eSports

Esports earnings: Top 25 Highest Paid Players in 2020 So Far

Published

2 years ago

June 16, 2020

Esports earnings: Top 25 Highest Paid Players in 2020 So Far

Reading Time: 4 minutes

> Five teenagers, including a 15-year-old, among the best
> Two chess players make the list
> No League of Legends players in top 25

2020 has hit a lot of industries very hard – but not esports.

The lockdown has brought huge growth in viewers to professional gaming as millions flock to watch the world’s best players in action.

This new level of interest will only help the industry grow, along with the pay packets of the gamers themselves.

But, how much do they earn?

New research by esports bookmakers Unikrn shows just how much the top 25 players have been winning in tournament prize money so far this year.

In 2019, there was a total prize pool of $227m shared between over 25,000 players playing in 5,000 tournaments.

Six months into 2020 and there’s still been $32.5m in prize money – despite the cancellation and postponement of many events.

Of that pot, the highest earning player has taken home $300,000 so far.

Brazilian Paulo Damo Da Rosa, known as PVDDR, won Magic: The Gathering Arena’s, Magic World Championship XXVI in February – pocketing the huge fee in one lump sum.

The five members of Spacestation Gaming’s Rainbow Six Siege team – Bosco, Rampy, Thinkingnade, Fultz and Canadian – also feature in the top 10.

Their victories in this year’s Six Invitational 2020 and Pro League Season 11 have earned them $210,000 each.

With a combined age of 47, teenagers Wolfiez, Furious and JannisZ are in the top 16 for their big Fortnite wins.

The UK’s Wolfiez, 16, has taken home $130,000 so far this year from two tournaments coming second in both FNCS Invitationals: Europe last month.

JannisZ, 15, from Germany, won one of those tournaments, while American 16-year-old Furious secured victory in the FNCS Grand Finals in North America – both earning $120,000+.

Among the top 25, Chess24 stars Hikaru Nakamura and grandmaster Magnus Carlsen have also taken home over $100,000 each in prize money.

STATISTICS

The average age of the top 25 earning players so far in 2020 is 24 years old.

So far this year, the top country for earning prize money is the United States with players making over $6million between 1,870 of them.

However, the best average prize winner per country belongs to Jordan.

Six players earned an average of $33,000 each – made up mostly by Doha 2 players Yapzor and Miracle-, who claimed $175,000 of the total $200,000.

Bear in mind all of these earnings do not include their sponsorships, bonuses or salaries – some of which are rumoured to be around the $500,000 mark.

So there will be players easily taking home close to $1,000,000 a year.

The highest earning esports player of all-time is Danish Dota 2 player Johan Sundstein.

Going by player ID N0tail, the 26-year-old has amassed $6.9m in prize money from 117 tournaments and been a winner at the International 2018 and 2019.

Ryan Jurado, esports analyst with the industry juggernaut Unikrn, said: “As impressive as the prize earnings are in esports, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

“In reality, thousands of players around the world make additional income by building their brand and fan bases with non-competition activities such as gaming streams, earn income with sponsorship deals and receive a salary to play as part of an organized team.

“Amazon’s Twitch alone has 22,000 partnered streamers, most of whom are playing games and earning cash outside of tournaments. When you add in Microsoft’s Mixr, Google’s YouTube, Facebook, plus non-American platforms like Huya, plus thousands of yearly video game tournaments, the number of players making some form of income by gaming is likely well over 100,000 worldwide. For most, this is a paying hobby rather than a career, but some players do reach multi-millionaire status before they even graduate high school.”

Top 25 Highest Paid Esports Players in 2020 (By Prize Money)

Real name	Player name	Game	Nationality	Age	Prize Money 2020	Tournaments	Prize Money (Overall)
Paulo Damo da Rosa	PVDDR	Magic: The Gathering Arena	Brazil	32	$300,000.00	1	$337,800.00
Troy Jaroslawski	Canadian	Rainbow Six Siege	Canada	23	$210,000.00	2	$317,628.57
Dylan Bosco	Bosco	Rainbow Six Siege	United States	25	$210,000.00	2	$275,750.00
Nathanial Duvall	Rampy	Rainbow Six Siege	United States		$210,000.00	2	$261,060.00
Javier Escamila	Thinkingnade	Rainbow Six Siege	El Salvador	21	$210,000.00	2	$261,030.00
Alec Fultz	Fultz	Rainbow Six Siege	American		$210,000.00	2	$238,966.67
Lee, Byung Ryul	Rogue	Starcraft II	Korea	26	$155,128.20	9	$832,543.20
Marcio Carvalho	Marcio Carvalho	Magic The Gathering Arena	Portugal	34	$150,000.00	1	$214,900.00
Jaden Ashman	Wolfiez	Fortnite	UK	16	$130,000.00	2	$1,300,026.67
Lasse Urpalainen	Matumbaman	Dota 2	Finland	25	$122,413.40	7	$3,684,194.44
Clement Ivanov	Puppey	Dota 2	Estonia	30	$122,413.40	7	$2,783,899.63
Ludwig Wåhlberg	Zai	Dota 2	Sweden	22	$122,413.40	7	$2,443,054.42
Yazied Jaradat	YapzOr	Dota 2	Jordan	25	$122,413.40	7	$1,452,524.07
Michał Jankowski	Nisha	Dota 2	Poland	19	$122,413.40	7	$852,679.11
	Furious	Fortnite	United States	16	$121,500.00	3	$122,400.00
	JannisZ	Fortnite	Germany	15	$120,000.00	1	$131,362.42
Asger Larsen	AcilioN	CS:GO	Denmark	23	$117,688.05	6	$205,471.35
Lucas Andersen	Bubzki	CS:GO	Denmark	21	$113,800.00	5	$186,770.86
Frederik Gyldstrand	acoR	CS:GO	Denmark	22	$113,800.00	5	$183,034.72
Rasmus Beck	sjuush	CS:GO	Denmark	21	$113,800.00	5	$178,613.09
Fredrik Jørgensen	roejJ	CS:GO	Denmark		$113,800.00	5	$167,242.03
Hikaru Nakamura	Hikaru	Chess24	Japan	32	$102,632.19	10	$148,117.61
Sven Magnus Carlsen	DrNykterstein	Chess24	Norway	29	$101,170.48	7	$130,928.92
Seth Manfield	Seth Manfield	Magic: The Gathering Arena	United States	29	$100,000.00	1	$141,900.00
David Wang	Aqua	Fortnite	Austria	18	$98,750.00	4	$1,868,341.23

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Top 10 Highest Earning Countries in 2020 (By Prize Money)

Country	Prize Money	Players	Average per
United States	$6,340,646.89	1870	$3,390.72
China	$2,918,944.04	340	$8,585.13
Brazil	$2,161,506.14	401	$5,390.29
Korea, Republic of	$2,067,293.52	455	$4,543.50
France	$1,516,403.65	419	$3,619.10
Russian Federation	$1,495,117.67	440	$3,397.99
Denmark	$1,472,041.31	173	$8,508.91
Germany	$1,262,670.52	483	$2,614.22
United Kingdom	$1,255,641.62	333	$3,770.70
Canada	$1,170,591.49	308	$3,800.62

Highest Earning Players of All Time (By Prize Money)

Real name	Player name	Game	Nationality	Age	Prize Money Overall	Tournaments
Johan Sundstein	N0tail	Dota 2	Denmark	26	$6,895,040.18	117
Jesse Vainikka	JerAx	Dota 2	Finland	28	$6,470,000.02	65
Anathan Pham	ana	Dota 2	Australia	20	$6,000,411.96	24
Sébastien Debs	Ceb	Dota 2	France	28	$5,501,233.01	54
Topias Taavitsainen	Topson	Dota 2	Finland	22	$5,415,046.17	21
Kuro Takhasomi	KuroKy	Dota 2	Germany	27	$5,177,764.81	110
Amer Al-Barkawi	Miracle-	Dota 2	Jordan	22	$4,743,118.88	57
Ivan Ivanov	MinD_ContRoL	Dota 2	Bulgaria	25	$4,534,193.36	67
Maroun Merhej	GH	Dota 2	Lebanon	24	$4,137,126.44	44
Lasse Urpalainen	Matumbaman	Dota 2	Finland	25	$3,674,181.04	69

**Stats taken from www.esportsearnings.com and do not include salaries, bonuses or sponsorships

eSports

Four Teams Advance to CS:GO Female Tournament at IESF WE Championships

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2022

Hunor Pal

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The International Esports Federation (IESF) concluded a groundbreaking competition for the Female Feature Division CS:GO qualifiers, which saw Indonesia, Poland, Namibia, and Argentina move forward to secure their spot at the World Esports Championships Finals in Bali, Indonesia. The qualifiers were hosted online by IESF, and the finals tournament in Bali will feature a $50,000 total prize pool. Poland and Argentina came out on top of their respective region’s qualifiers.

IESF President Vlad Marinescu said: “IESF is privileged to be able to host its first-ever Female Feature Division CS:GO tournament, a significant step forward for the world of Esports. This event is promoting inclusivity and providing female gamers equal opportunities to succeed on Esports’ biggest stage. IESF is committed to advancing and supporting the role of women in Esports through initiatives like this and our current partnerships with Women in Games and GIRLGAMER Esports Festival. “

IESF Marketing Manager Ana Karakolevska added: “Congratulations to the four female teams for giving us one of the most exciting qualifiers yet, and securing their spot at the first-ever CS:GO World Esports Tournament. IESF is proud to be making advancements in shaping the future of gaming for the entire World Esports Family. We can’t wait to see these skilled teams compete in Bali.”

World-leading Esports club Natus Vincere (NAVI) represented Poland in the qualifiers and will bring some of the world’s best Esports players to Bali to compete for the ultimate prize. The 14th WE Championships will take place from December 1 to 12 with Indonesia, Poland, Namibia, or Argentina looking to be crowned the first female CS:GO tournament winners.

eSports

Strafe.com expands its global provision and opens its doors to the Dutch market

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2022

Gaspar Incze

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Strafe.com, the ever-growing esports affiliate, has expanded its global provision once more. Now, esports enthusiasts from the Netherlands can enjoy the exceptional daily content, news and reviews that have made Strafe.com such a popular choice across the industry.

Just six months ago, we saw Strafe.com add German, Japanese and Swedish to its list of available languages, allowing the platform’s unique content to reach many more viewers. As we fast forward half a year, we can see that the esports giants are showing no signs of slowing down and are already looking to offer the same superb insights and views on the esports world to an eagerly-awaiting Dutch crowd.

Strafe.com started out as an esports only brand that targeted the Anglosphere. Today, we see a leading esports affiliate that accommodates bettors from all sorts of betting backgrounds and igaming interests. No longer can Strafe.com be considered a one-trick pony; instead, you can expect to find all of your online betting and wagering needs met under one roof.

The introduction of the Dutch language is just another stepping stone on the Strafe.com roadmap. In a short time, we have already seen the expansion of its global offering, including the addition of sports betting, strategy guides, online casino reviews, and much more. What’s next for Strafe.com? We will have to wait and see!

Africa

MSSA invited to send U20 esports team to Malawi

Published

3 days ago

September 22, 2022

Hunor Pal

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is held in high esteem and often receives invites to participate in events right around the world.

As such the Global Esports Federation (GEF) has informed MSSA of the inaugural Southern Africa Region Esports Championships 2022 (SAREC 2022) billed for Lilongwe, Malawi in December.

SAREC 2022 is a joint project of the GEF’s Africa Esports Development Federation (AEDF) and the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 and it will be a demonstration showpiece alongside of the AUSC Region 5 Youth Games which will be held in the same city on December 3^rd and 4^th , 2022.

This and many more initiatives are billed to unfold across Africa as the AEDF swings into action in a holistic development strategy for our continent through the values of the GEF – equality, diversity, fair play, inclusion and innovation.

The Game Titles to be played are eFootball and Street Fighter V.

The event will also see a SAREC Forum take place in which a convergence of esports, sports, tech and business stakeholder shall discuss the growth potentials of Esports in the region.

There is no doubt that this is a historic event that will further promote esports throughout Africa.

VIVA Lilongwe 2022!