Esports have taken the world by storm in the past two decades. From small scale tournaments held in game developers' basements to tournaments lasting weeks at some of the biggest stadiums in the world, Esports have come a long way.

It's easy to get started in the realm of Esports if you haven't already but wish to. There's so much to learn, and you'll want to pick from the best of the games out there.

For your convenience in knowing where to start, here are five of the biggest Esports today and how to play them.

Overwatch

Overwatch was a smash hit during its release in 2016, as many touted it as the game that became successful before it released. In fact, in October, the finals for the Overwatch League will kick off where two teams will fight for a total prize of $1.1 million.

Overwatch is a team-based, first-person shooter with an emphasis on teamwork and timed ability execution. Many even tout it as the DOTA of first-person shooters. With a total of 31 heroes to choose from, each hero falls into one of three categories: tank, damage, and support. And, as the name implies, tank heroes can soak more damage, damage heroes deal more damage, and support heroes provide health or shields to allies.

Fortnite

It’s hard to talk about Esports in the current day and not talk about the sensation that Fortnite has become. A forgotten game with an emphasis on survival and building turned into the biggest Esport of all time when it introduced its battle royal game mode. The game received immense critical success with over 20 million players playing every day and a constant stream of updates and changes keeping the game alive.

It is a third-person shooter, with an emphasis on collecting guns and building materials, so you can build and fight your way to the winning spot. This year alone, Fortnite awarded $3 million to its best player - a 16-year-old by the name of Kyle.

Fifa

EA is very famous for its many sports-based games, but their flagship series is easily FIFA. Fifa has over 200 professional players and has prize pools that reach over $500,000. The objective of each game is to outscore your opponent, by outmaneuvering them on the playing field.

Fifa has buttons dedicated to different types of shots. A grounded pass, lob pass, through pass, and shoot have dedicated buttons. There are also buttons to sprint, tackle, slide, and follow, all of which the player must use to their advantage to score a goal or defend against one.

Counterstrike: Global Offensive

Many refer to Counterstrike as the founder of the team-based multiplayer and first-person shooter genres. And it was even the first proper Esport with its own series of small tournaments. With their latest installment – Global Offensive – Counterstrike has become a massive Esport with over 3,000 professional players and tournaments, with a prize pool of over $2 million.

The game is a standard first-person shooter. You play as part of a team of 5, and your success depends on smart financial management in order to buy weapons and armor. The game has different game modes such as hostage and bomb defuse. Here, the players will try to rescue/capture hostages or plant/defuse a bomb. The two major factions are terrorists and counter-terrorist.

Dota 2

Finally, we come to the biggest Esport of all. Dota 2 started out as a mod for Warcraft 3, and yet, it has turned into the biggest Esport today. The game has an average of 600,000+ players every day and over a thousand professional players. The latest tournament saw a prize worth $10 million, as each player pockets about $2 million.

In Dota 2, you play as one of 115 heroes each with their own unique skills and attributes. You play in a team of five, and all the 115 heroes fall into three categories: strength, agility, and intelligence. You can also buff your heroes with items from the shop that you buy and craft. And each hero serves a specific purpose, as strength heroes often have more health and soak more damage. Agility heroes deal more damage but have much less health. Lastly, intelligence heroes can deal mediocre damage, have minimum health, but offer utility to the team.

These are the top 5 Esports around today. Hopefully, this guide has been helpful in familiarizing you with what they entail and how you can get started in these realms! For more sports-related content, click here.