Image: Valve Software
While some esports titles found success in 2024, others stagnated. Here's how we think Dota 2, CS2, LoL, MLBB, and VALORANT fared in the past year.
The esports industry isn't a monolith, as it is comprised of dozens of different games each with their own unique competitive ecosystems, communities, and so on. As such, some esports titles may enjoy success in any given year while another can only manage to keep itself afloat. With how eventful of a year 2024 was, let's look back and see how the esports scenes for Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and VALORANT fared in the past year.
Dota 2
Image: Valve Software
By Kurt Lozano
2024 may become a landmark year for Dota 2 in the future, given how much the changes in the scene's landscape became apparent in the past year. The biggest change is, of course, in how it functions following developer Valve Software's decision to end the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) in 2023. With no more regional leagues and Majors, Dota 2's competitive landscape was given back to the hands of third-party organisers, much like the game's earlier years pre-DPC.
On the financial side of things, not much has changed for Dota 2. According to esports charts, it remained the top esports title of 2024 in terms of total prize money awarded at over $22.3 million. While the game retained its top spot, the amount of prize money that circulated in the scene in 2024 saw a significant drop from the $31 million figure it posted in 2023. That reduction in total prize money for Dota 2 was felt the most in The International (TI) 2024, which only had a $2.7 million prize pool – the lowest pot in the history of the tournament since crowdfunding of its prize pool began in 2013.
With that said, it may also be a sign that the money is now being circulated to more teams in 2024 instead of being top-heavy as in previous years. Although time will tell if that helps the struggling tier 2 scene, which no longer can rely on the DPC as a steady source of income and exposure.
But what's really troubling for Dota 2 in 2024 is that it's becoming more and more centered on Western and Eastern Europe. After free-falling the past few years, China is now fully dead in the water with only one big organisation still operating at the end of the year. Southeast Asia and South America are still showing flashes of competitiveness, but they are far from being able to compete with their European counterparts compared to their golden years. North America is as dead as ever. If this trend continues, Dota 2 in the next few years will really just be an all-European affair as all other regions struggle to remain competitive for a variety of reasons.
While this review paints a bleak picture of the state of the Dota 2 esports scene, it doesn't mean that it'll be going away any time soon. The scene can still grow even with minimal investment from Valve, provided that more third-party organisers feel it's worth their money to do so. And as for the game itself, Dota 2 is as healthy as any over a decade-old game can be. Just look at how good of a time players had with Crownfall. As long as Dota 2 as a game is still invested in by Valve and beloved by its players, its esports scene should still stand strong. But only time can tell if that will be truly be the case.
Counter-Strike 2
Image: Perfect World Esports
By Kurt Lozano
The first full year of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) saw the scene continue to grow despite the rocky reception the sequel received from casual players and esports professionals alike during its first few months. With Dota 2 somewhat stagnating in the past year, CS2 has continued chugging along and is now second in the list of top esports games of 2024 in terms of prize money awarded with $21 million. In 2023, Counter-Strike was notably fourth with $20.5 million in prize money in circulation.
2024 also saw the first two times that top-tier CS tournaments were hosted in Asia. First was the BLAST Premier World Final 2024 in Singapore, the first time that Southeast Asia hosted a high-profile CS tournament, followed by the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 in China, the first time that Asia hosted a CS Major. Both events enjoyed resounding success and proved that CS also has passionate fans in Asia, which should hopefully incentivise organisers to host more tournaments in this side of the world in the future.
CS2's first full year also saw a good amount of parity in the competition. 
Natus Vincere (NAVI), our pick for CS2 team of the year, took up much of the spotlight in 2024 by winning four of the 13 tournaments they competed in this year – including the first-ever CS2 Major at Copenhagen – and finishing in the Top 2 a total of seven times. But NAVI were not the only contenders this year, with the likes of G2 Esports, Team Vitality, and FaZe Clan also enjoying success. And, of course, there's also Shanghai Major champions 
Team Spirit, led by our pick for CS2 player of the year in 
Danil “Donk” Kryshkovets.
Suffice to say, things are looking great for CS2 esports off its success in 2024. And judging by the current silly season of major roster shuffles, 2025 is looking to be another wild year for CS2 as well.
League of Legends
Image: Riot Games
By Anna Bernardo
League of Legends (LoL) had a tumultuous year in esports marked by highs and lows. Riot began 2024 with significant layoffs, affecting over 500 employees, including LoL Esports staff. This impacted production, particularly in the LoL European Championship (LEC).
Viewership trends varied across regions. Both the LEC and LoL Championship Series (LCS) saw declines in audience numbers from Spring to Summer, while the LoL Pro League (LPL) and LoL Champions Korea (LCK) maintained strong and consistent viewership (excluding numbers from China). However, with news of the LCS getting consolidated into the LoL Championship of the Americas (LTA), LCS viewership spiked toward the finals.
The esports scene kept things interesting, with the LPL introducing the Fearless Draft in Summer 2024, pushing teams to explore the meta deeper. Fearless Draft will also be rolled out across other regions in 2025.
While viewership in various regions either struggled or remained stable, international tournaments flourished. The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024 achieved a peak viewership of 2.8 million (excluding numbers from China), surpassing MSI 2023 and LCK Spring 2024, and becoming the most-watched non-Worlds event in LoL esports history.
Meanwhile, the LoL World Championship 2024 shattered records at every stage of the competition from Play-ins to the Grand Finals, with the Grand Finals where T1 once again made history after winning their 5th World Championship title, drawing 6.9 million peak viewers (excluding numbers from China), the highest-ever in esports history, and the second to surpass 6 million viewers.
These highlights show that global interest in LoL esports is still strong, especially around international events. With a third international tournament next year, Fearless Draft going global, and higher stakes at consolidated regional leagues in 2025, the future could be good for LoL esports.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Image: GosuGamers
By Tommy Makmur
2024 was a landmark year for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) esports. From the game's inclusion in the Esports World Cup, the launch of Project NEXT, to an astounding end-of-year tournament in the M6 World Championship, MLBB had a solid year all around.
The year started with a bang for MLBB as developer MOONTON Games announced the change of the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup into the Mid Season Cup and the game's inclusion in the Esports World Cup alongside the MLBB Women Invitational 2024. The name change made the tournament open to all regions and made it no longer as centric on Southeast Asia as before. 2024 also marked the settlement of MOONTON Games and RIOT’s long-term Intellectual Property legal dispute.
Selangor Red Giants succeeded in winning the MPL Malaysia Season 14 and the inaugural Mid Season Cup, starting a golden road journey for them. On the women's side of MLBB, Smart OMEGA Empress won the MLBB Women's Invitational 2024, defeating Team Vitality in the grand finals.
The year also saw the first time a franchise team disbanded and was replaced with another, as Aurora MLBB joined MPL Philippines Season 14, replacing MINANA EVOS. During the halfway point of the region league, MLBB dropped a bombshell regarding the M6 World Championship. The title's biggest tournament will now adopt the Swiss Stage format replacing their group stage.
While fans watched closely every Selangor Red Giants’ move to see if they could complete the first golden road in MLBB, it was Fnatic ONIC Philippines that stole all the spotlight. They became the first team ever to win MLBB’s top prize without a single loss in the tournament. During the tournament, they also announced MLBB’s newest logo and the location for the M7 World Championship, giving fans plenty to look forward to in 2025.
VALORANT
Image: Riot Games
By Anna Bernardo
2024 was a good year for the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT). Viewership soared across international leagues, with VALORANT esports reporting 9.1 million peak viewers (including China) or 1.4 million views (excluding China) according to Esports Charts.
Some significant achievements this year include the Pacific region earning its first global trophy through Gen.G’s historic win at the VCT Masters Shanghai.
It was also the first year of VCT China, where EDward Gaming (EDG) dominated the region and made their mark by winning the region’s first international title at VCT Champions 2024.
On top of this, VCT Game Changers Championship peak viewership jumped from more than 293,000 peak viewers to 464,503 in 2024 (excluding numbers from China). As a result of successfully showcasing Game Changers talent, Ava “florescent” Eugene formerly from VCT Game Changers champions Shopify Rebellion became the first player from the league to compete in a VCT International League, joining Apeks in VCT EMEA for the VCT 2025 season. VCT will be celebrating its 5th year anniversary, and an exciting year awaits the players and VCT fans.
