Who Has The Most Earnings In Esports?

The top earning esports athletes come from a variety of countries and games. Find out who has made the most money playing video games competitively.

The Top Earning Gamers in Esports

The world of competitive gaming, or esports, is booming. With large prize pools and even bigger audiences, esports has quickly become one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. But who are the biggest stars in this rapidly growing industry? Here is a list of the top ten earning gamers in esports.

1. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein – $6.9 million
2. Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka – $5.4 million
3. Anathan “Ana” Pham – $4.6 million
4. Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen – $4.5 million
5. Sébastien “Ceb” Debs – $3.1 million
6. Kuro Takhasomi – $3 million
7. IeSF 2017 World Champion PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Invitational – PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Unknown – $2.5 million
8. Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi – $2.4 million
9. Maru (SKT T1) – StarCraft II – $1,829,146 *this is an estimate as his earnings are not public information* 10. Faker (SKT T1) -League of Legends- *this is an estimate as his earnings are not public information*

The Top Earning Teams in Esports

In the world of competitive gaming, or esports, there are a few constants. The games change, the players come and go, but there are always teams. These teams are made up of the best players in the world who compete against each other in order to see who is the best.

There are a handful of games that make up the core of esports. These games have huge followings and attract the best players from around the world. They are also the most lucrative games in terms of prize money.

The top five earning teams in esports are:
1) Evil Geniuses – $33,564,330
2) Team Liquid – $32,875,872
3) Astralis – $23,949,155
4) Fnatic – $22,285,673
5) Na`Vi – $21,716,653

The Top Earning Organizations in Esports

The top five organizations in esports that have earned the most are as follows:

1. Cloud9 – $12,702, doubles their earnings from 2017.
2. Team Liquid – $11,541,620 million, an increase of $3 million from last year.
3. Fnatic – $10,683,370 million , an increase of $4 million from 2017.
4. TSM – $10,590,139 , an increase of over $5 million from their 2017 earnings.
5. 100 Thieves – $10,441,685 , nearly doubling their earnings from the previous year.

The Top Earning Games in Esports

There are many games that people play in the world of esports, but not all of them are created equal when it comes to earnings. Some games simply give out more prize money than others, and that’s what we’re going to be looking at today.

Topping our list is Dota 2, a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game that has been around since 2013. The game is developed by Valve Corporation and involves two teams of five players each controlling a “hero” character with unique abilities. The objective is to destroy the enemy team’s “Ancient” structure located in their base.

Dota 2 has eclipsed all other games in terms of prize money given out, with over $290 million awarded since the game’s inception. The vast majority of this has come from The International, an annual tournament hosted by Valve with a massive $25 million prize pool up for grabs. Not surprisingly, Dota 2 teams have walked away with the lion’s share of earnings, raking in over $200 million total.

Coming in at a distant second is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), another popular FPS (First Person Shooter) game developed by Valve Corporation. CS:GO was originally released in 2012 as an upgraded version of the earlier Counter-Strike 1.6 game with new graphics and gameplay mechanics. Two teams compete against each other in a series of rounds, with the objective being to either eliminate the other team or complete some other task such as planting or diffusing a bomb.

While CS:GO doesn’t have quite the same earnings potential as Dota 2 due to its smaller player base, it still managed to dish out over $60 million in prize money since its release. Notable CS:GO tournaments include ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 which had a prize pool of $1 million and ESL One Cologne 2016 which offered up $500,000.

carer statistics

The Top Earning Tournaments in Esports

The International (Dota 2): $34,330,069
The International is an annual tournament organized by Valve Corporation, the game’s developer. It is the largest tournament in terms of prize pool in esports history.

League of Legends World Championship: $6,450,000
The League of Legends World Championship is an international tournament that takes place annually. It is organized by developer Riot Games. The prize pool for the 2017 event was $6 million.

Hearthstone World Championship: $1,000,000
The Hearthstone World Championship is an international tournament organized by Blizzard Entertainment. The prize pool for the 2017 event was $1 million.