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
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BETBY
BETBY CONTINUES UPWARD TRAJECTORY WITH SOLID Q3 2025 PERFORMANCE RESULTS

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BETBY, a leading sportsbook supplier, has reported another strong quarter, with its Q3 2025 performance underlining consistent growth and sustained engagement across its global partner network. The results highlight the provider’s continued expansion, innovation, and ability to deliver competitive value to operators worldwide.
During the third quarter, BETBY’s sportsbook recorded a 56.07% year-on-year increase in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), a 24.92% rise in total bets placed, and a 19.45% increase in active players, aligning with the solid upward trend seen in the company’s H1 results.
Importantly, these results were achieved despite a non-idyllic September, which was marked by uncompetitive margins due to sporting outcomes. This resilience further underscores the company’s ability to maintain growth momentum even in unfavourable market conditions.
This performance further demonstrates the scalability and reliability of BETBY’s sportsbook solution, which continues to attract new partners and drive growth across regulated markets. The supplier’s investment in proprietary trading models, AI-powered tools, and tailored partner support remains central to its strategy.
Betby.Games, BETBY’s proprietary esports feed, also delivered a positive quarter, achieving an 8.43% year-on-year increase in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), a 6.18% rise in total bets placed, and an 11.85% growth in active players compared to the same period last year.
Leonid Pertsovskiy, Chief Executive Officer at BETBY, commented: “Q3 once again demonstrates the strength of our products and the trust we’ve built with our partners. We continue to deliver solid results across both sportsbook and esports verticals, driven by innovation, user-centric solutions, and our commitment to excellence. As we approach the end of the year, our focus remains on accelerating growth and reinforcing our position as a Tier-1 provider in the iGaming industry.”
To find out more about BETBY’s cutting-edge sportsbook solution visit booth 4045 during SiGMA Central Europe. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with BETBY’s team, and discover how the company’s solutions and services can be their winning aspect for their iGaming project.
The post BETBY CONTINUES UPWARD TRAJECTORY WITH SOLID Q3 2025 PERFORMANCE RESULTS appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Beşiktaş Esports
HAVIT Partners with Three Top International Esports Teams to Expand Global Presence

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HAVIT, a leading global consumer tech brand, officially announced strategic partnerships with three internationally renowned esports teams: Brazil’s Vivo Keyd Stars, Turkiye’s Galatasaray Esports and Beşiktaş Esports. This marks a new stage in HAVIT’s global esports expansion, further strengthening its influence in the global esports ecosystem.
HAVIT has achieved remarkable results in the esports sector across both the Turkish and Latin American markets.
In Turkiye, HAVIT’s gaming headsets consistently rank No.1 on the leading platform Trendyol. To further integrate into the local esports ecosystem, HAVIT partners with Galatasaray Esports and Beşiktaş Esports, celebrated for their prestigious legacy and youthful energy, each with a massive fan base. This collaboration not only reinforces HAVIT’s market leadership but also deepens its connection with the local esports community.
Moreover, HAVIT enters the second year of its partnership with Vivo Keyd Stars, Brazil’s leading esports team, providing high-performance gaming gear to support the team’s play. With HAVIT’s gear and their own relentless drive, VKS won the championship in LTA South 2025 Split 3 and will represent Brazil at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship. This partnership underscores both the team’s strength and HAVIT’s commitment to empowering Brazil’s esports development.
Brand Vision: Build a Global Esports Network
This strategic partnership across Brazil and Turkiye is a key step in HAVIT’s regional market expansion and lays a solid foundation for HAVIT’s future presence in wider esports ecosystems of Europe, the Americas and beyond.
“Partnering with these teams is a crucial implementation of HAVIT’s ‘For Fun. For Games. For Champions’ vision. By merging technology with esports, we aim to inspire gamers worldwide to break boundaries and shape the future of gaming,” Doug Pollard said.
The post HAVIT Partners with Three Top International Esports Teams to Expand Global Presence appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
2XKO
DATA.BET the First to Launch 2XKO Offering

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Introducing Riot Games’ newest title to the esports landscape
DATA.BET, the award-winning sports betting solution supplier, has pioneered the betting market by launching 2XKO, a new dynamic competitive format.
2XKO marks a new addition to the global esports scene. With its fast-paced, double-elimination structure, it brings a distinctive rhythm of short yet high-stakes matches — a setup that potentially opens new avenues for betting engagement and audience retention as the format evolves.
At this stage, DATA.BET’s coverage focuses on key pre-match markets, including Winner and To Reach the Final for overall tournament outcomes, as well as Winner within individual matches. During the final stages of the competition, the company also plans to expand its offering with Map Winner markets for each map.
What makes 2XKO unique is the combination of short-form, high-intensity gameplay. This setup maximizes player engagement, mirroring the popularity of competitive fighting games worldwide while translating seamlessly into a betting environment.
DATA.BET debuted its 2XKO betting coverage at the upcoming 2 NICE KO tournament in Nice, France (Oct 10–12, 2025), featuring nearly 300 players across top fighting titles.
Bogdan Holovnov, Head of Esports at DATA.BET, said: “Esports thrives on creativity and innovation, and 2XKO is the perfect example of how new formats can drive excitement for players and bettors alike. At DATA.BET, we’re proud to be the first to bring this to market — giving our partners exclusive access to content that captures the speed, intensity, and global appeal of fighting games. This launch reinforces our commitment to expanding esports betting with fresh, high-impact experiences.”
The post DATA.BET the First to Launch 2XKO Offering appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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