As esports has continued to grow, so has Abios — so it only makes sense that 2024 was a massive year for esports, esports betting, and Abios alike. While we’re already looking ahead at what we will accomplish in 2025, we wanted to celebrate some of the biggest W’s in esports this past year!
Esports viewership skyrockets in 2024
The biggest games in esports have continued to get bigger, with games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 continuing to not only be on top, but keep esports growing strong.
The League of Legends World Championship 2024 was an ode to this glorious sentiment. It broke all kinds of viewership records, including the most-viewed match in esports history when the Grand Finals between T1 and BLG had 6.9 million peak viewers.
Brazil legalizes esports betting for 2025
On January 1, 2025, Brazil launched a legal and regulated online betting market. Fourteen companies have been launched along with it but many more are to come in 2025.
This is massive for Brazil, with betting fans awaiting this moment since the legislation was approved back in 2018. With esports fan culture being so large in Brazil for titles such as FC25, VALORANT and Counter-Strike 2, it will be interesting to see how the esports betting segment will pan out.
Abios introduced new features and product improvements
We had a lot of great improvements in 2024 that further helped sportsbooks create exciting experiences for esports fans. This included a Counter-Strike 2 Bet Builder coming to the entire Kambi network. We also introduced an ebasketball suite for interested partners, providing continuous coverage of over 3,000 monthly events.
And we can’t forget our new esoccer bet builder, which has barely been seen on the market before and comes with a series of product improvements, enabling higher uptime and more extensive coverage.
Abios’ new partnerships expand esports betting further
Esports betting sites are no strangers to the likes of League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2, but always-on titles such as esoccer have also picked up steam. Not the least due to the influx of football fans during Copa America and Euros.
We partnered with Svenska Spel to further expand our esoccer offerings to even more communities. The sportsbook will now offer esoccer for its customers, bringing them engaging live betting experiences. We also partnered with Rei do Pitaco to bring fantasy esoccer to Brazil.
Said Anton Janér, Managing Director at Abios: “We are delighted to have signed this long-term partnership with Rei do Pitaco to power fantasy esoccer for millions of players across Brazil, providing 24/7 content that perfectly complements their existing DFS offer.”
Top esports team Vitality also tapped into our data to engage with their fans by improving its prediction tool further. This partnership aims to build a more immersive experience for esports fans, with the most accurate predictions for Vitality’s performances in major tournaments landing esports viewers at the top of the leaderboard.
Arcane Season 2 celebrates League of Legends
Gaming has become more and more mainstream, with movie and show adaptations showcasing the interesting lore, characters, and gameplay in some of the most popular competitive games. Perhaps one of the most successful is Arcane.
Season 2 finally arrived in 2024. The premiere got 12.6 million hours viewed and near-perfect IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes scores. It put a spotlight on League of Legends, with people tuning in who may have never even heard of the MOBA.
While some movies have been stinkers (looking at you, Borderlands), adaptations have continued to show that video games are here to stay and have left a massive mark on society.
Abios expands the team
We always continue to innovative, improve, and explore new ways to make esports betting more immersive. With that comes new visionaries that bring along fresh perspectives and creative ideas in this ever-changing industry.
Abios appointed CTO Anton Janér, who co-founded Abios back in 2013, as its new Managing Director, bringing esports betting and technology knowledge to the role.
Janér said: “I am honored to take on the role of Managing Director and lead Abios into its next chapter. Oskar and I have had a lot of fun together throughout the years at Abios, building the company into the industry leader it is today. I am very excited about the future of Abios and eager to take the business to new heights alongside our excellent team.”
2024 also saw the addition of Rasmus Schmidt Christensen as Head of Odds Operations. The esports and sports betting industry veteran will focus on improving users’ betting experience.
He said: “Having worked in esports for years, I’m thrilled to join the Abios team. As they’re building new and exciting products on top of best-in-class data and modelling, Abios is at a very exciting growth stage. I’m happy to be part of the next step in that journey.”
New games target the esports betting scene
The same games have really dominated the esports betting scene for years: League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and now more recently VALORANT. Sports games have also been a big hit and continue to grow. But 2024 saw a lot of possibilities for change.
These games have been dominant due to their growing fanbase, consistent tournament schedule, and veteran teams. There are storylines, rivalries, and performance records to follow, which have made it easier for established fans to place bets and more hype to watch intense matches between dominant teams.
But there may be some new players in town come 2025.
First is the fighting game scene, which has seen a massive increase in fans due to popular series like the Tekken World Tour but is also awaiting the drop of Riot’s two versus-two fighter 2XKO. Gamers are expecting a supported esports scene due to Riot’s involvement, something the fighting game community has been lacking over the years.
Marvel Rivals and Deadlock have also been flexing their potential during 2024. Marvel Rivals is a new hero shooter that has captured the hearts of salty Overwatch 2 players and fans looking for something new. The game has a long way to go until it’s competitive (it’s questionable if it needs role queue or not), but it most definitely has gamers’ attention and could have some pretty hype tournaments to watch out for.
Deadlock is a complex MOBA-shooter hybrid that has been the focus of many competitive streamers looking for a challenge. While the game has esports potential, it’s also very complex and may not be easy for mass audiences to understand.
Esports betting features to watch
With gaming and the esports industry maturing and reaching the mainstream with the help of series such as Arcane, more sportsbooks and other actors are looking into esports than ever. This has fuelled a race to the top, where product features are starting to reach a similar level as we see for sports.
Player Props, in particular, have become very popular in League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 betting. Player kills, for example, significantly impact each match, though they don’t always determine the outcome.
Of course, another feature is bet builders, where combinations of player props are especially popular. Both add an exciting dimension to betting, which we’ve observed over the past year and expect to grow even more in the coming year. Do you want to expand your esports vertical?
2025 is shaping to be a massive year for esports – and its convergence with betting. And we’ll be here every step of the way!
