Another quarter of a year has passed and we’re excited to reform our Esports Tier List Q1 2021! Over the past few months, each publisher has had to face the reality that we have a few more months of having a majority of online events. Accordingly, let’s see how our featured esports stack up against one another!
Before advancing, I’ll have to discuss the point of all of this. A Tier List is a subjective way of creating a hierarchy of subjects in the same category. The last time we attempted to do this was back in December of last year. Bearing this in mind, we’re keeping the exact same criteria as last time:
- Event Proportions – Size of prize pools, number of participants, third and first party organizers, environment and arena capacities
- Event frequency – is the year bursting with competition or solely reliant on infrequent first-party organizers
- Competitiveness – the level of competition in an esports scene is related to its livelihood
- State of the community – health of the lower tier sectors and general condition of the esport as a dynamic entity
Of course, this is somewhat subjective to the statistics we’re using. For the sake of standardizing, we’ve featured a highlight viewership statistic for each esport from the start of 2021. However, as I’ll reiterate, it is not the only factor when considering their position in the tier list.
Tier 1 – Welcoming PUBG Mobile – Esports Tier List
- CS:GO – 596,590 Peak, 224.13 Average
- LoL – 802,000 Peak, 248,180 Average
- DOTA 2 – 605,000 Peak, 197,380 Average
- PUBG Mobile – 3,801,998 Peak, 528,822 Average
Some exciting changes start at our highest tier – Tier 1! Let’s start with what’s obvious – CS:GO, LoL and Dota 2 have all maintained their spots.
Personally, I’d consider that League of Legends is at the top of its game and as an esport has adapted to the world’s situation the best out of all esports. Specifically, the top statistics are from the LCK.
On the other hand, I’m pleasantly surprised to see CS:GO and Dota 2 still at the top following a difficult year. Each suffering their own losses, specifically cheating in CS:GO; it seems they’ve adapted well and are thriving in this new environment. For Dota 2, the recent offline major of the ONE Singapore was incredible for the community!
Now, I’d like to welcome a new member of the Tier 1 club right now. It’s been hard to ignore, but I consider PUBG Mobile, at this point in time, a Tier 1 esport. Indeed, the viewership record from the PMCO in January is simply staggering. Together with a plethora of events constantly taking place, PUBG Mobile is a mobile esport with a determination to be on top.
Tier 2 – Rainbow Six Siege Questioned
- Call of Duty – 131,000 Peak, 63,073 Average
- Rocket League – 194,623 Peak, 127,358 Average
- PUBG – 221,903 Peak, 118,504 Average
- Overwatch – 113,115 Peak, 72,006 Average
- Rainbow Six – 96,668 Peak, 56,861 Average
Unlike last time, I’ve decided to construct 4 tiers and not 3, in order to allow for a more stratified approach.
In Tier 2, I’d like to happily confirm the return of Call of Duty, Overwatch, PUBG and Rocket League. These esports are doing quite well, but just shy of the top of the scene – especially Call of Duty League and Rocket League that are doing quite well.
In terms of Overwatch, it was tempting to put them into Tier 3. However, with how promising this upcoming season looks like, I’m giving them one more chance to really make up the ground and stay up to par.
Furthermore PUBG’s Invitational.S was a phenomenal event, pushing the PC battle royale genre to the top, giving the peak statistic we have. With more effort, it could easily break into Tier 1.
For our regular readers, you’ve probably realized that Rainbow Six Siege has sunk down to Tier 2, from their former position of Tier 1. Indeed, it is only fair considering how much lower the viewership has sunk and the fact that the NA and Canadian leagues had to merge due to this. Furthermore, a stronger frequency of events could help this esport too – they need a better framework for 2021 to possibly regain their spot.
Tier 3 – VALORANT and Free Fire on the Cusp – Esports Tier List
- Garena Free Fire – 1,460,906 Peak, 98,509 Average
- Fortnite – 294,477 Peak, 236,367 Average
- Kings of Glory/Arena of Valor – 394,158 Peak, 81,353 Average
- VALORANT – 363,101 Peak, 147, 293 Average
Garena Free Fire was a tough one here. Yes – the viewership looks great and all, but we need to see more consistency and more events to consider this event higher than it currently sits. Indeed, I’m reluctant to shoot this esport too high so early in its peak – however, I’m certain this will jump up should it keep up this performance.
Moving over to China, the mobile esport of Kings of Glory is also doing very well. The only limitation here is the severe lack of Major events across the calendar – only a handful per year.
This is quite the contrary to Fortnite. Moreso, this esport suffers from having an incredible number of weekly events, just lacking gravity at each point.
And of course, we have VALORANT here too. Sitting in Tier 3 on our Esports Tier List 2021, it’s made phenomenal progress from last year. We’re excited for the offline Major in Iceland later on in the year – this will definitely affect our tier list in the future!
Tier 4 – Hearthstone Sinking
- StarCraft II – 87,478 Peak, 42,535 Average
- StarCraft – 11,674 Peak, 5,697 Average
- FIFA – 188,033 Peak, 135,863 Average
- Hearthstone – 11,527 Peak, 7,535 Average
In our lowest tier, these are esports which have a quite a bit of work to do to compete with the others. Although the viewership peak of FIFA is respectable, the average viewership across most events is very low and the framework definitely needs a rework for more mainstream attention.
Meanwhile, Hearthstone is struggling right now – ever since last year a loss of 80% of last year’s viewership is present. Hopefully, Blizzard can address this situation.
Moreover, StarCraft II and StarCraft remain in their spots, though with future plans can make these esports very promising especially with partnerships with ESL.
We really hope we’ve helped you figure out the current state of the esports industry for our featured esports. Indeed, some esports have fared better than others. Feel free to give your opinion in the comments section below!
To conclude, I’d like to gratefully accredit all of the viewership statistics from extensive research carried through the databases of Esports Charts.
For more esports news, visit: https://www.esportsguide.com/news
