Year over, yeahhhhh! 4 of 2022’s top esports events

2022 was an absolutely massive year for esports fans around the world. With more epic events than you can shake a stick at, as well as fans returning to the arenas for big tournaments, there was plenty of reason to rejoice this year!

So, as 2022 draws to a close, we thought what better time than the present to take a look back at 5 of the biggest and baddest esports events from the last 12 months.

The International 2022

We kick things off this week with the Dota event to end all Dota events, The International 2022 which was held in Singapore back in October. TI 2022 was particularly noticeable for two reasons. Firstly, it featured the smallest total prize fund of any International since 2015 with a total of $19 million up for grabs. Secondly, it was the first iteration of this competition to be held in two separate venues, with the play-offs taking place at Suntec Singapore and the Singapore Indoor Stadium hosting the grand finals.

When it came to the final itself, it was Tundra Esports who took home the $8,518,800 grand prize as they secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Team Secret, who incidentally only reached this competition via the Last-Chance Qualifiers.

ESL Pro League 16

We keep things moving with the first of two (spoiler alert) huge events from the world of CS:GO, ESL Pro League 16, which saw the big guns descend on the Maltese city of Naxxar for a shot at the $190,000 grand prize.

Whilst FaZe Clan had been touted as favourites heading into this tournament, after emerging victorious in no fewer than 5 s-tier events in the build up to ESL Pro League 16, they could only get as far as the last 8 as they came unstuck against Cloud9.

Ultimately, it was Team Vitality who took home the bacon after picking up a dramatic 3-2 win in the grand final against Team Liquid, which was a bit of a surprise given the French team’s disappointing showing at Intel Extreme Masters XVII - Cologne only 2 months earlier.

BLAST Premier Final

Staying with the CS:GO theme now, we turn our attention to the second such event we’d like to cover, the BLAST Premier final which rounded off a year of thrilling CS:GO in style in Abu Dhabi.

Going into the tournament there many were waiting with bated breath to see if Outsiders and Heroic could upset the apple cart and take home the grand prize here, as they had both secured huge wins at the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 (where, incidentally, contested the grand final with Outsiders coming out on top) and BLAST Premier Fall Finals respectively.

However, their fans were ultimately left wanting as they both finished bottom of their groups without a single win to their name. Ultimately it was G2 Esports who were crowned champions after beating the likes of Team Vitality and FaZe Clan on their route to the final, where they saw off Team Liquid with a 2-0 win.

FIFAe World Cup

Whilst not everyone will be aware of this, fans of the beautiful game were actually treated to not 1, but 2 World Cups this year as the FIFAe World Cup made its triumphant return to our screens after a 3-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Much like its real-life counterpart, this tournament also ended in dramatic fashion with a penalty shootout featuring Argentina. However, unlike in Qatar, Argentina’s Nicolas Villalba had to settle for second place as Germany’s Umut Gültekin held his nerve to win on pens (surprise, surprise!)

What will 2023 have in store for all those FIFA fans out there? Only time will tell!