Esports has come a long way over the past few years. We are now seeing multimillion-dollar prize pools for single events, and top tier competitors are making some serious money. We’ve put together a list of the highest-earning esports players from each major title including games like Dota 2, Fortnite, CS:GO, League of Legends, and more.
In 2012, just $13.8 million was awarded across all esports tournaments compared to $215 million in 2019 according to Esports Earnings.
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein – $6.9 million (Dota 2)
Johan Sundstein, better known as N0tail, is a 26-year-old Danish competitive Dota 2 player for OG. He became the highest-earning esports player after winning the Dota 2 international in 2019. The majority of his earnings come from the 2018 and 2019 Dota 2 internationals.
Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf – $3.1 million (Fortnite)
Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf won $3 million dollars at the Fortnite World Cup after coming first place with a 26 point lead. The 16-year-old qualified for the event through online qualifiers that took place in April of 2019. After Bugha won the event, he went on to appear on American television shows such as The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth – $1.8 million (CS:GO)
Andreas Højsleth, better known as Xyp9x, is a 24-year-old competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. The Danish player has been competing since he was 16 years old and currently plays the support role for Astralis. His earnings come from a mixture of tournaments with none being considerably higher than the other.
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok – $1.3 million (League of Legends)
Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker is a South Korean League of Legends player and part-owner of T1. Faker was picked up by LCK team SK Telecom T1 and played as the team’s mid-laner since and gained part-ownership of the organization in February 2020. He and his team came first place at the League of Legends 2016 World Championship, winning them $2 million dollars.
Feg – $1 million (Shadowverse)
Not much is known about Feg. The Japanese player won 99.70% of his money from the Shadowverse World Grand Prix 2018.
Cho “Maru” Seong Ju – $844,638 (StarCraft II)
Cho Seong Ju, known by his in-game name, Maru, is a StarCraft 2 player from South Korea. He was the youngest GSL player of all time and won his first televised game at 13 years old. The StarCraft 2 player came first place at the World Electronic Sports Games, winning himself $200,000.
Damon “Karma” Barlow – $805,847 (Call of Duty)
Damon “Karma” Barlow is a 26-year-old Canadian competitive Call of Duty player for the Seattle Surge. Karma was a member of Optic Gaming from 2014 until he joined Seattle Surge in October 2019. He is the only player in the world to win back-to-back Call of Duty championships.
Park “Loki” Jung-young – $771,848 (PUBG)
Park Jung-young is a 21-year-old South Korean competitive PUBG player for Gen.G. He won $500,000 for coming first place at the PUBG Global Championship in 2019.
Tony “Lethul” Campbell – $667,375 (Halo)
Tony “Lethul” Campbell is an American competitive Halo player for Sentinels. He won the Halo World Championship in 2016 and 2017 and many regard him as the greatest player to ever play.
Thijs “Thijs” Molendijk – $464,151 (Hearthstone)
Thijs Molendijk is a Hearthstone player from the Netherlands and currently plays for G2 Esports. He won $203,000 for coming first place at the CN vs EU Championship in 2018.
Jung Hyuk “sake” Lee – $462,790 (Heroes of the Storm)
Jung Hyuk Lee, better known as sake, is a Heroes of the Storm player from South Korea and former member of Gen.G. He won the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship in 2017 and 2018.
Courant “Kaydop” Alexandre – $353,963 (Rocket League)
Courant “Kaydop” Alexandre is a 21-year-old French competitive Rocket League player. Kaydop won $66,000 from Season 7 of the Rocket League Championship Series and is the only player who has won the Regional Championship 5 times in a row.
Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen – $349,228 (Rainbow Six Siege)
Niclas Mouritzen, better known as Pengu is a 22-year-old Danish competitive Rainbow Six Siege player and Twitch streamer for G2 Esports. He came first place at the Six Invitational in 2018 and 2019 winning him $200,000.
John “BaRRaCCuDDa” Salter – $329,506 (SMITE)
John Salter, better known by his in-game name, BaRRaCCuDDa, is a 29-year-old competitive Smite player for Renegades. He won $261,000 for coming first place at the Smite World Championship in 2015.
Hong “Gesture” Jae-hee – $219,730 (Overwatch)
Hong “Gesture” Jae-hee is a South Korean Overwatch player who previously competed in League of Legends. He is currently playing for Seoul Dynasty. The majority of his earnings come from the first season of the Overwatch League.
Philip “ImperialHal” Dosen – $99,230 (Apex Legends)
Philip Dosen, better known as ImperialHal is an American competitive Apex Legends play for Team SoloMid and previously competed in H1Z1, Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone but has had the most success on Apex. ImperialHal won the majority of his earnings from the Apex Legends Preseason Invitational.
That’s the highest-earning esports players of all time according to data from Esports Earnings. We will do our best to update this list regularly, but if you’re looking for the most accurate information, we suggest taking a look at the previously linked website.
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