Esports isn’t all fun and game. It’s a serious profession that demands, skills, time and patience. This has given rise to millionaire esports stars, whose earnings could give most of us the heebie-jeebies. Gaming stars are now earning chunks of money at esports tournaments and they have turned it into a full-time profession. These guys have made crazy esports prize money doing what they love!
Some of the best games with the highest esports prize money are The International and Intel Extreme Masters and Call of Duty: WWII. This also makes them some of the most popular esports tournaments. Such esports events are organized across the globe and they offer sizeable prize earnings.
Infact, the industry is booming and how. A CNBC report talks about how esports is set to be a $1 billion industry with a strong presence in Asia. Sam Mathew, co-founder and CEO of esports major Fnatic says that it is like any other sport. They need to scout for millionaire esports stars, have prize money and span the game across amateurs and pros. Several companies and campuses are also investing in esports arenas such as the Lawrence Tech University. A Men’s Health report also estimates that a total of $676,878,013 prize money has been given away in esports competitions so far.
With the kind of prize money we are talking about, it has become a dream profession for several young stars and amateur gamers. As per the Esports Earnings website, there are players as young as 8 years old at these tournaments. On the other hand, there are players who are as old as 58 years old. With these statistics in terms of engagement and earnings, we can be rest assured that esports are here to stay.
In fact, esports is quickly becoming a legitimate career option and has a vast scope of growth in the coming years. Notably, Dota 2 is one of the most popular games among the top 100 gamers of the world. It is followed by other games including Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and League of Legends. Several millionaire esports stars from across the globe choose to participate for fun and to supplement their earnings. However, for many of these gamers, the profession has taken a serious turn. They have played and earned over a million dollars through these virtual games alone.
5 Millionaire Esports Stars
A look at the top 5 esports stars from around the world who have earned millions through these games:
1. Kuro Salehi Takhasomi, 26, Germany
Kuro Takhasomi is a German Dota 2 player with an ever-increasing prize booty. He is currently the World No. 1 on the charts of highest overall eSports Earnings. He started playing esports at a young age of 16. However, his childhood dream came true in 2017, when he won The International 2017. This got him prize money of $2,172,536.60. He is considered to be one of the best Dota players of all times and has earned around $4,236,206 through these games so far.
2. Amer Al-Barkawi, 22, Jordan
The 22-year-old Dota 2 player hails from Jordan and has been playing esports for around five years now. He is the youngest member on our list. He started playing only in 2015 and earned $248,925 in his first year itself. At this time, he played a total of 9 tournaments. Till mid 2019, he played 50 tournaments and earned a total of $3,799,837.28. He is currently ranked No. 2 in the world and has also been a member of Team Liquid, the winning team of The International 2017.
3. Johan Sundstein, 25, Denmark
Johan Sundstein is a Danish player and gets most of his earnings from Dota 2. He is a former Heroes of Newerth player and earned around $3,765,555 within a span of 10 years. He has played over a hundred tournaments so far. Johan won The International in 2018 and took home prize money of $2,246,831.60. Interestingly, he is the only person on the list who is not a member of Team Liquid.
4. Ivan Ivanov, 24, Bulgaria
Ivan Ivanov is a Bulgarian Dota 2 player and has participated in 60 eSports tournaments so far. He has a total earning of $3,590,911.76 and is currently ranked No.4 in the world and No.1 in his country. He has been the first runner-up at Shanghai Major 2016 and then went on to win The International in 2017 with his team.
5. Lasse Urpalainen, 24, Finland
Lasse Urpalainen is a Dota 2 player from Finland with overall earnings of $3,540,616.04. Starting his eSports career in 2014, he has participated in 61 tournaments and has won several tournaments including The International 2017. He has also won China Dota 2 Supermajor 2018, EPICENTER 2016 and 2017. He has played 47 tournaments with Team Liquid and is now a member of Chaos Esports Club since June 2019.
Let’s not forget that these millionaire esports stars also earn through other means. There are team contracts and sponsorship deals available to them. Additionally, a lot of merchandise comes their way. This makes it double the pleasure, right?
