How Much Do Esports Gamers Make?

Gone are the days of moms telling us we won’t achieve anything by playing video games. The esports industry has become a viable career choice for many aspiring gamers.

A list of the highest-earning esports players mentioned that Anathan “Ana” Pham made $6,024,411.96 playing DOTA 2. The 23-year-old won two consecutive TIs with OG before semi-retiring in 2021.

Esports gamers earn an average salary of $50,000–$60,000 annually, excluding tournament prize earnings. The average wage in the US amounts to $70,930 annually.

In this article, we will examine how much esports gamers make. Let’s get to it!

Highlights of the Article

• Esports tournaments’ prize pool in 2022 averaged $16.82 million.
• An esports gamer earns $5K monthly.
• Professional gamers stream their games for $5,000 per month.
• Ninja made $5 million in a month from Fortnite.
• N0tail is the highest-paid esports gamer, with $7.18 million in earnings.
• Starcraft II’s Scarlette is the highest-earning female player in esports.
• K1ng was 13 years old when he made $1.01 million in Fortnite.
• DOTA 2 is the highest-paying esports game as of 2023.
• Faker’s 3-year deal in 2017 was worth $2.5 million.

How Much Do Esports Gamers Make?

To better grasp the profitability of the esports industry as a career, let’s see how much the players earn.

1. The average prize money for esports tournaments in 2022 was around $16.82 million.

(Statista)

According to Statista, the average prize pool for esports’ biggest tournaments was $16,818,000 in 2022.

2. CS: GO esports players’ monthly income ranges from $2,400 to $40,000.

(Esports, LiquidSky, AFK Gaming)

Owen “smooya” Butterfield unveiled that only the Top 10 CS: GO players make a monthly salary of $40,000.

The AWPer also revealed that A-Tier players make around $15,000-$20,000 monthly. Meanwhile, Tier 2 teams made around $5,000 per month.

Esports reported that lower-tier teams such as MAD Lions and Heroic made around $8,500 monthly. They added that players from Copenhagen Flames made $2,400 monthly.

3. Experts project the esports market’s value to reach $1.87 billion by 2025.

(Statista)

In 2022, the value of the eSports market was around $1.38 billion. The industry’s revenue is expected to grow to $1.87 billion by 2025.

4. An esports gamer’s monthly salary can go up to $5,000.

(JKCP, The Street, Cyber Athletiks)

An esports gamer earns an average salary of $1,000 to $5,000 monthly ($12K to $60K annually). Salary rates differ depending on factors such as the game played, the country of the player, and sponsorships.

5. Each esports game has a different tournament prize pool.

(Statista)

Statista showed that DOTA 2 and AoV were ahead of other games in tournament prize pools in 2022. The two games posted around $32 million each. PUBG Mobile tallied $23 million.

League of Legends had the lowest tournament prize pool in 2022, with $7.7 million.

6. By 2022, around $833.6 million of the esports profit was expected to come from media rights and sponsorships.

(Esports, Cyber Athletiks, The Business of Esports)

According to Newzoo, the esports industry will see $833.6 million in revenue in sponsorships and global media rights.

Brands worldwide are capitalizing on the popularity of esports. For example, Red Bull has invested over $578 million into the industry.

How Much Do Professional Gamers Make?

The examples below show that all you need is a mic, a camera, and a decent PC build, and you, too, can be the next biggest thing in streaming.

7. Pro-Gamers earn $5,000 a month streaming their games.

(Career Gamers, The Street)

Gamers can earn around $5,000 a month by doing live streams. Platforms like Twitch allows professional gamers to earn more money by streaming their games and even giving tutorials to their viewers.

These gamers have created communities from their streams, boosting their ratings and gaining money from donations and subscriptions. They earn $4.99 per month per viewer.

8. As of 2023, Ninja has a net worth of $40 million.

(Celebrity Net Worth, Market Realist)

Richard Tyler Blevins, aka Ninja, currently makes about $500,000 monthly.

Ninja has above 24 million subscribers (2.5 billion combined views) on YouTube and 18.5 million followers on Twitch. He earns an estimated $500 thousand to $1 million monthly streaming his games.

He also makes money from his stream’s sponsorships, merch, and brand deals. Ninja also mentioned making $5 million in one month from Fortnite in 2021.

Highest Paid Esports Gamers

Time to know who esports’ biggest achievers in earnings are.

9. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein has earned $7,184,163.05 in his DOTA 2 career.

(Esports Earnings, Liquipedia)

N0tail is the world’s highest-earning esports gamer, acquiring around $7.18 million. Throughout his DOTA 2 career, Johan has played in 130 tournaments as OG’s hard support and team captain.

He is a 2-time TI winner (TI 2018 and TI 2019) and a 4-time Major winner. Sundstein is also OG’s co-founder.

10. The highest-paid female esports gamer plays Starcraft II.

(Esports Earnings)

Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn has earned $445,831.56 from playing Starcraft II since starting her career in 2011.

11. The top 10 highest-earnings esports players combine for $55,213,680.23.

(Esports Earnings, Liquipedia, Statista)

Combining the total prize incomes of the top 10 highest-paid esports gamers amounts to $55.2 million.

According to Esports Earnings, the ten top-earning players are from DOTA 2. The top 5 are from the TI 8-9 OG roster and the top 6-10 are from the TI7 Team Liquid roster.

TI was where much of the earnings for these players came from. TI’s prize pool reaches around $10M-$40M, funded by the game’s player base.

12. Thiago “K1ng” Lapp made $1,010,550 from Fortnite Tournaments when he was 13.

(Esports Earnings, ES Charts)

According to Esports Earnings, K1ng earned $1.01 million in 2019 playing Fortnite Tournaments. The Argentine player was 13 years old when he made over a million as a member of Sinster eSports and Team 9z.

13. The top 10 highest-paid South Korean esports gamers in 2022 made an average of $138,014.

(Statista)

According to Statista, Joon Kwon (Fielder) was the highest-paid South Korean esports gamer. Fielder earned around $141,200 playing Overwatch 2 tournaments.

The 2nd-8th South Korean Overwatch 2 players on Statista’s report made around $140,630 each.

LoL’s Hyeon Joon Moon (Oner) made about $128,780, placing 9th. Last was PUBG’s Joon Soo Kim (Missile), who made roughly $125,770.

The average income for these top 10 South Korean esports players was an estimated $138,014.

14. SonicFox earned $253,343.60 from playing Mortal Kombat X.

(Events Hub, Liquipedia, Esports Earnings)

Dominique “SonicFox” Mclean is the highest-paid esports gamer in Fighting Games. Sonic Fox made $708,185.04 in his decade-long career. 

SonicFox placed first in 71 of 134 tournaments he played, including an Injustice 2 Pro Series Grand Finals championship win worth $120,000.

Highest Paying Esports Games

Not all games are made equal. Some are more profitable than others. Below are some of esports highest paying games.

15. DOTA 2 occupies 80% of the top 10 prize pools list.

(Esports Earnings)

DOTA 2’s tournaments occupy 8 out of 10 of the world’s highest-paying esports tournaments.

The International has some of the biggest community-funded prize pools in history. TI 2021 recorded a $40,018,400 prize money.

Below are the top 10 largest prize pools in esports as of 2023. Highlighted are the DOTA 2 tournaments and what they amount to in total.

16. Bugha won $3,000,000.00 from the Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 – Solo.

(Esports Earnings)

Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf took home $3 million after he won the Fortnite WCF 2019 (Solo). The prize pool for the event was $15,287,500.00, making it the highest-paying tournament for an individual player.

17. League of Legends team T1 signed Faker for a 3-year $2.5 million deal.

(Clutch Points)

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok signed with T1 in 2017 for a $2.5 million 3-year deal. In 2021, Faker re-signed with T1, which shall expire after 2023. Part of Lee’s contract stipulates he becomes part-owner of T1.

Closing Remarks

Having a career in esports is like any other job. You must have the experience and skills to get ahead in the business. You have to “git gud,” as they say.

Professional players take their jobs seriously. They undergo hours of scrimmages, practicing game mechanics and creating the perfect plays to win.

Esports is lucrative because the communities embrace their game, attracting more viewers, organizations, and sponsorships. Professional gamers earn prizes by showing up during crucial games and giving fans unforgettable gaming moments.