Dota 2 Is Bigger Than League of Legends... In E-sports Viewers On Twitch In August

By Jason Winter, News Editor Posted: September 16, 2016

Gaming research firm Newzoo has just released its report on Twitch viewership in August, and a couple of free-to-play MOBAs sit atop the rankings. Dota 2 and League of Legends were #1 and #2, but their ordering depends on how you look at things.

While LoL beat Dota 2 in terms of total hours viewed -- 79.3 million to 51.6 million -- Dota 2 scored with more "e-sports hours," 33.2 million to 24.1 million. Dota 2's edge in this category likely comes from The International, which took place from Aug. 2-13.

Hearthstone checks in at #3 on both lists, with 34.5 million total hours viewed, with a much lower 5.1 million hours devoted to e-sports. The only other free-to-play games on the e-sports list are two other MOBAs, Heroes of the Storm and Smite, which round out the bottom of the list, at #9 and #10.

Meanwhile, the overall hours watched list puts LoL/Dota/Hearthstone at #1/#2/#3 and goes down to the top 20 games, including RuneScape (#12), World of Tanks (#13), and Heroes of the Storm (#19). Oh, and if you're counting mobile F2P, there's Pokemon Go, hanging on at #20, down 10 slots from July. Remember that game?

Got a news tip? Contact us directly here!

In this article: Smite, RuneScape, League of Legends, World of Tanks, DOTA 2, Hearthstone, Heroes Of The Storm.

About the Author

Jason Winter, News Editor

Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.

More Stories by Jason Winter

Todoran 8 years ago

ty good they look diferent here and there otherwise id might just say ..... its the same crapy moba game fore repetable retards?! :D

max power 8 years ago

i guess the fact that league of legends stream their esports from their own website and not from twitch does not matter lol

Muphet 8 years ago

and most of lol pro players were pro or at least good in dota before.

Aazog 8 years ago

Wait so you guys bring this up before league worlds? This is International Dota 2 views versus league LCS, like NA and EUW. How about you wait for worlds which is in like a week or 2 before jumping to conclusions...

HiMaster 8 years ago

lets be honest here. both those games suck, just like the whole gaming industry. it is all just a waste of time. better to learn how to play some instrument, train, go to gym, go out with friends etc.

Nifty 8 years ago

Reading most of the comments below, ALL Moba communities are toxic. You people tend to get together in these types of games it seems. People always complain about how the shooter community (namely CoD and Battlefield) are assholes, but you people are the worst.

Those guys in competitive gaming however, I can live with. Sure they might rage and have their moments, but not as badly as you scum. The fact that even new players get a full load of bullshit, just because he/she is new... that's just kinda sad. As if everyone is a "pro" when they start. Get your heads out of your asses, cause right now, the MOBA community is even worse than those in shooters (and sadly the LoL community takes the cake, seriously, what a bunch of hardcore, no life asses in there). I'd choose Dota over LoL any time, just for that reason.

Flamecrash 8 years ago

I think Lol is too simplified , where dota 2 is overly complicated , since dota i hated half of the mechanics of the game , so when league came out it was so much more fun to play and i mean i still now in dota 2 things are not as stupid as in dota , but i just cant seem to get into it .

kek 8 years ago

Dota 2 is harder to get into, but if you do, it has more depth and more replayability than League... by far. I used to play League before dota 2 came out, speaking from experience. 3k hours in league and 4.5k hours in dota 2.

Dota 2 is one the best MOBAs without a doubt, League is more of a social thing than anything else.

View 2 replies

ASD 8 years ago

I never played it but hopefully it's less toxic to. From the reviews I've seen on league of legends it's extremely toxic and full of botters.

View 3 replies