Overwatch wins “Esport of the Year” game award at The Game Awards

Overwatch has been awarded the annual “Esports of the Year” by The Game Awards. The awards show was shown on Twitch on Thursday, with hundreds of nominations — games, players, streamers and voice actors, and more — for almost 30 categories.

When blockbuster games enter the field of esports often cause mixed opinions, and this year is no exception. Overwatch’s “Esport of the Year” award doesn’t seem right when compared to the “big three” of the industry: CS:GO, Dota 2, and League of Legends.

Of course, this is not talking about the quality of Overwatch as a game that received this award, but simply the small strides and intentions in esports this game has. Only a handful of significant Overwatch events took place in 2017, including three seasons of OGN APEX Korea and the grand opening of Overwatch Contenders. And there were only three events in which the total prize pool broke the $250,000 mark, which is just the average of a major esports tournament.

In comparison, CS:GO is probably the most competitive game since its inception, with a large number of teams competing in many high-profile tournaments. The game has had two major prizes for $1 million, six events over the $500,000 mark. And Dota 2 broke other records by marking The International finals prize at $24.7 million and complete the competitive circuit in the new seasonwhile League of Legend continues to be the most organized and structured esports in the industry, with the World Championship being held at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, China.

This is also the second time Overwatch has won the title after the game’s massive 2016 success. Last year, The Game Awards presented four awards to this game, including “Most Multiplayer Game”, “Game with Best Direction” and “Game of the Year”. With the big Overwatch League event kicking off in January 2017, it’s certain that Blizzard’s FPS-based game will reap a lot of success next year.