Ahead of the Olympic Esports Week organised by the International Olympic Committee in Singapore from June 22 to 25, YouGov has released a new study to determine the regions where esports is most popular.
The decision to hold the inaugural Olympic Esports Week in Asia has proven prescient, as per YouGov’s data reported by Branding In Asia, which shows that 80% of the global esports fanbase resides in the Asia-Pacific region.
Following the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, the Americas secured second place with 8% of the global esports fanbase, while the Middle East/Africa and Europe accounted for 7% and 5% respectively.
Regional esports followers
YouGov’s study of regional data revealed that China and the Philippines have the highest proportion of regular esports viewers globally, with one in five residents in both countries (20%) indicating their engagement with esports. This makes them the top two markets in the world with the highest proportion of esports followers.
The study also details three additional markets in the APAC region that complete the global top five. In Indonesia (16%), Vietnam (16%) and Taiwan (16%), where one in six residents was identified as esports enthusiast, contributing to the region’s strong presence in the esports landscape.
In Europe, Hungary (7%) has the largest proportion of esports followers followed by Bulgaria (6%) and Romania (6%), while in the Americas, Brazil (6%) and Mexico (5%) have the largest proportion of esports followers. Meanwhile, 5% of residents in Singapore say they watch esports regularly.
Most popular esports games
According to YouGov’s findings, the most popular games among esports followers varies across different regions. Globally, however, Riot Games‘ League of Legends is the most popular esports title. It claims the top spot in the Asia Pacific and Europe, ranks third in the Americas, and fifth in the Middle East/Africa.
Arena of Valor is placed second as the most popular esports game, but its popularity is focused on Asia Pacific. It is less popular in other regions, such as the Middle East/Africa (15th), the Americas (18th), and Europe (21st).
Activision’s Call of Duty secures third position amongst the most popular esports titles worldwide. It claims the top spot in the Americas, ranks second in Europe and the Middle East/Africa and holds the third position in the Asia Pacific region.
Other titles ranked in the most popular esports games include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) (4th), PUBG (5th-6th), FIFA 23 (7th), Apex Legends (8th), Call of Duty: Mobile (9th) and Dota 2 (10th).
Despite being placed as the 10th most popular esports title in the world as per YouGov’s study, Dota 2 is currently the highest-paid esports title and if a player wants to get rich playing games, they should be playing Dota 2.
