How Much Do Esports Players Make?

A lot of people want to know how much esports players make. The answer may depend on a number of factors, but we’ve got you covered.

Salaries by Game

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Esportsearnings.com reports that the average Counter-Strike: Global Offensive salary is $60,778 per year. The site also reports that the highest paid Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player made $1,327,000 in 2018.

League of Legends

League of Legends is a five-player online battle arena video game based on the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne mod Defense of the Ancients. Designed by developer Riot Games, LoL was unofficially released in October 2009. The game is a free-to-play title supported by microtransactions. LoL is one of the most popular Internet games. According to Riot Games, it is played by 650 million people.

In North America, salaries for League of Legends pro players range from $50,000 to $300,000 per year.

Overwatch

Owlen is a popular FPS game published by Blizzard and one of the hottest games in the esports scene right now. The game features 6v6 combat with a variety of unique character classes, each with their own special abilities.

While there is no official minimum salary for professional Overwatch players, we can use public information to get a general idea of how much players are earning. For example, the longtime esports organization SK Gaming recently announced that it was signing an all-female team to its Overwatch roster. According to the team’s manager, the women will be earning salaries “in the low five figures.”

It’s important to keep in mind that this is just one organization’s salaries, and that not all teams or players are willing to share their earnings publicly. Based on what we do know, though, it seems safe to say that most professional Overwatch players are earning at least some money from their playing careers.

Salaries by Team

On average, professional esports athletes make $58,493 a year, according to a report by Earnest Research. The research firm looked at data from 1,035 esports players across 10 games who were employed full-time as gamers. The median age of the players was 22. The study found that the highest-paid esports athletes make more than $200,000 a year while the lowest-paid make less than $60,000 a year.

Cloud9

Cloud9 is an American esports organization, founded in 2013. They have teams in many games, such as Rainbow Six Siege, Apex Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, Hearthstone, PUBG Mobile, and more. In 2020, they were ranked the 4th most valuable esports company in the world by Forbes.

Cloud9’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is one of the most successful teams in North America. The team has made it to the final of two majors – ESL One Cologne 2017 and ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 – and has won nine other tournaments.

The Cloud9 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is currently made up of eight players:

– Timothy “autimatic” Ta
– Will “RUSH” Wierzba
– Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas
– Alec “Slemmy” White
– Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert (inactive)
– Robin “flusha” Rönnquist ( inactive)
– Maikil “Golden” Selim (coach)

FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan is an American professional esports and entertainment organization. It was founded on May 30, 2010, by current CEO Brian “RZE” Rodriguez, with the aim of bringing together like-minded gamers and creating a family-friendly gaming community.

Since its inception, FaZe has grown to become one of the largest and most successful esports teams in the world, with players representing some of the best talent in a variety of games. The organization has teams competing in Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant.

FaZe currently has over 60 million social media followers across all platforms combined, making it one of the most popular esports brands in the world.

As of May 2020, FaZe Clan was estimated to be worth $240 million.

SK Telecom T1

SK Telecom T1, commonly known as T1, is a South Korean professional esports organization founded in 2002. They currently field teams in League of Legends, Apex Legends, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Hallyu Starcraft League, and exhibition matches in Overwatch and FIFA Online.

In League of Legends, SKT T1 has won the World Championship three times (2013, 2015, 2016), the LCK Championship six times (2013 Summer split – 2017 Summer split), and the Mid-Season Invitational twice (2015, 2016). In total, they have earned over $5 million USD in prize money.

In Overwatch, they have not been nearly as successful as they have in League of Legends. So far, they have only won a single tournament: APEX Season 1. Their prize earnings for Overwatch are currently at $87k USD.

Salaries by Player

Esports is a quickly growing industry with more and more money being poured into it each year. As a result, salaries for professional gamers are on the rise. The average salary for an esports player is $60,000, but the top earners can make millions of dollars per year.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins

As of 2019, Tyler Blevins, also known as Ninja, is an American streamer and professional esports player. He is best known for his work on the live streaming video platform Twitch, where he currently has over 14 million followers. He is also a content creator on YouTube and has a following of over 23 million there. Blevins began playing video games at a young age and became proficient at Halo 3, a first-person shooter game. He played the game competitively from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, he switched to playing Fortnite Battle Royale after it was released by Epic Games. He quickly rose to prominence in the game’s competitive scene and became one of the most well-known personalities in the gaming industry.

Blevins has won numerous tournaments throughout his career, including two Fortnite Pro-Am invitationals held at E3 in 2018 and 2019. He has also been a guest on talk shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In August 2019, it was announced that Blevins had signed an exclusive streaming deal with Microsoft’s Mixer platform. This made him one of the highest-paid streamers in the world, reportedly earning up to $30 million dollars per year from the deal.

Jang “Moon” Jae Ho

Jang “Moon” Jae Ho is a South Korean professional Heroes of the Storm player who currently plays for Tempo Storm. He is considered to be one of the best Warrior players in the world. Moon began his career in StarCraft: Brood War, where he achieved the rank of Grandmaster. He later switched to Heroes of the Storm and quickly began to make a name for himself, winning multiple online tournaments. In 2015, he joined Tempo Storm, and has since helped them to win several major championships. Moon’s annual salary is $150,000 USD.

Lee “Faker” Sang Hyeok

Lee Sang-hyeok, better known by his in-game name Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. He is the mid laner for SK Telecom T1. Faker was previously a substitute for SKT T1 K and made his debut on February 2013. He is considered by many to be the best League of Legends player of all time.

As of May 2019, Faker’s estimated net worth is $4 million. In 2014, he earned $200,000 from salary and prizes and had an additional $100,000 in sponsorship money. His total earnings in 2015 were $2.5 million, making him the highest-paid professional gamer in history up to that point. In 2016, he earned a reported $3 million from salary and tournaments.

Conclusion

It’s clear that esports players can make a significant amount of money, with some even earning millions of dollars per year. However, it’s important to keep in mind that not all esports players are earning at this level. In fact, the vast majority of esports players earn much less than this. The median salary for an esports player is $60,000 per year. This means that half of all esports players earn less than $60,000 per year, and half earn more.