Top mobile esports of 2025 so far

Mobile gaming has become incredibly popular in the esports scene in recent years, with some ranking among the most popular esports of 2025 so far.

Games such as PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang have reached millions of viewers and thousands in offered prize pools.

Recent data shows that mobile games such as Honor of Kings have offered prize pools totalling over $20m in the past year.

With 85 tournaments hosted in 2024, Honor of King’s esports scene has recently exploded in popularity.

Its most viewed event so far was the 2025 Invitational Season 3, which saw a peak viewership of over 380,000.

It’s a game that has struggled between 2017 to 2023 to captivate an audience, but its boost in popularity has allowed the Honor of Kings to attract western teams such as OG Esports.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has become the face of mobile esports, bringing in millions of viewers across various tournaments.

In 2025, the game saw a peak viewership of 1.7m during IPL Indonesia Season 15, one of the more successful tournaments held out of the 16 hosted so far.

Despite a lacklustre start in 2017, the game began to gain traction after 2020 when it started to host tournaments more frequently. Since then, it has enjoyed steady growth that peaked between 2023 and 2024.

In recent times, various organisations have stepped up to compete in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, including NAVI’s recent arrival.

Arena of Valour hasn’t been quite as active as other mobile esports so far, but still ranked second highest of all titles by Esports Charts.

Despite hosting just three tournaments, the game was able to reach a peak viewership of over 550,000 during the Arena of Glory Spring 2025 event.

What is bizarre is the fact that three months into the year, the game has yet to offer any prize money from its purse. The game typically sees around $2m offered every year, though it’s likely to increase dramatically when the International Championships and Premier League come around.

PUBG proves to be the most popular mobile shooter esport, ranking ninth overall for 2025.

The game reached its height back in 2021, where it saw a peak viewership of over 3.8m during the Global Championship (GC) Season 0. Since then it has seen a steady peak ranging between 900,000 to 1m, primarily for GC.

It has, however, seen a staggering prize pool offered from its purse over the years. 2024 saw $16.5m offered alone across 283 tournaments.

This year the game has been going strong, with a peak viewership of 400,00 during the Super League, South East Asia Spring 2025. $300,000 in total prize money has been given away so far across 24 tournaments.

Heading into 2025, PUBG Mobile’s Global open recently opened it’s registration period for amateur teams to compete.