We’re two weeks into the new year, and the e-sports calendar for 2023 is starting to take shape. From Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) to League of Legends to VALORANT and everything in between, there are many tournaments to look forward to this year. More major tournaments will be announced later in the year, but for now, these are all the biggest events that have dates and/or locations announced.
The esports industry has come a long way in the past few decades and shows no signs of slowing down. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the biggest and best esports tournaments in 2023!
#1 CS: GO – BLAST Paris Major 2023
Venue: Paris, France
Dates: May 8, 2023 – May 21, 2023
The creators of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valve, have decided to host two major tournaments yearly. In 2022, we had the PGL Major in Antwerp and the IEM Major in Rio. Both tournaments broke viewership records and were massive successes on betting sites that offer Esports betting.
CS: GO Major events never fail to garner millions of concurrent viewers all across the globe. Keeping the momentum going, Valve intends to bring the next leg of the CS: GO Major to Paris. The unique thing about this particular major is that BLAST will act as the tournament organizer.
BLAST has never officially worked with Valve to host a major but has hosted multiple standalone tournaments without Valve’s collaboration. However, CS: GO fans consider BLAST the best tournament organisers out there, as they have hosted incredible tournaments without Valve’s help. Millions of CS: GO fans are looking forward to this collaboration between BLAST and Valve, and Paris is the perfect spot to host the Major!
#2 League of Legends – Worlds 2023
Venue: TBA
Dates: TBA
The League of Legends World Championship is the most important event on the League of Legends calendar, and it is unquestionably the most popular MOBA esports in terms of viewership. Each year, the best teams from around the world compete in this tournament to win their share of the massive prize pool.
The LoL Worlds 2022 ended on the 6th of November with DRX crowned world champions after defeating T1 in the Grand Finals with a tight score of 3-2. Fans were overjoyed and satisfied by the intensity of the Best of 5 series, and the tournament was overall a massive success.
With such a fantastic Worlds 2022 tournament, League of Legends fans across the world expect the same excitement from League of Legends Worlds 2023, which will be held next year. Although the event’s location is still unknown, you can expect the venue to ultimately sell out as millions of League of Legends fans gather in every part of the globe.
It’s likely that the tournament will be heavily promoted by Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends, as well as their sponsors. This event usually runs from September to November.
#3 Valorant – Valorant Champions Tour Seoul 2023
Venue: Seoul, South Korea
Dates: TBA
Valorant is a popular esports game throughout every region worldwide, and the game is relatively viral in the South Korean region. That said, Riot Games has decided to host a VCT Masters tournament in Seoul, South Korea. Having the event in Seoul also means that this will be the first offline VCT event held in the Asian region.
South Korean fans are bound to go insane when Korean teams such as DRX start playing on the stage, and the best esports betting websites will favour the team backed by the home crowd. However, there should not be a heavy bias as Korean fans are genuinely passionate about the game and will make noise for any participating team!
League of Legends, also developed by Riot Games, has successfully held large-scale events in Korea, so we expect to see an exciting Valorant tournament in Seoul.
#4 Dota 2 – The International 2023
Venue: TBA
Dates: TBA
The Dota 2 International is the biggest and most lucrative annual tournament in the industry. The tournaments are exhilarating, mainly because the iterations of The International always receive the highest amount of prize money compared to other games, and it’s not even close.
The tournament has a huge prize pool, with $25m million going to the winning team. This prize pool is the biggest in all of esports and has grown every year since the tournament began. In 2022, Tundra Esports emerged victorious and won over $8,500,000 in prize money.
The International is always an annual celebration for the Dota 2 community. People who don’t even play the game tend to tune in to watch important matches, as the stakes get increasingly higher as the tournament progresses.
#5 Fortnite World Cup
Venue: Copenhagen, Denmark
Dates: TBA
The Fortnite World Cup is a huge and highly anticipated annual esports tournament. The event will feature some of the world’s best Fortnite players, with millions of people expected to watch the tournament online.
It will be hosted across several different regions and feature a variety of different competitions. These include solo, duo, and squad competitions, as well as creative competitions.
As for the main event, Epic plans to hold the tournament in Copenhagen towards the end of the year, where it will feature 75 different duo teams and a prize pool totalling $4 million. The larger plan for competitive Fortnite in 2023 includes the return of the online Fortnite Champion Series, or FNCS, tournament structure.
This year, there will be three “major” tournaments throughout the year, each of which will last five weeks, with the first starting on February 2nd. Duos will compete in earlier matches, earning points for placement, and each major will culminate in a grand final with the top 40 teams qualifying for the title.