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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Compliance Updates
ESIC Issues Lifetime Ban to StarCraft II Player Xue “Firefly” Tao Following Match-Fixing Investigation
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) announced the outcome of its investigation into serious integrity breaches involving professional StarCraft II competitors Xue “Firefly” Tao and Jinhui “Jim” Cao. Mr. Xue has been banned from ESIC Member events and competitions for life, while Mr. Jinhui has been provisionally suspended pending further sanction.
Following a detailed inquiry spanning April to July 2024, ESIC uncovered evidence of a coordinated match-fixing and profit-sharing scheme. The investigation found that Mr. Xue deliberately manipulated match outcomes to benefit illicit betting activity orchestrated by Mr. Jinhui, with whom he had a long-standing association.
Key findings include:
• Pre-match wagers placed by Mr. Jinhui predicting Firefly’s losses — often by precise scorelines.
• Consistent match losses by Firefly aligning with those wagers across seven tournaments.
• Large Alipay transfers from Jim to Firefly immediately following these matches.
• A WeChat exchange on 21 August 2024 directly referencing prior payments and an effort to conceal evidence.
ESIC has concluded that Xue “Firefly” Tao committed 21 breaches of the ESIC Integrity Programme, spanning both the Anti-Corruption Code and Code of Conduct. As a result, he has been handed a lifetime ban from all ESIC member events and competitions in any capacity.
Mr. Jinhui has been provisionally suspended and served with a Notice of Charge. He has until 14 July 2025 to respond before ESIC issues a formal sanction.
The post ESIC Issues Lifetime Ban to StarCraft II Player Xue “Firefly” Tao Following Match-Fixing Investigation appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
BETER, the in-demand provider of fast-betting content, data, and odds for esports and sports, has been awarded Esports Betting Supplier at the prestigious EGR B2B Awards 2025.
It is the first time BETER has received this award, marking a significant milestone in the company’s journey and reflecting the growing demand for its fast-paced esports products.
The EGR B2B Awards celebrate the companies powering the global iGaming industry, recognizing excellence and rewarding those leading in innovation, reliability, and client service.
BETER’s esports offering features the fan-favorite ESportsBattle tournaments, providing non-stop betting action across popular disciplines such as eFootball, eBasketball, and eHockey, with eTennis set to become available to all partners soon. It means bettors can wager on approximately 500,000 matches annually, with up to 50 markets per event, while operators benefit from an average margin of 7.5%.
In addition, BETER provides a comprehensive Esports Odds Feed, delivering market-leading odds for over 40,000 pre-match and live events per year. These odds are calculated using official data and compiled by a team of expert traders.
With a team of over 130 esports traders, BETER ensures that players across all partner operators can place bets on the provider’s events with more than 90% uptime.
All ESportsBattle`s matches come with 24/7 live streaming, real-time data and odds, and are closely monitored by BETER’s in-house Integrity team to ensure strict adherence to fair play standards. As a result, only 0.01% of matches have been flagged as suspicious in the past 12 months.
Gal Ehrlich, CEO of BETER, said: “We are incredibly proud of the entire BETER team for the hard work that led to this achievement.
“Their tireless efforts to deliver best-in-class esports products for the next generation of bettors have paid off—not just in winning this award, but in delivering a top-tier product and experience to our partners and their players, consistently exceeding expectations.
“This award rounds off an incredible six months for BETER, and we head into the second half of the year with strong momentum behind us.”
Adam Conway, General Manager of Esports Business Division at BETER, added: “Our esports betting products are unmatched—led, of course, by our ESportsBattle tournaments.
“These tournaments truly set the standard for what a fast-betting esports experience should be, and we’re thrilled to see that recognized by the EGR B2B Awards judges.
“Our Esports Odds Feed is equally impressive and has become an essential tool for operators looking to offer the best accurate odds in the industry.
“I’d like to thank the entire BETER team for their dedication and to EGR for this recognition. We couldn’t be happier to add our first EGR B2B Award to the trophy shelf.”
The post BETER Wins Esports Betting Supplier Award at the EGR B2B Awards 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has announced the renewal of its partnership with Albaik for a second consecutive year, aimed at enriching the experience of both visitors and players participating in the Esports World Cup (EWC). With a deep-rooted history in Saudi Arabia since 1974, Albaik will continue supporting the Kingdom’s gaming and esports sector through this prestigious partnership, aligned with its broader mission to empower youth and foster local talent in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
This partnership is built on a shared commitment to the future – bringing diverse entertainment offerings to the largest esports and gaming event in history. With audiences attending from across the globe, EWC 2025 offers visitors an exciting mix of competitive matches, immersive experiences and cultural programming.
Albaik’s continued involvement in EWC 2025 reflects its long-standing commitment to social, sporting and economic development in the Kingdom. It also reinforces the company’s belief that meaningful community impact is a core part of doing business – a principle that shapes its contributions to national development and youth empowerment.
Returning to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 7 to August 24, 2025, the Esports World Cup will unite global gaming communities for a celebration of esports culture. With 25 tournaments across 24 games, 2000 elite players and 200 Clubs from over 100 countries, the EWC will feature the largest prize pool in esports history, over $70 million. Fans can expect exclusive experiences, from high-stakes competition to live music, anime cafes, retro arcades, cosplay and more, drawing millions of fans online and in person.
The post Esports World Cup Foundation Renews Partnership with Albaik appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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