Esports is undoubtedly a profitably growing business. To many people's surprise, professional esports players, those who have made it to the top, are rewarded for all of the efforts they have put. And believe it or not, the prizes are not little at all.
Although some of the games have higher prize pools and larger fan bases than others, getting the champion title, regardless of your game selection, won't give you an empty cup but rather a cup filled with some serious cash. We has gathered here a list of the richest esports players across various titles in history, as follows. And before we continue to the list, keep it in mind that we only count the money earning of these pro players via the prize money they get, not the money from advertising or streaming.
Call of Duty: Karma - $748,222.25
Unlike some other games, Call of Duty might not have a massive prize pool. However, a long-lasting career with various titles and world championships is much greater than one thinks.
The person who reigns the kingdom of Call of Duty is Damon' Karma' Barlow from OpTic Gaming. He has earned up to $748,222.25 since the start of his career in 2011. With three World Champion titles in his hand, it is no strange that the player has been consistently dominant since his beginning. His third win of World Championship with his team in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare earned him the most winning of $269,500.
As predicted, Karma is closely followed by his two teammates, Jordan' JKap' Kaplan and Ian' Crimsix' Porter, both of who have been around just about the same time as him.
League of Legends: Faker - $1,213,853.15
As we all know, League of Legends is certainly a very competitive place in the field of esports. However, the one standing out on the top is the famous Lee 'Faker' Sang Hyeok. As one of the talented and dominant LoL pro players, Fakers has gained various titles, including three world championships with the winning prizes of $1,213,853.15
2018 might have been quite a rough year for Faker and his teammates in SKT; however, the player seems to be determined to gain back his throne, and the fourth World champion title.
While Faker is the only LoL player to reach $1 million, both Lee' Wolf' Jae Wan and Lee 'Duke' Ho Seong are not far behind from the mark. Besides, Bae' Bang' Jun Sik, the star of 100 Thieves, is another honorable mention.
DOTA 2: KuroKy - $4,233,703.61
Despite not going up against LoL directly, Dota 2 has the prize pools that are high enough to persuade some players to switch from the MOBA of Riot Games to that of Valve. Among the Dota events, The International is the most prestigious where all of the Dota players dream of competing for the championship and prizes.
And the person on the top is Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi from Team Liquid, who has racked up to more than $4 million in winning. Just a championship in The International 2017 has brought KuroKy $10,862,683 to his pocket, which is estimated to be about 50% of his career winnings.
KuroKy has held the crown for quite a while for his impressive prize-winning, but this year the table might turn depending on the winner of this year International. The prize pool of The International 2019 has surpassed that of last year's event with over $25 million and more than 40 days to go.
CS:GO: Xyp9x - $1,474,921.90
Although Counter-Strike: Global Offensive might not receive any prize money support from its DOTA counterpart, competitors in CS: GO can get a large amount of money from prize-winning. The winning team of a CS: GO major will be rewarded with $500,000 before splitting to members.
Andreas' Xyp9x' Højsleth, the CS: GO player of Astralis has won three times and has been dominating the list of the highest earners of CS: GO, along with his teammates. Xyp9x has racked $883,350, which is over 50% of his total earnings, since the beginning of 2018 and also the start of the dominant era of Astralis.
Fortnite Battle Royale: Bizzle - $512,750.00
As the world of esports is rapidly growing day by day along with competition, games are trying their best to make a name for themselves, and one of the ways to do that is offering big prize pools.
Fortnite Battle Royale is one of such titles with the domination of Timothy' Bizzle' Miller. The pro player for Ghost Gaming has got $512,750 ever since he entered the competitive field. However, the king might get dethrone after the Fortnite World Cup on July 26-28 in which the winning prize for the solo player is set to be $3 million.
Turner 'Tfue' Tenney, the famous Fortnite player, was on the top spot until he decided not to take part in the IEM Katowice 2019 in the last January. Dennis' Cloak' Lepore, Tfue's duo partner, follows in the third place with about $80,000 more to surpass the current second-position holder.
Starcraft II: Maru - $748,651.21
If Fortnite is just a new face in the field, Starcraft II is certainly a veteran in the world of esports. And on the top of the card is Cho 'Maru' Sung Choo, the pro player from South Korea with the winning prizes of $748,651.21.
Although the player has started to compete since 2010, it was until 2018 that Maru witnessed his earning rocket. Last year, Maru got about half of the total earnings at this moment with $370,117.05 in 14 events.
Also, for the first half of 2019, the Korean player has earned himself more than $50,000 across seven events. It seems that it's quite difficult for other players to get the top position from Maru's hand as his earnings keep expanding further and further, especially Lee' INnoVation' Shin Hyung, who currently right behind Maru with $686,202.57.
As more titles are being introduced to players, more of them are getting involved in the competitive field. The players, therefore, will have the opportunities to earn themselves a fortune by looking for what they are talented at and entering the world of esports. It sounds pretty awesome to make money while playing games, right?
Comments