Accessibility is the first thing to look at when choosing games. Can your students actually play? Is the game free, or will it cost them something? Start with those questions, because a title that half your students can't get hold of is a tricky starting point for a league. Free-to-play helps, but devices, internet access, accounts and any required content still need checking.

In a nutshell, we always look at four things: the accessibility of a title, its age appropriateness, its popularity, and the pathways it leads to. All four need to pass the same gate: publisher permission. You can't just pick any game and run a tournament for it. Start by checking the local content rating, the publisher's current account and tournament rules, and the school's approval. Those are separate checks. A popular title or an exciting pathway can't make up for a game your students aren't allowed or able to play.

Why does popularity matter so much?

There'll always be games that are flavour of the month. A title takes off, plenty of people start playing it, and you want to be able to respond. If you stick with the same five games every season without checking what schools want, you might miss the interest in something new. Keeping up with the trends matters, but it still needs to fit what your schools can support.

Make sure the games you choose meet your accessibility and age requirements and work in an esports-friendly format. Can players add one another in game? Can you set up custom lobbies? Can the devices you're proposing actually play together? Riot's VALORANT Console Guide, for example, confirms console crossplay but keeps PC and console players in separate pools. A working lobby doesn't settle tournament permission either: check the publisher's current rules, such as Riot's community competition guidelines. We'll come back to that below.

How do you find out what students actually want to play?

One of the most useful changes we've seen our customers make is to ask for expressions of interest before locking in a set of games. Start with titles that have passed your initial checks, then ask schools and students what they could actually enter. You might test interest in fifteen different titles before settling on a smaller programme. That gives you something more useful than a guess, without promising to run every game on the list.

Clash Royale and Trackmania both did better than we expected. In our experience, there were two different things at work. Clash Royale is a mobile game, so entering didn't depend on school PCs. For Trackmania, we ran a Time Attack format where players set their times within a window, rather than everyone needing to be online at once. Each of those could remove a barrier for a different group of students. That was our experience rather than a popularity benchmark for another league, and neither title is a free pass: Trackmania still needs the right game access and setup, and not every mode in it works without live play. Schools sometimes think they need a ton of PCs before they can get started with esports. In our experience that isn't the case, though you still need to assess device access, connectivity, supervision and equity for the students you want to include. Hearing from schools, getting students' views, and keeping your finger on the pulse are always useful. Letting expressions of interest inform the shortlist is a straightforward place to start.

Wider registration data can be handy too, as long as you know when and where it was collected, and what's being counted. Schools, teams and individual players tell you different things. A game that's popular elsewhere may still be difficult for your schools to run. Use outside data as a sense check alongside local responses, then confirm which interested schools could form eligible teams in the same platform pool.

What permission do you need from the game publisher?

For us, this is one of the most important checks: every publisher sets its own rules on what you can run, when you need to notify them or apply for a licence, and how you can commercialise an event. The frameworks differ from one title to the next, and a working lobby or a paid game subscription is not an event licence. Read the current rules for every game on your shortlist, including the ones you know well.

You'll usually need to check entry fees, how long the event runs, prizes and sponsors, use of the publisher's branding, broadcasting or streaming, and who's allowed to organise or take part, including age conditions. Depending on the title, those details can decide whether your event fits the public rules or needs a separate agreement. Some uses may be prohibited, so don't assume an exception will be available. Two are worth flagging: Rocket League's linked public event terms and Supercell's tournament guidelines require free player participation, including no paid entry or purchase gates. Check any league fee against the actual wording before charging; billing a school doesn't by itself establish permission.

Official routes for the titles mentioned in this article:

These rules change, sometimes within a year, so check the dated version before each season and keep a record of what you relied on.

Age rating sits alongside this. In our experience, schools are generally still conservative about esports, and transparent, safety-conscious decisions are a good way to build trust in your ecosystem. Choose games that are appropriate for the ages your tournaments are designed for, then give schools their own choice. Our view is that a game rated T for Teen under ESRB guidelines can be offered to an eligible age group where local rules and school approval allow it. Check the local classification in its own right, as well as account terms such as Riot's; a rating doesn't settle those checks. If a school doesn't want to join, or parents don't consent, that's an individual family or community choice, and it doesn't remove the opportunity for eligible schools and students in the wider community. A school's or parent's permission never overrides the law, account or tournament eligibility, or the publisher's conditions.

Where can a school esports game take students?

It's worth thinking about pathways too. Plenty of students want to take esports further than representing their school. Have a look at your local community scene and see which opportunities they could realistically work towards. Age, location, entry rules and the cost of taking part all matter. A school league doesn't automatically qualify someone for a professional or international event.

Some regions have strong Counter-Strike communities. For us, CS isn't the right fit for a school league; each organiser still needs to assess the students' ages, applicable restrictions and school rules. Titles such as VALORANT and League of Legends have wider competitive ecosystems to investigate where they're suitable. Check international programmes edition by edition too. The Global Esports Federation's Mumbai World Finals featured Dota 2 and Clash Royale in March 2026, while the inaugural Esports Nations Cup has been postponed to November 2027. Check the actual titles, eligibility and selection process before describing an opportunity to students.

If a student does move from a school league to a national or international event, that can make a powerful story. With their permission, it can help other schools see what's possible. It's something to celebrate when it happens, rather than a promised result of choosing a particular game.

How do the four factors work together?

The four factors all work together, with publisher permission as the gate every title passes through. Accessibility sets the starting point: our preference is for free games that schools can realistically support, ideally on devices they already have. Age appropriateness and permission narrow that list further. If a publisher's current rules don't allow what you plan to run, the title waits unless you obtain the permission needed for that event, however popular it is. Popularity helps you choose which of the remaining games to test, using school feedback and expressions of interest rather than guessing. Pathways give you another reason to consider a title, but students can still value a school competition without aiming for a professional career. Put those checks together in a simple selection matrix, with a permission column for each title, and note what you still need to find out. Eligible schools and families can then opt in or out of any game you offer, but that choice sits inside the law, eligibility rules and publisher conditions rather than above them.

The trickier calls are the popular games with few further opportunities, or the ones with a strong competitive scene that nobody at your school plays yet. Start with a manageable pilot and see how it goes before expanding. On School Esports, the published team-management guidance keeps registrations tied to the selected tournament and game, with event eligibility and roster requirements still applying. If you'd like to talk through how your proposed games and school entries would work, request a demo.

Before settling on your games, explore these related guides: