Who Is The Highest Paid Esports Player? Must Have Keywords: ‘
In today’s competitive world of professional gaming, it’s no surprise that esports players are some of the highest paid athletes around. But just who is the highest paid esports player?
Thanks to prize money, sponsorships, and other forms of compensation, the top esports players can earn millions of dollars each year. So who is the current king of the esports world?
According to Forbes, the highest paid esports player in the world is Johan Sundstein, better known as N
Introduction
There is no denying that professional esports is a rapidly growing industry with increasingly large prize pools and player salaries. But just how much do the top players make? We’ve compiled a list of the five highest paid esports players in the world, based on their annual earnings.
Background
Topping the list of highest paid eSports players is none other than Johan Sundstein, who goes by the pseudonym N0tail. The 25-year-old Danish professional Dota 2 player has accumulated over $6 million in prize money over the course of his career. Born in 1994, N0tail began playing video games at a young age and became interested in competitive gaming in 2010 when he started playing Heroes of Newerth. He played HoN for two years before moving on to Dota 2 in 2012.
professional video game player career began to take off. He joined (OG) a professional eSports organization in 2015, and OG would go on to win the first ever Dota 2 Major tournament at Frankfurt Major that year. Since then, N0tail and his team have had numerous successes, including winning two more Valve-sponsored Major tournaments, as well as The International 2018 – Dota 2’s biggest annual tournament with a prize pool of over $25 million. Thanks to his many wins, N0tail’s earnings have catapulted him to the top spot on this list of highest paid eSports players.
#2: Anathan Pham – $6 million
Coming in at a close second is Anathan Pham, better known by his in-game alias Ana. The Australian professional Dota 2 player is currently 19 years old and has already amassed a hefty sum of $6 million in prize money. He began playing video games at a young age and got his start in the competitive scene by playing Defense of the Ancients (DOTA), the game that would eventually evolve into Dota 2. In 2016, he joined OG – the same organization that N0tail competes for – as their support player.
Since then, Ana has helped OG win several prestigious tournaments, including two Valve-sponsored Majors and The International 2018. Thanks to his many successes, Ana ranks second on this list of highest paid eSports players with earnings of over $6 million.
#3: Jesse Vainikka – $5.4 million
Jesse Vainikka, better known by his pseudonym JerAx, is a 27-year-old Finnish professional Dota 2 player who currently ranks third on this list of highest paid eSports players with total earnings of around $5.4 million. JerAx started playing video games at a young age and became interested in the competitive scene after watching defending champions clean up at The International 2012 – an annual tournament for Dota 2 with one of the biggest prize pools in all of eSports. This inspired him to try out the game himself and eventually start competing professionally.
JerAx’s breakout moment came in 2015 when he helped his team (then called 5Jungz) win The Frankfurt Major – one of three annual Valve-sponsored major tournaments for Dota 2 with multimillion-dollar prize pools up for grabs each time. After this victory, JerAx moved on to join OG where he has remained ever since; helping them win several more tournaments including two more Valve Majors and The International 2018 where they took home first place and split $11 million amongst themselves. Thanks to these wins (and many others), JerAx has earned himself a spot among the top 3 highest paid eSports players with total earnings exceeding $5 million..
The Highest Paid Esports Player
Based on earnings and prize money, the highest paid esports player is Johan Sundstein from Denmark. Also known by his gaming alias N0tail, Sundstein is a professional Dota 2 player who is currently a part of the OG esports team. He has won several major tournaments throughout his career, including The International 2018 and 2019. As of 2020, his total earnings are estimated to be around $6.9 million.
How Much Do They Earn?
There is no one specific answer to this question as the amount that an esports player can earn depends on a number of factors, such as their country of residence, the game they play, their level of skill, and the tournaments they compete in. However, according to a report by Forbes, the top 10 highest-paid esports players in 2019 earned a combined total of over $64 million.
Conclusion
From our research, it appears that the highest paid esports player is currently Fortnite superstar Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins. Ninja reportedly earned around $10 million in 2018 from a combination of prize money, tournament winnings, sponsorships, Twitch subscriptions, and YouTube ad revenue. It’s an impressive sum of money, and it looks like Ninja is only going to continue to earn more in the future as the esports industry continues to grow.
