eSports
Esports earnings: Top 25 Highest Paid Players in 2020 So Far
> 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.”
| 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 |
| 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
PlayVS, the leading esports platform in North America, announced a multi-year partnership with Zenni Optical, the world’s leading online eyewear retailer. This partnership establishes Zenni as the official eyewear partner of PlayVS, bringing exclusive benefits to PlayVS’ esports community.
As part of this collaboration, Zenni will serve as the official eyewear partner of the PlayVS Cup, the annual national esports championship for high school students. The Cup provides top scholastic esports teams from across the country with an opportunity to compete for a national title and earn recognition and awards, including college scholarships. Zenni’s partnership will help power scholarship prizes for Cup finalists, furthering PlayVS’ dedication to empowering students and supporting their educational and athletic ambitions. These scholarships not only aid with alleviating financial strain, but also highlight esports as a viable pathway to academic and professional success.
Zenni’s eyewear will also be included in the prize packages that PlayVS Cup champions and PlayVS Awards winners receive, providing students with high quality eyewear to complement their gaming performance. Additionally, Zenni will offer members of the PlayVS community exclusive discounts on eyewear.
“We are excited to partner with PlayVS and expand our ongoing support of the gaming and esports community. Empowering a dedicated high school esports program that not only will generate awareness around the importance of eye health to a new generation of gamers but also support their academic pursuits is such an amazing opportunity for Zenni to partner with,” said Robb Chiarini, Head of Partnerships, Licensing, & Events at Zenni Optical.
Through this partnership, Zenni will also be integrated into PlayVS’ content series, Road to the PlayVS Cup, a set of videos showcasing different esports programs across the nation as they compete to earn a spot in the PlayVS Cup.
“Partnering with Zenni is a natural fit for us as we continue to grow the high school esports community. Zenni shares our commitment to supporting students in both esports and academics. By joining forces with Zenni, we’re empowering students with scholarships and enabling them to partake in healthy competition to foster their esports careers. We’re excited to work together and bring Zenni’s eyewear to our community of gamers,” said Jon Chapman, CEO of PlayVS.
The post PlayVS Announces Multi-year Partnership with Zenni Optical appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Genius Sports Limited has signed new partnerships with Bayes Esports and GRID Esports (GRID) to provide sportsbooks with the highest-quality official esports offering.
GRID, as the only game data platform directly working with the game publishers will provide Genius Sports with exclusive access to official live esports data from League of Legends, and VALORANT, the fastest-growing betting esports title, alongside Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six data, and a robust portfolio of CS2 and Dota2 data from the global tournaments by BLAST and Champion of Champions.
Genius Sports’ sportsbook partners will also be able to access official streaming and data visualizations powered by official GRID data.
Bayes Esports is helping power Genius Sports’ esports offering with its highly granular Live Match Data. As the exclusive data partner of key esports tournament organisers such as ESL FACEIT Group, Bayes Esports covers the majority of official live data for Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 esports, which brings in some of the highest revenue for sportsbooks.
Genius Sports will further enhance its offering with Bayes Esports’ data product suite, including low-latency video and live data-powered widgets. Select Genius Sports products will be available through Bayes Esports’ distribution in return.
Going forward, Genius Sports will provide sportsbooks worldwide with an end-to-end esports trading product across pre-match and in-play, powered by ultra low-latency data to guarantee sharp odds and maximum market uptime. Through this product, sportsbooks can unlock new revenues by reaching a highly engaged audience with high-octane, year-round content.
“We are thrilled to announce these new partnerships with Bayes and GRID, two leaders in their field, to create an unrivalled esports content suite for our sportsbook partners. As the new home of esports for sportsbooks, we will provide our partners with the highest-quality data and odds on the most prestigious titles in the sport,” said Matt Stephenson, Global Partnerships Director at Genius Sports.
The post Genius Sports Signs Partnerships with Bayes Esports and GRID appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has announced that DACH CS GmbH (DACH CS), a tournament organiser seeking to revitalise competitive Counter-Strike in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has officially joined ESIC membership.
By joining ESIC, DACH CS commits to upholding the highest standards of competitive integrity. The membership requires the league to implement ESIC’s Integrity Programme across all of its tournaments, tackling key issues such as match-fixing, cheating, and doping, fostering a culture of fair play within the region.
As an ESIC member, DACH CS will integrate ESIC’s codes of conduct, actively cooperate in investigations, and enforce ESIC’s rulings. This commitment aligns DACH CS with global best practices, ensuring that the DACH Counter-Strike esports scene operates with a proven integrity framework.
Stephen Hanna, Chief Executive Officer of ESIC, said: “DACH CS’s dedication to rebuilding and strengthening the competitive Counter-Strike scene in the DACH region makes them a valuable addition to ESIC’s growing membership. Their commitment to competitive integrity and fair competition aligns perfectly with our mission to safeguard esports. We look forward to working closely with them to support a sustainable and transparent ecosystem for players, teams, and stakeholders in the region.”
Anton Christoph, Founder & Managing Director of DACH CS, said: “At DACH CS, we’re on a mission to take the Counter-Strike Scene in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to old and new heights! We’re super excited to be joining forces with ESIC, as we’re confident that this is a vital step in keeping our community’s most prized values at the heart of our operations. By teaming up with ESIC and aligning with their globally recognised integrity standards, we’re making a promise to you, our players, teams and stakeholders, to provide a competitive environment that’s both trusted and well-structured. We are excited to work closely with ESIC to build a sustainable and respected esports landscape in the DACH region.”
The post DACH CS Joins as Member of Esports Integrity Commission appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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