London has become the center stage for the biggest esports tournaments in the world. Gamers from all corners of the globe have assembled in London over the past few years to increase their rankings. The best esports teams can be seen visiting London throughout the year to focus on gaining new skills that can be used to win millions in prize money from esports competitions.
Multiplayer games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends have hosted several top-tier events in London. The brightest esports professionals spend a ton of their time training with their peers in London to elevate their status in the gaming industry. You can view global esports tournaments held in London to support the hottest esports teams across genres. Esports teams based in the UK have built their brand by destroying their opponents in highly anticipated matches.
Take a look at the 5 biggest esports tournaments held in London.
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2023
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2023 (MSI 2023) took place at the Copper Box Arena in London. The esports event was held in May 2023 and had a total of 13 teams taking part in the competition. It was the first League of Legends (LoL) interregional competition of Season 13.
A prize pool of $250,000 was announced for the League of Legends MSI 2023. Golden Guardians, MAD Lions, Cloud9, G2 Esports, and Gen.G were among the esports teams involved in the event. Best of 5 matches were organized between the esports teams in double elimination rounds. Milio and Yuumi were the 2 champions in LoL who were excluded from the tournament.
JD Gaming won 3 games against Bilibili Gaming in the finals to emerge victorious. A total of $50,000 was awarded to JD Gaming for placing first in the League of Legends MSI 2023. Flandre, sheer, Kanavi, Yagao, Ruler, and MISSING were the members of JD Gaming at that time.
Apex Legends Global Series Split 1 PlayoffsÂ
Apex Legends Global Series Split 1 Playoffs was a massive esports event that was held in London. Organized by Electronic Arts, it had a prize pool of $1 million with 40 teams participating in the tournament. The top teams in the Apex Legends Global Series Split 1 Playoffs included Alliance, Moist Esports, XSET, and Fnatic.
World’s Edge and Storm Point were the most frequently played maps in the tournament. Apex Legends Global Series Split 1 Playoffs was viewed by more than 500,000 people across the globe. TSM gathered 500 points in the competition and placed first in the Apex Legends Global Series Split 1 Playoffs, walking away with $300,000 as a cash prize. The roster of TSM consisted of ImperialHal, Reps, raven, and Verhulst. ImperialHal was also named as the MVP of the tournament, making him a respected gamer in London and the rest of the UK.
NRG was the runner’s up for the tournament and placed second with 420 points. The esports team, NRG, received $160,000 for their accomplishments. Ascend placed third with 380 points to win a prize of $105,000.
FACEIT Major: London 2018
Sponsored by Valve, FACEIT Major: London 2018 was a memorable esports tournament for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players. More than 20 CS:GO teams attended the FACEIT Major: London 2018 at the Twickenham Stadium in south-west London. It took place in September 2018 and the top 5 teams of the tournament were qualified to fight each other in the IEM Katowice Major 2019.
After 6 grueling rounds of battles, Astralis defeated their rivals to win in the FACEIT Major: London 2018. Device, dupreeh, Xyp9x, gla1ve, Magisk, and zonic were the core players of Astralis and dominated the tournament with their weapons in CS:GO rounds. Astralis won $500,000 from FACEIT Major: London 2018. Classic maps of CS:GO such as, Dust II, Inferno, Nuke, Cache, and Mirage were played in several rounds of the competition.
Natus Vincere placed second in the FACEIT Major: London 2018 and won $150,000. The European esports team, Natus Vincere, shredded opponents from BIG, HellRaisers, FaZe Clan and other esports teams.
Rocket League Championship Series Season 5 – Finals
Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Season 5 was the first season of the racing game in 2018. The finals of the RLCS Season 5 were held in London. It was organized by Psyonix in a 3v3 game mode. There were 10 teams racing against each other in the RLCS Season 5 for a prize pool of $250,000.
The most popular maps of the RLCS Season 5 were Mannfield, Urban Central, Aquadome, Wasteland, and Neo Tokyo. The trio of ViolentPanda, Kaydop, and Turbopolsa from Team Dignitas placed first in RLCS Season 5 and won $100,000. Kaydop displayed exceptional driving skills in the tournament and was named as the World Championship MVP.
Twitch streamed the esports event to increase viewership for the RCLS Season 5. GarrettG from NRG and Mognus from CompLexity Gaming were praised for their talents behind the wheel in the tournament.
League of Legends World Championship 2015
League of Legends World Championship 2015 took place in 4 European cities including London as one of its prime locations. It had a prize pool of $2.1 million with 16 teams battling it out for the championship.
SK Telecom T1 won first place and secured $1 million from the League of Legends World Championship 2015. Elise, Darius, and Alistar were the most picked LoL champions of the competition. It has also been announced that League of Legends Worlds 2024 finals will be held at the O2 Arena in London.