Seasons and circuits
Learn the basics of how the major esports scene competitions articulate during the year.
In esports like in so-called traditional sports, different sports often mean a different competitive scene structure. This guide is intended to walk you through the basics of the major esports scenes.
Dota 2
The highest level of Dota 2 competition is organized around the Dota Pro Circuit. The Tier 1 scene is split in regional leagues: North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, and Southeast Asia.
Regional leagues allow team to qualify for the Majors. Majors are international competitions that grants points in the Dota Pro Circuit. Those points allow team to qualify for the end-of-season World championship, The International.
You can read more about the Dota Pro Circuit on the community-based wiki liquipedia.net.
Learn more on DotA 2 specifics here.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
The highest level of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) competition is organized around the Major Championships. Outside of this Tier 1 scene, a lot of independent tournament organizers create events that have teams face against each other very often throughout the year. Similarly to Tennis in traditional sports, some more well-known events contribute more to a team's ranking in the overall system.
The CS:GO esports scene is very active and teams from different regions will have different key events to participate in. We recommend taking a look at the scene structure in the regions that are part of your market. You can read more about the Major Championships and other tournaments on the community-based wiki liquipedia.net.
League of Legends
League of Legends (LoL) Tier 1 scene is organized in regional leagues: Europe, North America, China, Korea, and many others.
In each of those regions, teams play during a regular season that includes two splits: Spring and Summer. At the end of each split, there are regional Playoffs which further determine team rankings for that Split. Winners of the Spring Split have a chance to represent their team at an international event. The Summer Split Playoffs allows team to qualify for the end-of-season World championship.
Different regions may have different rules and qualification system. You can read more about the World Championships on the community-based wiki liquipedia.net.
Learn more on League of Legends specifics here.
Rocket League
Rocket League Tier 1 scene is organized in regional leagues: Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania.
In each of those regions, teams play during a regular season that includes three splits: Fall, Winter, and Spring. At the end of each split, there are regional Playoffs that allow teams to qualify for an international Major.
The season concludes with a World championship where the best teams from all regions compete.
Overwatch
The Overwatch esports scene revolves around its only Tier 1 competition, the Overwatch League. The league is built on an NBA-like model that includes two conferences (named divisions), where teams represent a city in home and away matches. New talents are promoted through a set of tier 2 region-based competitions named Overwatch Contenders.
Learn more on Overwatch specifics here.
Updated almost 2 years ago