Thanks to technology, the betting industry has evolved into a mixture of different competitions that people can bet on. The not-so-new category “eSports” has gained traction over the last couple of years attracting millions of bettors globally.

So, before we move further on, let’s explain what is eSports. Basically, eSports are competitive and professionally organized video gaming championships. So, professional gamers from different leagues face opponents playing the same game. 

Sports betting has normally been divided into different categories and markets, as you can confirm here: https://www.bovada.lv/sports

eSports have also been divided into multiple categories based on the type of game that the players play.

These professional tournaments are organized at the highest level, and such games are available in online sportsbooks to bet on. Since we are talking about an entirely different category of betting compared to traditional sports, it is common to see much more different types of bets.

A couple of years ago, we’ve also seen the introduction of Virtual Sports, which is a computer-generated game with a randomized outcome that people also bet on.

Since the gaming industry is massive, it shouldn’t surprise us that there are many different categories when it comes to online eSports betting.

With that said, let’s go through some of the most popular eSports games that are available for betting.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)

This is a rather new category in online eSports betting that starts to get some traction. This is actually a subgenre of real-time strategy games, with a huge spike in popularity that might overcome the traditional RTS games.

MOBA games require a player that is commanding a single character to develop a strategy with the task of destroying the opposing team’s main structure.

Apart from the player-controlled characters, there are also non-player-controlled soldiers or CPUs that are produced in each team’s base.

The MOBA category features games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends, and more.

Player Versus Player (PVP)

This gaming category that people can bet on is pretty straightforward. PVP games are just as the name suggests, one or more people competing against one or more human opponents.

Basically, when a game has two or more opponents going head-to-head in a match is considered to be a PVP game. Such games are very popular in the eSports betting industry just because the selection of games is massive.

We have games like Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat, Super Smash Bros, and more. Even though this is the original category of games that started the eSports betting industry, such games are less popular among bettors in recent years. 

Sports Games

This genre of games is inspired by professional sports such as basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and other games. Games nowadays are very realistic and players compete against each other in their favorite sports.

These are very popular games in the eSports betting industry and people are taking it very seriously, just like real athletes. The most popular one is the EA sports franchise FIFA.

The professional tournaments that are organized have impressive prizes, such as the Madden Bowl 22 awarding with a $1 million prize purse. 

So, just like betting on a sports match, people bet on games but the only difference is that the outcome heavily depends on the skill of the player.

There is also another category of online sports game betting, which is called Virtual Sports.

Virtual Sports are computer-generated games where no players are playing. Instead, there are CPUs that are programmed to compete against each other with a randomized outcome.

With that said, virtual sports are becoming more and more popular, even though the system uses Random Number Generator (RNG) just like slots, which doesn’t provide a chance for you to predict the outcome.

First Person Shooter (FPS)

First-person shooters are also a popular betting category in eSports. There are many different games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with professionally organized tournaments where people can bet on the teams.

Even though this category is popular for console and PC players, it is far more prevalent among PC players since it requires a lot of precise movement that is only possible with a mouse. 

First Person Shooter game competitions have different goals within each match such as getting as many kills as possible or accomplishing a specific goal like placing or defusing a bomb.

Real-Time Strategy (RTS)

Real-Time Strategy games are where the most betting action is happening. Even though this category of games started the eSports betting, the popularity of games like Age of Empires II and StarCraft II is slowly descending and this category is overpassed by its sub-genre MOBA games.

Real-Time Strategy games require at least 2 players to play the same game, where they utilize different strategies and abilities to defeat their opponent. Both players are starting on the same map and with the same amount of resources.Most professional RTS games are played with 2 to 8 people or sometimes even more. The goal here is for all the players to work together in order to defeat the opponent as soon as possible.