eSports and streaming go hand-in-hand. One would not be thriving without the other.

As eSports tries more and more to resemble traditional sports, streaming services are starting to cut deals with the eSports industry to grab exclusive partnerships.

This means that you’ll only be able to stream specific games on specific platforms.

Wondering “where can I stream eSports”? For those who are just diving into the world of eSports, finding where to stream your favorite game may be a little tricky.

Sure, you can head on Twitch to watch a gamer casually play the game, but for competitive tournaments, you may have to look somewhere else.

For those of you who are new to the world of eSports, here’s what they are, which games are most popular, and where to watch them.

What Is eSports?

Competitive gaming is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination. It goes as far back as the earliest versions of video gaming. People would place bets on the best local player in arcades back in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

In the 90s, tournaments and leagues became a thing for games like Unreal and Quake.

Even back then people were making a living off playing video games and becoming famous for it.

Just like any sport starting out, leagues were created only to fail. Television was tentative about showing the sport and gave up when there were poor ratings.

In more recent years, viewership has skyrocketed among those who watch eSports. Some are featured on television but a large part of the success is thanks to streaming services.

For the 2016 League of Legends World Championship final, 14.7 million people tuned in to watch.

It’s not just for big tournaments either. Competitive eSports games are taking place constantly and are often times streamed straight from the home PC of the gaming star.

There are constantly tournaments taking place as well with a variety of organizations across the globe.

While all the games being played at one time may make you think choosing one to follow will be difficult, once you’ve found the game you enjoy watching, you’ll never experience any difficulty finding a match.

The popular games are popular for a reason so if you’re looking for a game to follow consider them.

Popular Games

League of Legends
League of Legends is a PC game that puts five players on a team with the objective to destroy the opposing team’s base, which is called a Nexus, while they try to defend their own Nexus.

While the concept seems simple, each team has to fight the enemy team, defend against computer-controlled minions, and take down enemy turrets in each lane.

There are also objectives that pop up during the match that will give the team that wins them an advantage.

Competitive League of Legends is just like the gameplay of regular League, but the teams aren’t made up of random people online, they’re professional players that have practiced and trained together.

Dota 2
The first Dota game is credited by many as being the creator of the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) genre.

Dota 2 now takes its place as second in popularity to League of Legends and has similar gameplay as League.

Though many among gamers view Dota 2 as the one that is more difficult to play due to its nuisances in its gameplay.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Global Offensive is a callback to the original Counter-Strike franchise but with a few unique quirks. In it, two teams play against each other as different roles: the terrorists and the counter-terrorists.

They compete on different maps which facilitate different styles of play. Each of these matches on a map is played as a best-of-30.

The objective for both teams is to kill off every member of the opposing team within the 115-second time-limit.

The team to kill off every member win or the terrorists can win by detonating the bomb.

Overwatch
Blizzard’s most recent game to be released has quickly become a huge phenomenon. Players who are competitive and casual players alike all love the game.

It’s another team-based shooter that is similar to the older but beloved game Team Fortress 2. Overwatch allows you to choose from 25 heroes to play, with each of these heroes assigned to a specific role on the team.

These roles allow the teams to form the type of squad they want. The roles that the heroes have include support, tank, offense, and defense.

Where to Watch Them

The biggest streaming service that shows tournaments from many games is Twitch. Twitch dominates among streaming services thanks to easy-to-use platform and categorization.

Twitch has also cut deals with companies to be the service to exclusively stream some tournaments. Anyone can create an account on Twitch and, for those who want additional perks, paid membership is also available.

For those who are thinking “besides Twitch, where can I watch eSports?” there are a variety of options to choose from. YouTube has a game streaming option known as YouTube Gaming.

Hitbox.tv is another streaming service that is free. While the places to stream competitive video games is limited, the number of games to watch are almost infinite.

The question you have should turn from “where can I watch eSports?” to “what eSport should I watch next?”