As the video games industry continues to grow, the rise of gamers worldwide has also led to the birth of a new, thriving industry — esports.
According to research from Statista, the global esports market is expected to reach a revenue of $4.3 billion in 2024, with researchers expecting further growth to reach a market volume of $5.7 billion by 2028. Various factors are associated with this rapid market growth, including ongoing digitalization, increased mobile usage, and rising gaming awareness. Meanwhile, constant improvements in digital technology continue to transform the industry.
At the same time, market experts note that creating more teams, tournaments, companies, and avenues for sponsorship and advertisement will continue to contribute to further growth. As such, esports events and tournaments worldwide boast sizable prize money, record viewership, and profitability. Some of the biggest esports markets in the world today include the US, Germany, China, and South Korea.
As you can imagine, this makes esports an exciting and refreshing approach to crafting your travel itinerary. As mentioned above, countries worldwide continue investing in esports and the video game industry, whether hosting major esports tournaments or being a hub for video game development. In this post, we’ll share four iconic travel locations for esports enthusiasts:
USA
While some esports titles nowadays focus on bringing tournaments and viewership in major cities around the world, the US is known among esports enthusiasts as the home of Call of Duty (CoD) esports, with team names formatted almost like traditional pro sports league teams. Professional CoD teams battle it in the official Call of Duty League (CDL) for the prestigious World Championship every year.
Players and fans who participate in Call of Duty betting can benefit from attending live and in-person CDL events for better insights if they prefer live betting, which many esports betting platforms offer. If you happen to travel to the US during the CDL off-season, there are also off-season CoD tournaments to keep up with, like the Pro-Am Classic, where 20 CoD teams fight to win in an event where the total prize pool goes up to $250,000. Some of the most popular CoD teams you may want to catch on your US visit include newly crowned champs OpTic Texas and Atlanta FaZe, which are strong teams known to dominate CDL tournaments.
Germany
While Call of Duty mainly focuses on its US audience and player base, other games prefer a more global approach. Valve’s Couinter-Strike games have remained an esports staple through the years, and the publisher’s latest sequel to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO), Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), is just as insistent on bringing the game and its esports scene around the world.
One of the key esports destinations for CS2 is Cologne, Germany, which has hosted a major CS tournament, ESL ONE Cologne, from 2014 to 2018. If you’ve got travel plans to Germany anytime soon, you may be just in time for the upcoming IEM Cologne 2024. It will feature 24 of the best CS2 teams in the world fighting it out for their share of the significant $1 million prize pool and a spot in the BLAST Premier World Final set for November.
Singapore
If you’re looking to visit Southeast Asia, then Singapore is a great esports destination. While relatively young as an esports hub, Singapore’s corporate tax — something we highlighted in a previous post — of 17% has contributed significantly to the small country’s thriving economy, financial stability, and ability to attract global businesses and investors. This includes, of course, esports and video game-related organizations.
Recently, the country also hosted the 2024 ESI Singapore event, flexing the theme, “Charting the Future – Esports, Games, Creators and Education,” to showcase the country’s dedication to exploring innovations and trends in these industries. Organized in partnership with Redd+E, the event featured professionals and enthusiasts in the esports, gaming, creator economy, and education sectors. Singapore also plays headquarters for many major video game publishers, including Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Garena, Razer, Riot Games, and Ubisoft.
Saudi Arabia
Finally, another interesting travel location for esports enthusiasts is Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This may seem like an out-of-pocket recommendation at first glance, but the city has penetrated the global esports industry in the biggest way possible recently by hosting the inaugural Esports World Cup, an eight-week gaming festival celebrating the best of the best in esports talent and organizations from around the world. The competition boasted $60 million for grabs across various esports titles, from Call of Duty to Counter-Strike and DoTA2.
Saudi Arabia is also passionately investing in the esports industry. In 2022, the country acquired ESL/FACEIT Group (EFG) for $1.5 billion. A year later, Saudi Arabia also announced a dedicated gaming and esports district in Qiddiya. The new district aims to establish the country as the global epicenter of the gaming and esports industry, including plans for four dedicated esports venues and other innovative esports-related facilities and gaming spaces.