Highest Earners in the Esports Industry

When you hear the success stories of many professional players, a common theme amongst their journeys to the peak of esports stardom is the struggle to convince their parents that playing video games for a living is a viable career choice.

Almost every player has to cross this bridge, as they often begin their careers as youngsters or as teens still studying in school. It is only until the parents see how much their kids can earn do they support and believe in the potential of a gaming career, and it’s all thanks to the modern world.

According to website ‘Esports Earnings’, the total prize money awarded from all of the 992 esports competitions in 2010 was around $6.3 million. Although this number may seem a huge amount, average earnings per player was $1,800 and comparatively, it’s not even close to the numbers we see nowadays.

The total in 2019 alone was around $229 million, with huge sums won in tournaments such as the first Fortnite World Cup and Valve’s infamous Dota 2 event, The International. A roaring fanbase for esports competitions coupled with the boom of live streaming culture has skyrocketed competitive gaming into one of the world’s most unlikely industries.

Who would have ever thought that coming from the days of the Atari, SEGA’s Mega drive, Nintendo’s Game Cube or even the first PlayStation, people would be taking video games this seriously? Below are short profiles on some of the highest earners in esports history.

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The undisputed most successful esports player of all time, this Danish maestro of Dota 2 is laughing with the amount of money he has won in his career. Last year, he achieved the glorious feat of highest earner in esports history after leading OG to victory at The International for the second year in a row.

His incredible journey from his beginning with Fnatic in 2012 to now has seen him accumulate 4 majors and two TI’s (the only Dota player to do so). There would have been nobody better equipped to top this list than N0tail.

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An extremely unique individual, Sumail Hassan moved from his home country of Pakistan to the US and quickly established himself as one of North America’s most promising talents. Evil Geniuses gambled on his potential and signed a 15 year old Sumail in 2015.

This would be the beginning of a triumphant career for the Pakistani player. A month after signing, Hassan made history by becoming the youngest player ever to win an official Valve tournament when EG won DAC 2015.

He also became the youngest player ever to win an International that same year after turning 16. He is also the youngest player in esports history to become a millionaire; SumaiL’s story is remarkable.

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Fueled by a cultural wave of popularity, celebrities and famous streamers, Fortnite’s explosive entrance to the gaming scene in 2018 literally took the world by “storm”. It wasn’t long before its developer, Epic Games, began to funnel heaps of money into a competitive scene for the vibrant battle royale game.

The prestigious and first of its kind Fortnite World Cup in 2019 had a total prize pool of $30 million, where a 16 year old Bugha playing for Team Sentinels was crowned the Solo Champion of the world, cashing in a staggering $3 million for first place. It was no doubt a historical moment for esports history.

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Competing in the same World Cup Tournament as Bugha, but in the Duos bracket, this pair were victorious both in and outside of the game when they banked a total of $3 million between them.

Representing Europe, with Aqua hailing from Austria and Nyhrox from Norway, the two fought off the best of competition in an entertaining series of six matches to take first place.

(Image Credit: Astralis)

The most successful organisation in the history of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, the Danish superstar team and the Esports Team of the Year at the Esports Awards 2018. Astralis are the pinnacle of competitive CS:GO, having won the most Major’s (x4) and the first season of the Intel Grand Slam.

Relying on their excellent individual players and their even more impressively cohesive structure, Astralis have dominated the world of CS:GO and have cemented Danish CS’s place in the history books.

They are the only team to have all of their players featured in HLTV’s rankings of the best 20 players of the year, doing so in 2018 and as you probably could have guessed by now, have earned serious money whilst doing so.

(Image Credit: The Game Haus)

Arguably the most popular esports player of all time, the South Korean’s superior and ridiculous talents have earned him the nickname ‘Unkillable Demon King’ by fans. He is the face of the game and the most successful player ever to compete in LoL.

With the most amount of World Championships under his belt (x3), Faker has remained loyal to SKT T1 (rebranded to T1 in 2019) and has crushed competition time and time again over the years. Faker’s legacy will live on forever - and it has also earned him an astonishing amount of wealth to live on.

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After winning the Shadowverse World Grand Prix 2018 JCG Online Preliminary Tournament, Feg went on to win the Shadowverse World Grand Prix 2018 and $1 million, having entered the tournament as one of the underdogs.

The Japanese player is a team member of the professional gaming team, Yoshimoto Libalent and broke the record for the highest amount of money won by a Japanese esports player.

Shadowverse is a trading card game often compared favourably to Hearthstone; it was released in 2016 by Cygames and is primarily played on mobile phones, despite having versions for PC and Mac.

(Image Credit: Twitter)

Cho Seong Ju, known by his in-game name, Maru, is a StarCraft 2 player from South Korea. He has climbed the ranks to become one of the most successful and highest earning players in the history of the game.

Maru claimed victory at the World Electronic Sports Games event in 2018 beating rivals and household names such as Park “Dark” Ryung Woo and Joona “Serral” Sotala. Maru was the youngest GSL (Global Starcraft League) player to compete in the League’s history and won his first televised game at just 13 years old.

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Arguably one of, if not the most successful player in competitive Call of Duty history, Canadian Barlow is a legend and respected by all. He is often referred to by the community as "3 Rings" or "GOAT" due to him being the only player to have won 3 World Championships.

Although he retired in June, Karma had a tremendously triumphant career, winning 24 Major Championships and earning him around $810,000 in prize money.

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Park Jung-young is a 21-year-old South Korean competitive ‘PlayerUnknown’s Battle Ground’ (PUBG) player for Gen.G. He is the highest earning player of all time for PUBG, having displayed excellent and consistent performances over the past few years.

He has netted multiple top-three finishes, won the PUBG Global Invitational 2018 and the PUBG Global Championship 2019, where Gen.G were awarded a total of $2 million for first place.

Loki is still young and depending on the future of the esport, will inevitably look to continue his dominant run of play with his team, having already earned a delightful amount from tournaments.

(Image Credit: Twitter)

Tony "LethuL" Campbell Jr. is a Halo esports player and currently a player for Team Sentinels. A two-time Halo World Champion, he is one of the most successful competitors in history, winning events with the likes of OpTic Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Believe the Hype, and signature team Infamous.

He has performed consistently across four of the franchise’s titles, with most of his success coming in Halo 5: Guardians. Having won the World Championship in 2016 and 2017, many consider him to be the greatest player to grace the game.

The list above contains information on just some of the incredibly successful professionals who have earned their living doing the thing they love the most.

The sheer passion of the players, the fans and our community over the past decades have allowed for esports to soar to the heights that it is at today.

Becoming a pro gamer has now become a feasible career choice for hopeful individuals, who may still be studying or might just need an unconventional pathway to earning their keep.

We are extremely proud to see the industry continue to thrive and predict as it grows, the recognition will become even bigger than it is now.

People can now apply for and study in esports related courses in certain parts of Europe and North America; video games have even weaved their way into the modern education system!