Since the inception of video games, players have always competed. That competition has gone mainstream over the last few decades. Competitive video gaming, also known as esports, is now a billion-dollar industry.

A key contributor to this growth was COVID-19. As people spent more time at home and traditional sports were put on hold, esports filled the gap, attracting new fans and more players. The World Economic Forum spoke of the “huge growth in playing time and sales” during the pandemic.

Now, video games have gone from being a simple pastime into a professional sport, with players competing in huge tournaments and earning big money from sponsors.

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In other words, esports is now a fully-fledged industry, and investors are paying attention. If you want to cash in, it’s important to know which companies are at the center of the action.

Here are some of the best esports stocks to consider buying this month.

Tencent (TCEHY)

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Tencent (OTCMKTS:TCEHY) is a Chinese multinational holding company that occasionally features in the list of the biggest companies in the world by market valuation.

It’s mostly known outside China as the company behind WeChat — the East Asian country’s equivalent of Facebook. Tencent has interests across several services, including music, cloud computing and fintech. It’s currently the biggest video game publisher worldwide, and it owns stakes in popular esports titles and organizes esports tournaments.

Tencent’s share price has rallied 21% this year. That’s expected given its highly encouraging earnings this past quarter. For instance, revenues were up 6% year-on-year (YoY), while gross profit rose 23%. Meanwhile, operating profit grew 30% YoY, with non-IFRS profit surging 54%.

Also, its 62% jump YoY in adjusted net profit is the fastest such increase for the company for the same quarter since March 2021, per LSEG data and as reported by CNBC. Tencent is definitely one of the best esports stocks to consider this August.

Sea Limited (SE)

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Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) shares are currently exchanging hands at about $60, which is a jump of 60% so far this year. June, during which they traded at an average of $70, was the strongest month for the company. Investors who got in at the turn of the year saw about a 75% bump in their portfolio during that period.

Sea is based in Singapore and has three business segments: digital entertainment (Gardens, which is an operator of esports), e-commerce (Shopee) and fintech (SeaMoney).