The video game industry surged the past couple of years turning into a multi-billion-dollar industry as expected. What comes from companies making so much money? More jobs and opportunities! Esports allows for someone with extreme talent to not only earn a salary but win hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few months of playing their favorite video game. There are hundreds of pro leagues out there but here are a few of my favorite I will be paying attention to in 2022.

Halo Championship Series

Halo infinite multiplayer was released on November 15th of this year and the reception in the competitive scene has been very good! Everywhere you look for this game someone is posting an insane clip and is most likely unknown to the community, which shows you that a lot of people are wanting to take this ‘newer’ game seriously. The league sort of disappeared the past couple of years but coming back strong with teams like Optic and Faze as well as eUnited with some of the top players we know around the FPS community. Free-to-play pros have surged since Warzone and Fortnite, so for Halo to jump into that scene with an already strong player base was a smart move. Currently, the pool winnings for the 2022 year is over $3 million! 

League Of Legends World Tournament

Having to switch venues, navigating COVID, and going through many company issues with Riot games, the tournament stayed VERY strong earning them ‘Best Esports Game’ at The Game Awards. Many players said everything went flawless in this hectic year and the future is very strong for the tournament. To add, the tournament is participated by teams all over the world. The past champions with winnings over $480,000 were mainly a China-based team. League has continued to improve their game adding great lure, cosmetics, and still maintaining a healthy ranked system in the game for people who like to play more competitively but not professionally. Can I add this game released in 2009!? 

NBA 2K League

I have been trying to tell people about this league for a long time! Thanks to the @TheGamerzAnon page keeping me in tune with what is going on, it always amazes me how much this league has going on and how many people don’t know about it! The league begins with a combine which is a series of games that eligible players can participate in to be “noticed” by other pros, coaches in the league and scouts. Then they have an actual draft! The teams are based in the cities of the actual NBA teams that own them. The players are paid an annual salary in the $30-$40,000 range as well as a chance at the prize pool that is constantly increasing year to year, sitting in the $1 million range! And the games are usually heated! They set up in an esports arena, and literally sit right across from the other team. If you do not follow 2K culture trash talking is part of it. A very fun league that I 100% urge you to check out, which is very easy to do with their consistent twitch streams and active Twitter page.