Twitch

Twitch is the digital platform which spear-headed video games into the limelight, including esports. There is just no denying it is the main powerhouse responsible for popularising live-streamed video games to an Internet audience, and it still rings true today with over 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million visitors per month tuning into the platform. A fairly significant portion of that hefty number comprising eSports fans looking for their favourite tournaments streamed live, with around 174 million hours of Dota 2, Hearthstone and League of Legends collectively watched – not a number to scoff at. As such, you will find the majority of the largest e-Sport tournaments, big-name live streamers and special events hosted on Twitch.

With Twitch set to be the exclusive live-streaming broadcaster for all Blizzard esports, including the Overwatch League, it’s undoubtedly the #1 platform to watch your favourite pro gaming events.

YouTube Live Gaming

YouTube’s specialised Live Gaming section is the first port of call for any esports beginners or casual video game fans looking to find their favourite players, teams and tournaments with ease. All major esports tournaments for heavyweights like Counter Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends tend to be streamed by the official sponsored accounts of the big name organisers such as ESL Counter-Strike, LoL esports Live, Major League Gaming, Rainbow Six Pro League, and more. Thanks to YouTube Live Gaming’s very familiar, very streamlined interface similar to the rest of YouTube, it’s extremely easy to use and find the latest professional live-streamed videos of your preferred tournaments and match-ups. The mobile app is also extremely well optimised, making it quite possible to never get any sleep as your favourite live matches are readily available in your pocket.

The rest of YouTube Gaming is also a heaven for anyone who loves video games. There’s a ton of user-created content streamed live here – everything from speed runs to mod show-cases to casual gameplay among friends. All of this is icing on the cake for esports lovers, but it’s something to consider when choosing which platform to watch your favourite matches.

Check out our top recommended esports YouTube channels to watch and follow.

Dailymotion Games

While still in beta, the Dailymotion Games offshoot from parent site Dailymotion Games is a great portal to find video game-centric content live streamed by both regular gamers and eSports champions. While not as popular as YouTube or Twitch and not the primary platform of choice for the biggest eSports streamers and players, it definitely has facilitated a dedicated community of smaller teams and lesser-known names populating the live channels with regular streams, giving them a space to shine.

Smashcast.tv

Formerly known under the brand Hitbox, Smashcast.tv is a super streamlined and super fast live streaming site dedicated to gamers. It is often hailed by up-and-coming streamers as a great alternative to Twitch of YT Gaming and boasts super low latency compared to other platforms, along with in-built audience engagement tools which allow streamers to manage their followers, viewer, subscribers and videos with ease – and see what’s popular and what works. Smashcast.tv also is popular with eSports event organisers and broadcast marketing partners.

Teamliquid.net

Team Liquid are trailblazers in the online eSports community, starting from humble beginnings as a Starcraft news site in 2001 before rapidly expanding into a multi-regional professional eSports organisation in the last six years with the acquisition and signing of several professional players (such as Team Curse) in Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Dota 2, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros and more. Their news-site side of things still exists and their primary fanbase and focus is still on Starcraft; their site now has a dedicated live-streaming section for community members and visitors to find the latest match streams casted live without having to go elsewhere to find them.