year in Europe, with finals taking place in Paris. While not much is known about their 2019 event, Riot Games has already mapped out their locations for the upcoming World Championship tournaments until 2021. Previous events have always gone above and beyond for their opening ceremony, with the 2018 Worlds tournament featuring an all-girls K-Pop group based on their iconic KDA skins.

10. Fortnite World Cup (TBA)

Fortnite has taken the world by storm, so it was about time that Epic Games delve into the world of esports. The World Cup is another look into Fortnite’s competitive scene, as Epic Games plans to hold qualifiers and competitions for both solo and duo players. Players from all skill levels can compete for a chance to make it to the World Cup later this year. While the company has been tight-lipped about the upcoming esports tournament, they will be publishing a schedule for the qualifier events later this fall.