Esports genres explained: Everything you need to know

The esports genre is incredibly vast, attracting thousands of new players and millions of viewers every single year. However, it’s not just a facet of gaming that’s beholden to only one type of game. The esports scene is home to not only MOBAs, fighting games, RTS titles, and shooters but many other releases that you may not be immediately aware of. 

We’re going over all the types of esports games available in 2025 so you can have the full picture of what’s available to watch and play, with insights on the popular tournaments for each esports sub-genre, with considerations made to the prize pools, history, and analysis of the popular games. Some of them might even surprise you and encourage you to try them out for yourself. Let’s dive in.

Fighting games (and the Fighting Game Community) have been a staple of the esports genre for decades, being one of the oldest forms of competitive video games, predating many others in the scene. Fighting games emerged in the arcades in the early 1980s but gained popularity in the 1990s with landmark releases such as Street Fighter 2 and Tekken, which saw a budding competitive scene. 

With unique mechanics and distinct rosters, they can be interesting to watch and very challenging to master at a competitive level. A great example would be NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat and Injustice franchises, which have gained a lot of traction in the esports genre thanks to distinctive control schemes and a diverse cast of characters. Designed around players keeping their opponents off balance, both franchises showcase why fighting games are among the most popular in esports today.

The first fighting game tournament was held in 1994 (more than 30 years ago) at Trocadero before going national in 1996 with the B3: Battle by the Bay, which saw 40 high-level contenders go at it. 

In 2025, fighting games are among the most popular types of esports games, with the likes of CEO (Community Effort Orlando), UFG (Ultimate Fighting Game), and VSFighting being among the top tournaments. Street Fighter 6, for instance, was a major presence at the Esports World Cup 2025.

There’s also the Evolution Championship Series. Popularly known by EVO, this American esports event focuses primarily on fighting titles and has seen the rise – and fall – of many a champion since it was first held in 2002. We’ve come a long way since then, and there’s still a whole lot more to come.

Fighting games played at the highest level currently include Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Mortal Kombat 1, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Virtual Fighter 5, Rivals of Aether II, The King of Fighters XV, and BlazBlue: Central Fiction. 

Real-time strategy games have been synonymous with esports game categories since the inception of video games themselves. 

It’s believed that the first RTS tournament was held in 1972, with the Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics taking place at Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The event was even backed by Rolling Stone magazine. Many consider it the first esports competition in history, and the genre has shown no signs of slowing down since. 

There’s no shortage of RTS games to play and watch at the highest competitive level, with genre mainstays including the perennially popular StarCraft 2 (developed by Blizzard) and Age of Empires 4 (by Relic Entertainment), which have won favour for their complex gameplay. 

RTS titles can be compelling additions to any list of profitable esports games, considering that each match could have viewers very invested in its outcome over a longer duration than other genres, depending on how well its contestants measure up against each other. Longer matches are also bolstered by a more intense gameplay loop that helps keep viewers engaged from the start of a match to its finish. Considering the need for contestants to constantly stay on their toes and respond dynamically to their opponents, each match has the potential to entertain audiences tuning in.

Warcraft 3 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 remain popular esports games as well, and you’ll find these releases at popular tournaments like Clash of Immortals, EGC (Elite Gaming Channel), ASL (Advanced Squad Leader), and Red Bull Wololo, among others. Starcraft II, Age of Empires IV, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and Warcraft III were all featured on the list of games at the Esports World Cup 2025.

No esports genre list would be complete without detailing the dominance of MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arenas). Without question, it’s the most watched (and most profitable) type of esports game in the scene, with standout releases including League of Legends, Dota 2, Smite, Arena of Valor, Heroes of the Storm, and Deadlock.

But why are they held in such high regard within the esports genre? For starters, each match is unpredictable, with even a single error from either team able to change the course of a game. There’s also the fact that the best teams can adapt their strategies on the fly, responding to opponents in ways that show viewers very creative solutions to improve their own experiences with popular titles.

Each match is also the perfect length to keep things exciting for both the players and viewers. While matches in the RTS genre could take a while to finish, MOBA tournaments can move quite fast, making them a more compelling option for viewers who may not have a lot of time on their hands.

A relatively new genre in comparison to some others on our list, the first MOBA tournament was held in 2011, with DreamHack in Sweden hosting the League of Legends Season 1 World Championship. 

Since then, MOBAs have exploded in popularity and profit for everyone involved. Some of the richest esports stars in the world made their fortune with this esports genre, including Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, making over $7 million playing Dota 2, and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok raking up nearly $2 million with his League of Legends winnings to date.

The largest MOBA tournaments are focused on these two games, with the Dota 2 International and the League of Legends World Championships being the most-viewed esports events year-on-year. In 2024, we even saw the newly re-formed Linkin Park create quite a catchy theme song for the League of Legends World Championship.

Nearly seven million people watched last year’s LoL final, which had a staggering prize pool of $2,225,000. This year, Riot Games has announced an even bigger $5 million prize pool for the World Championship 2025. If that’s not proof that gaming can be quite a profitable way to make a living for those willing to put in the effort, we don’t know what is.

FPS games are prime candidates for the esports genre for their high skill ceiling for players and exciting viewing for fans. For nearly 30 years, FPS games have been played competitively, with the first esports FPS tournament believed to be Red Annihilation, focusing on Quake, in 1997. 

Id Software’s 3D arena shooter took the world by storm for its advanced movement, atmosphere, and weapon selection. Since then, we’ve seen the rise of Valve’s Counter-Strike series, with CS 1.6 thriving in the competitive scene for more than 25 years since the 2001 Cyberathlete Professional League Championship. 

Like MOBA titles, matches in this esports genre can move quickly and can be very nail-biting when two talented teams enter the arena and try to gain the upper hand. Each match can be very demanding on its players, its outcome remaining hard to call right up to the end. Contestants will have to make every bullet count if they’re looking to secure a victory, and one mistake could be the difference between a very lucrative prize and a crushing defeat.

Popular esports games in the FPS genre now include Overwatch 2, CS2, Apex Legends, The Finals, VALORANT, Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, Escape from Tarkov, and more. VALORANT and CS2 are among the most-played esports FPS games, with the former hosting the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) and the latter privy to the likes of the Counter-Strike Major Championships (still running) as well as events like IEM Katowice, PGL Cluj-Napoca, ESL Pro League, Skyesports Masters, the DACH CS Masters, and the A1 Gaming League.

The battle royale genre rose to prominence with the release of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in 2017, with the first PUBG Invitational being held at that year’s Gamescom event with a $350,000 prize pool.

Since then, the PUBG Global Championships have been held yearly, with last year’s event seeing 28 teams fighting for a prize pool of $3,000,000. 

Epic Games’ Fortnite was released that same year, exploding in popularity and eclipsing the genre’s forefathers. The inaugural Fortnite World Cup finals, which took place in 2019, had a staggering prize pool of $30 million across the entire two-day event.

PUBG and Fortnite may be the biggest examples of esports games in this sub-genre, but they’re far from the only battle royales played at the highest level.

That’s because Call of Duty Warzone, Apex Legends, and Warface remain popular alternatives; newer releases such as Naraka: Bladepoint have seen success with their World Championship events since. 

Marvel Rivals could be considered among the best of this genre, although its team-based gameplay loop could technically exclude it from this esports genre. However, with its own tournaments since its 2024 release, it is certainly a worthy addition to any esports tournaments, with the added draw of its roster of characters that players and viewers have grown up with, or come to love thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The prize pool for NetEase’s battle royale stood at $1,500,000, showing that you’re not necessarily confined to watching (or playing) the two biggest names in the genre to have a shot at stardom. 

While not necessarily as large as some of the best esports games played on PC or console, the mobile gaming market remains massive, and esports mobile games remain popular in 2025 Some of the titles making waves in the scene include PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Honor of Kings, Free Fire, Brawl Stars, Call of Duty: Mobile, Clash of Clans, and Clash Royale.

Just because they’re games played on mobile phones doesn’t mean there’s not money in the genre. For example, the Clash of Clans World Championships and the Honor of Kings Championship (now known as KC) both had prize pools of $1,000,000, respectively. 

The Free Fire World Series (FFWS) upped the ante with a total prize pool of $2,000,000, and many of these mobile games will be played in the upcoming Esports World Cup, which has a projected total record-breaking prize pool of $70 million. 

Sports simulation games are some of the biggest seen in the esports genre, with frontrunners including EA FC (formerly FIFA FC), Madden NFL, NBA 2K, eFootball (formerly Pro Evolution Soccer), and Rocket League among some of the most-watched and successful of their class. 

For example, the FC Pro World Championship has a prize pool of $1,000,000, which is eclipsed by the NBA 2K League prize pool of $2,500,000 (split across the tournaments and playoffs of the season). 

With the 2025 release of FC 26, NBA 2K 26, NFL Madden 26, and more, there’s no dearth of options when it comes to the best esports games in this genre. Each of these titles brings exciting improvements, which could make them interesting in terms of how the best players use their improved mechanics and streamlined AI to take the fight to the competition every time they take the field!

While not your traditional sports simulation, the Rocket League Championship Series features a staggering yearly global prize pool of over $5 million for its finals, which sees 32 teams compete in a single elimination bracket before advancing to the last round. 

Without such a large backing as its contemporaries, the eFootball Championship Open has a much smaller first-place prize pool of just $20,000 for its winners, showing the vast differences across this esports game category. 

As with their real-life counterparts, simulation racing games can garner huge attention from sponsorships, often resulting in larger prize pools than we would otherwise see, given the viewer figures and number of participants. For example, F1 Sim Racing (formerly the F1 Esports Series) has a prize pool of $750,000 with the latest entries in the long-running racing franchise, like F1 24 and F1 25, which are updated annually. 

It’s not just F1 titles that have an esports backing; that’s because many other simulation racing games are played competitively, including iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo 7, RaceRoom, and Project Cars 3, among others. 

With Sony’s official backing, the Gran Turismo World Series sees a massive prize pool of $3,000,000, making it one of the more lucrative racing games to compete in. However, to play any of these games, you will need the investment of a proper racing setup, including a seat, pedals, a steering wheel, and force feedback instead of just a controller or keyboard and mouse combo. 

Esports game genres are as entertaining to play as they are to watch, with varying prize pools, attendance numbers, and viewer figures across the myriad of different games in each sub-genre available in 2025.

MOBAs and FPS games remain among the most popular esports titles, whereas fighting games and RTS games are consistent performers with major tournament backing going back decades. 

With so many games to watch and play, there’s a spot in esports for just about anyone, and it’s not platform-specific either; console, PC, and mobile users are equally valid in the scene.