Counter-Strike 2 beat Dota 2, League of Legends, and more in the Best Esports Game category at The Game Awards 2025.
The Game Awards is capping off the packed year for gaming in 2025 with a slate of major accolades–one of the earlier ones highlighting the esports game of 2025. As expected to many, Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) has taken the title for Best Esports Game of the Year. The popular first-person shooter beat out major competition to take the crown, defeating League of Legends, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and VALORANT.
These other titles are immensely popular and are often the go-to nominees when it comes to esports.
League of Legends, last year’s winner of the Best Esports Game category, consistently brings in viewership numbers, even towering above the rest of the titles. Dota 2, the other biggest title in the MOBA genre, continues to thrive with significant viewership and massive prize pools.
VALORANT, CS2's biggest FPS rival, has rapidly grown to stand alongside the top esports titles. Meanwhile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, the only mobile title among the nominees, remains overwhelmingly popular across regions like Asia and South America.
Despite the intense competition, CS2 taking the win doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The game is well known for its esports hype, which extends beyond the competitive scene and resonates with the general gaming audience.
Some have noted that CS2 esports maintain strong hype year-round, unlike the two major MOBAs–LoL and Dota 2–which tend to concentrate their peak attention on their landmark championships–Worlds and The International–in the middle of the season.
Reigning CS2 Major champions
Team Vitality also claimed the award Best Esports Team.
A blazing year for Counter-Strike 2's esports
CS2 has raked in strong viewership this year with BLAST.tv Austin Major reaching 1.8 million peak views last June. This became Counter-Strike’s most popular tournament in history, overtaking PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and IEM Rio Major 2022.
The ongoing StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 is also reeling a solid 1.4 million peak viewers–which is likely to spike further during the finals.
